Generator Advice

I was wondering if the collective wisdom of this fine list could
offer some case-specific advice on buying a portable generator.

Tvo, Don, and other mechanical whizzes can tell you about the relative
merits of various engines. My preference is propane fueled. Propane has a
long storage life and can also used for cooking, water heating, clothes
drying, house heating, so one or two large storage tanks serve many
purposes, including being able to buy when propane rates are low.
What I will offer is the recommendation to wait until next year to buy a
generator. Right now Y2K mania has jammed manufacturers, prices have
escalated and delivery waiting time is long. After next year arrives and we
find that the sky has not fallen there will be a lot of generators
gathering dust. If you can wait that long, I expect late November of 2000
would be ideal, as people scurry to generate dollars to buy the latest toy
fad for their kids for Christmas. I suspect that generator prices will then
be very reasonable.
tvoivozhd—while his depraved appetite for San Francisco Steam Beer
normally clogs his mental pores, and in the wee hours of the morning, winds him
inextricably around lampposts in neighborhoods which can be dangerous to your
health, I second Gene’s motion in the generator matter.
Normally, I would say, buy a diesel generator—that is, if it operates at 1200
or 1800 rpm, and it wouldn’t be something you would want, (or be able) to
carry. Bearing loads are pretty high in a diesel engine, and it is desirable
to employ heavy castings to provide necessary rigidity for long life. Also
contributing to long life is the low piston-speed of a 1200 or 1800 rpm engine.
The DEK engine-generator to which you refer, is 4.2 hp. @3600 rpm, rated at
2000 watts continuous. In the manual-start version, it weighs 114 lbs, more
for electric start and electric start silenced versions. To get the weight
down, like portable gas-engine counterparts, it employs lightweight castings.
It also has a small-diameter piston operating at 3600 rpm to reduce bearing
loads. It is a good engine, but meant for intermittent, rather than continuous
service. In my opinion it would operate a good deal longer than a Briggs,
about the same as a Kohler or Honda gasoline engine, not as long as a Kohler or
Honda propane engine..
In any event, in a northern climate, you would want electric start, and need a
fuel-line heater (there is no proviso for a glow-plug). Wax precipates out of
diesel fuel in cold weather—a fuel-line heater keeps it in solution, and it
is inviting cardiac arrest to hand-crank a diesel—especially in cold weather
without a glow-plug such as you will find in a Mercedes diesel.
If you aren’t in a hurry, wait—and get a propane-fueled engine. Propane
doesn’t deteriorate as does gasoline or diesel fuel whose tanks are vented to
outside air, it won’t gum up your injection pump or carburetor, starts readily
in temperatures you will encounter where you live, doesn’t dilute your oil, and
using propane, your valves will last twice as long (generally valves are the
first thing to go in an engine—with the possible exception of a Kohler, which
is the only small industrial engine using hydraulic lifters)
If your electrical needs were greater, the military surplus market occasionally
offers some bargain diesel generator sets.
Another alternative to buying a propane-fueled generator set, is to convert a
gasoline-fueled unit to propane (or a dual-fuel unit).