I just came home with my "emergency" generator in preparation for the upcoming "apocalypse" (or green energy power grid meltdown).

It is a 5 kilowatt, diesel - weatherproof, EMP proof....and battle ready!

I sold my gas generator and bought this as I have a large tank of diesel fuel for my tractor and lawn mower - it just made more sense to have a diesel generator.

It can also be used for short power outages caused by storms if the need arises.  The grey box on the side is a 50 amp/220v receptacle so I can plug it into garage  - I installed a generator/main fuse lock out device so the generator cannot back feed to the power grid.

These generators are 20 years old and need a bit of love to become reliable....this one has a fuel leak in a return hose from the injectors that will take an hour or two to fix.  The rubber fittings at the fuel tank are also known to deteriorate and leak fuel.  It only has 25 hours of use on the 2 cylinder diesel engine - so there should be several thousand hours of life left!  The dang thing weighs 800 pounds!      

You can buy these surplus from several sources - GovPlanet is one.  However there is a bit of a gamble as to what you are getting. Sometimes you can get stuff that is in incredible shape - other times there may be something that missing or non-working and you may need to do some repairs.  I bought this from a fellow on the Facebook Marketplace who bought it from GovPlanet and there were two generators mounted on the trailer and he only wanted one.  He got it running and proved it was functional.  The 5KW model is called the MEP802 A.  They also have a 3kw version called the MEP801 A, and the 10kw model is the MEP803 A.  They also have really big ones in 30kw.
https://www.govplanet.com/

All of the electronics are sealed by heavy steel covers and/or doors.  There is no direct path for anything to get inside (water, EMP, etc.), and even the gauges have a thick metal cover to protect them.  That is one reason this thing is so darn heavy.

There is a website forum like our called SteelSoldiers that is all about surplus military equipment care and feeding.  I will be a NOOB and become a member!  Maybe I will learn from them what kind of spares to stock up on.

Hay ,  

Nice Trailer Dave !   Aluminum too and set-up to haul my fovorite things to boot !!  

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I'm thinking along the same lines , about how to keep a few appliances running after Putin has his little fit !  

There might be too much dust in the air for Solar to work ?      

Stocking up on Lamp-Oil might be a good idea ?

That is a Biggo Win-Win. Everyone has a usable trailer now. Neighborly co-operation builds relationships. Sweat equity, paying off for everyone involved.
Good story, Dave.

do have the "jump-start" box to get the truck started again if it get's too low

If you're going to risk driving a battery that hard, you might want a Deep Cycle.
Ohh, the InUendo..
Those little jump boxes are just a very slight step away from black magic.
Such a small, light package,, that boggles my mind well enough, but the scrawny wires they feed the dead battery through just blow me away. I have some jumper cables that are probably twelve feet long and I have no idea what they weigh, but they are substantial. I got them so if the backhoe was cutting through stuff and wound up with a dead battery I could bring the truck up behind it and still get to the battery. I bought them before that scenario was a reality... But it happened eventually.
I'm gonna get one of those jump boxes. I see them used on YouTube videos. Like Matt's Off-road and others.
The battery that starts the car weighs quite a bit. A jump box weighs what?
HownaHell duzzat work?

Working on this generator is not all that complicated - but there are lots of small screws/nuts that hold the cabinet together and it takes a lot of time to get things apart.  The fuel tank required the radiator portion of the cabinet to be lifted a couple of inches to make enough clearance - there was likely 50 screws/bolts that needed to be removed.

The rubber well plugs in the fuel tank supply and return have been replaced with brass fittings with O-rings, and these will not deteriorate like the rubber well plugs did.

The process of cleaning the fuel tank, replacing the fuel return lines, installing new fuel tank fittings, installing new fuel and oil filters, installing a new fuel level sender to replace the original rusty one and getting this generator back into shape for reliable running will cost about $200 and take me about 20 hours of work.  (I am telling you this so you can understand that old equipment can be time consuming to get back into service).

This is what came out of the fuel tank.  Thankfully the tank is plastic and could be cleaned up easily.  I don't believe any of this crap got into the fuel injectors as it was laying on the bottom of the tank, and there is an inlet screen to the low pressure electric fuel pump, and 2 fuel filters after the pump prior to the fuel reaching the injector pumps.

Thankfully that crap laid on the bottom of the plastic tank and didn't get picked up in the fuel system....the filters were pretty clean looking (but I changed them anyhow).

Dave your the mechanic , I'll have to pat ya on the back for this one !   I wouldn't want to jump on a project like that !!  

That is some nasty looking stuff !!!

I'm beginning to think I should look-up PTO generator on ebay !  
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I did get a "900 amp AGM battery" for my truck and put it in today to run my 6000 watt inverter.   The original battery (AC Delco/GM) was still in it from 2017 but it was going to low to start the truck if it sat for more than a week.
6000watt / 120volts = 50 amp ... but that means 25 amps running power.
I think a 15 amp load might be "OK" ?  
So It should run the fridge for a few hours a day.   I hope ...