How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [46]
The tolerances and quality control seem to be better on the listeroids that are made in India. The Chinese engines, in contrast, were reverse-engineered, and some of the parts appear to be from the “file-to-fit” school of assembly.
Secure Your Generator
Anyone who has a portable (i.e., skid- or cart-mounted) generator that is not bolted down or locked in a generator shed with a sturdy door should consider securing it with a chain and padlock. You should preferably use a hardened bolt-cutter-resistant bike-and-motorcycle security chain and a large, stout padlock that is warded to offer little room for bolt cutters to be used. Short lengths of specially hardened chain are available from Nashbar.com. Longer chains are available from JCWhitney.com.
Backup Power for a Well Pump
One of the common questions that I get is how to configure a well pump to run from generator power. You will need to make a couple of inquiries: First, ask your well/pump man if your pump is 120 VAC or 220 VAC. If it is a 220-volt model, then you will need a special generator, or you will have to retrofit with a 120-VAC pump. Next, you will need to call several local electricians and get them to put in competitive bids for installing a proper bypass breaker panel and cabling it to your generator. I’ve seen people describe jerry-rigged male-to-male extension-cord generator hookups, but these do not meet electrical code and are potentially hazardous—for both you and the hapless power-company linemen attempting to restore power to your community.
Can You Burn Home-Heating Oil or Kerosene in a Diesel Engine?
Virtually all diesel generators will run equally well on off-road (dyed) diesel, road-taxed diesel, biodiesel (including waste vegetable oil and freshly pressed oils), and home-heating oil. In fact, up until the recent introduction of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) all three typically came from the same production runs at refineries. In essence, they are simply marketed differently.
Home-heating oil burns fine in any diesel engine, but in many countries it is not legal to do so in a vehicle that is driven on public roads. This is a “road-tax” issue. Aside from a red dye additive, the formulation of home-heating oil is almost identical to the diesel that was made before the recent advent of ULSD. The only significant difference between the two is the federal standard on ash content. In the United States, Canada, the UK, and several other countries it is not legal to use dyed (untaxed) fuel in a vehicle that is driven on public roads. Of course if you are using the fuel in a generator set or in an off-road vehicle such as a tractor, you can’t be accused of cheating on the “road tax” levied on fuels for use in vehicles on public roads. (Fuels for use in stationary engines such as generators and irrigation water pumps, or for use in off-road vehicles, are exempt from this tax.) Enforcement of these statutes varies widely, but the fines can be substantial, so stay legal.
Kerosene is a different matter. This fuel has insufficient lubricity to be used just by itself in a diesel engine. I have also read that it burns hotter than diesel, so it might harm injectors. However, this is largely a nonissue in all but exceptional circumstances, since kerosene typically sells for as much as one dollar more per gallon than diesel. But in an emergency, it is presumably safe to mix as much as 20 percent kerosene with your diesel and not cause excessive engine wear. The aforementioned road tax is also an issue for kerosene.
It is even possible to burn a mixture containing used crankcase oil in your diesel engines, but keep in mind that used crankcase oil has been documented to be carcinogenic, because it contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). So use great care not to let any of it touch your skin when transporting, handling,