These controls are meant to be used in conjunction with the electromechanical diesel engine starter (described elsewhere) to control a diesel powered standby power generator. They allow remote manual and automatic starting/stopping of the engine.

Manual Operation

In the drawing Electric_DselCtrl, a simple start/stop pushbutton station is provided to allow manual starting and stopping of the diesel. You will note that there is also a selector switch which can be set to one of three positions (Off, Manual and Auto) to choose how the engine controls work.

In the Off position, the controls have no effect. However, if the engine is already running, when the selector is moved to the Off position, the engine will be shut down immediately.

In the Manual position, the selector switch enables the start/stop pushbutton station. Pushing the start button will crank the engine. When it starts, the button should be released. Pushing the stop button will stop the engine.

The Auto position selects automatic starting/stopping of the engine under control of the engine controller (see below).

There is also a set of indicator lamps shown in this drawing that are operated by the automatic engine controller. If any of the faults named occurs, the lamp will light and stay latched until the fault is cleared and the engine controller reset.

The wiring for a battery charger appears in this drawing. The battery charger is of a type that will fast charge the batteries when they are deep discharged and then float charge them to keep them always ready. The heavy current drain of starting does not effect this charger model so that it may remain connected to the batteries during engine cranking.

Automatic Operation

For automatic engine control, we like the ES52 from DynaGen Systems Inc. This engine controller is rugged, encapsulated and easy to use. Its inputs/outputs are protected against mishaps, it has standard starting/running relays that are field replaceable, annunciator outputs and plenty of features. You can easily mount it anywhere that is convenient, including into a control panel.

The drawing Electric_AutoCtrl can be downloaded as a PDF. It shows the application of this engine controller so as to automatically start/stop the diesel whenever the trainline or wayside power fails.