Sandy

Were you able to get parts for it as needed? I was talking to someone around here about those auctions and he said to buy two, one for parts because it was hard to source parts for military machines.

Never needed parts. Mine had 3 hours on it. Yes, your tax dollars at work, why is the govt trashing a machine with three hours on it. Two weeks ago I would have advised wait for a unit with very low hours and like any diesel change the oil and filters and there is a 99% probability you will die b4 the machine gives you problems. That's why the military used them. That is less than the probability your neighbor will shoot you over the noise. They used them a lot in Europe during the cold war but had to scrap them as the Russians were complaining about the noise. The Ruskies eventually agreed to knock down the Berlin Wall if only we would stop using the generators at night. Before buying, pitch a tent near to one running hard overnight, connect 8 x 1KW heaters (pure resistive load), by the morning you will see it my way but the genny will be running fine.

Nah yanche this is the cutest generator ever made and at 600RPM good for about 1MM hours.





They are out there in the US but expensive now thx to the EPA. They run on diesel, but run better on veggie oil, waste motor oil, palm oil. Free soy oil from a Japanese restaurant dumpster (filtered) was best. Loved mine.

SMITTY wrote:I hear that!

For now, I guess this will do :

I tell ya what I have been sick almost all weekend with a fever and a sore throat thanks to having a child in school LOL. That their looks like it would cure anything.

Hey VigII, Good to hear from you Dude! Glad you came through in good shape and didn't get as hammered as some.!

Kevin, I used to live in Nashville and I traveled all over East Tenn and Kentuc. There is some really amazing bucolic, places. You'll find the right one for you and your family. Be a new branch of Look's from down south.

Yanche wrote:For those of you with the skills to fabricate a generator set of your own I would be looking for a 6 pole generator from a railroad reefer. Junk the very noisy diesel engine and marry the generator to a small 4-cly water cooled auto engine. Using direct drive the 60 Hz speed would be 1200 RPM.

1200rpm is too low for an auto engine to operate under load. They are usually designed with a powerband between 2500 - 3500 rpm. The engine would be 'lugging' and stall.

But now if you can get ahold of a small 4 cyl Aircraft engine (lycoming) they are designed with a much lower powerband, and could possibly work ok.

OK, that's it. I'm off today looking for a lycoming 4 cyl. aircraft engine. You guys are killin me Mornin Chris

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Way too expensive and way too much HP and way way too much fuel. What are you guys smoking?

That's eBay for you. Probably cost the guy $300 to list that .. then another $300 once it sells - never sold anything for 5 figures so I can only imaginee. No more deals there since they raised all their fees.

A little diesel out of a VW Rabbit or a Chevette would be perfect ... and probably real cheap. Can get a car with the engine for under a grand more than likely.

OK--crap, forget the lycoming--now I'm off to find a rabbit--unfortunatly--plenty along the road at this time of year--plus, how the hell would I get it started--I gotta stop & go vote

Fred, those flat rabbits won't work.

I'm rethinking this whole backup thing. Generators are not very efficient at converting energy to electrical power 30 % at the absolute best and in the real world is far less. They run out of fuel eventually and it costs a ton of money unless of course it's NG. What are we doing here? Let's not produce more electrical energy than we absolutely need to. In Florida post hurricane A/C is nice but up here in the NE we can live short term without that one. Takes too much electrical power to even think of.
Water, hand pump or reservoir. Fridge, propane from a destroyed RV (I just picked on up for $10 - OK the case is a basket case but it runs and the door seals good) and of course food. Lighting - paraffin pressure or better propane/NG wall unit, see Fred's post. Laptop with big battery backup and ultra low power, the latest generation are truly desktop replacements for most of us. Run the router on a ups assuming the internet is even working. TV - nothing on normally so who cares. Flashlights, AAs and leds units dirt cheap and getting better daily. Hand fed coal stove for heat. cooking, hot water and living. Either backup or main unit. That covers it the rest is BS. Generators are just not worth it.

Yeah they definitely are a luxury, that's for sure. Cost a fortune to buy (a good one anyway - one you can find parts for in 10 years), and cost a fortune to operate. It's nice if you can afford it.

The easy way out - just throw money at the problem. Makes most of them go away.

now I'm off to find a rabbit

Yes the 1981 VW rabbit was a legend but still 70 HP and at most you need 7HP. CS/6 Listers are made for the job.

http://www.utterpower.com/fuel1.htm

DAMN

samhill wrote:Fred, those flat rabbits won't work.

Generac 55OO we have is quite precious now. 7.2 gallons goes ten hours. Expensive but it's keeping the older landlords/friends warm, food cold, well working & I can get a fast hot shower ( tankless hw heater needs electricity). My customer got a sweet Kohler ng unit, went over there to drop off a bill and it was toasty inside, classical music playing hahaha. The Generac is roaring in its shed, I have one light on and fan 4 the coal stove + the refrig. I aint no Bear Grylls or Les Stroud lol. Just poached a TV dinner hahaha & glad I have a percolater makes good coffee! Heated pizza in the coal stove ha!