diesel for generator

[Boeing]

I was wondering about the guys that bought the Aurora Diesel Generators......how are the machines doing and how many hours are on them?
I see another outfit on E-bay; GT POWER, advertising diesel gens, also specifing AUTO diesel. They say that off-road will gum up injectors and filters....???? Is this real or BS?
Thanks, looking to buy SOON.
Rob

 

[JB4310]

I was wondering about the guys that bought the Aurora Diesel Generators......how are the machines doing and how many hours are on them?
I see another outfit on E-bay; GT POWER, advertising diesel gens, also specifing AUTO diesel. They say that off-road will gum up injectors and filters....???? Is this real or BS?
Thanks, looking to buy SOON.
Rob

There are a bunch of Chinese diesels out there, you have to shop around, I see some where middle men type small "dealers are selling them for much more than they are worth IMO. Especially on Craigslist, these guys think they have gold to sell trying to make a thousand profit on each.

The price is what is so attractive, compared to domestic or Japanese or euro unit, the price would be 2-3 times as much.
I have no first hand experience with them, but I was at an industrial tool rental place and they had a bunch of them in the rental fleet. Good size 5-8 kw units in sound/weather enclosures, they actually looked real nice.
They told me they had not had any serious trouble with them, and they were cheap enough that they weren't worried about taking a chance on the no name gennys.

JB

 

[DieselSJ]

I was wondering about the guys that bought the Aurora Diesel Generators......how are the machines doing and how many hours are on them?
I see another outfit on E-bay; GT POWER, advertising diesel gens, also specifing AUTO diesel. They say that off-road will gum up injectors and filters....???? Is this real or BS?
Thanks, looking to buy SOON.
Rob

The only difference between "auto" and "off-road" diesel is the dye. There is no reason why off-road diesel would gum the injectors.

 

[sw03]

The only difference between "auto" and "off-road" diesel is the dye. There is no reason why off-road diesel would gum the injectors.

do not forget the increase in taxes on the "on road"...LOL

 

[Boeing]

The Aurora says it has a catalic (sp?) converter in the exhaust that will get fouled with off-road. maybe, maybe not.....I was wondering if I could REMOVE that piece of wonderment and it would NEVER get fouled
Thoughts?

 

[dex3361]

I was wondering about the guys that bought the Aurora Diesel Generators......how are the machines doing and how many hours are on them?
I see another outfit on E-bay; GT POWER, advertising diesel gens, also specifing AUTO diesel. They say that off-road will gum up injectors and filters....???? Is this real or BS?
Thanks, looking to buy SOON.
Rob

I have run my Aurora recently about 18 hours for a total of about 50 hours and I am still impressed with the fuel consumption of the little unit. I guess when I have a couple thousand hours on it I can say it has been a good unit. No trouble so far though.

 

[Coyote machine]

Why must everyone mess with the way things are designed to run properly?!
Run it with the equipment that's on it and off road diesel. The ONLY difference is the dye to make it for OFF Road use. That way if someone uses it on road and isn't paying the taxes they get nailed.
Catalytic, for future reference.

 

[Boeing]

Thanks for the rply AND the spelling lesson :laughing:
The reason I keep asking about the fuels and the cat-a-lit-tick perverter is that Aurora says that if warranty repair is required they can see in the perverter IF off road diesel was used....and decline warranty repair.
I agree (to my limited knowledge) that off road is the same fuel.
Thanks again.

 

[Coyote machine]

Thanks for the rply AND the spelling lesson :laughing:
The reason I keep asking about the fuels and the cat-a-lit-tick perverter is that Aurora says that if warranty repair is required they can see in the perverter IF off road diesel was used....and decline warranty repair.
I agree (to my limited knowledge) that off road is the same fuel.
Thanks again.

Somewhere, possibly on the first page of this thread a guy states that the dye used damages the 'cats' on the most recent gennys and that is why Aurora says off road can't be used.
Who knows- if they want to they could deny warranty repair.
Ball in your court.

 

[whiskywizard]

Which engine are we talking about in the Aurora generators?

If it's the 400 series Perkins, don't worry about using off-road fuel. That's what Perkins expects you to use.

That engine is sold into ag and industrial service all the time, where it sees off-road fuel exclusively. It even permits up to 20% biodiesel.

To void a warranty claim, Aurora would have to do 2 things:

1. physically cut open the catalytic converter to inspect it
2. prove that the fuel used (also used in a bazillion other similar engines) was the cause of the specific failure in question.

 

[LBrown59]

I was wondering about the guys that bought the Aurora Diesel Generators......how are the machines doing and how many hours are on them?
I see another outfit on E-bay; GT POWER, advertising diesel gens, also specifing AUTO diesel.
1*They say that off-road will gum up injectors and filters....???? Is this real or BS?

It's BS they have no idea what they are talking about.
1*I would never buy their product for this reason.

The only difference between "auto" and "off-road" diesel is the dye.
2*There is no reason why off-road diesel would gum the injectors.

2* You are correct but they are just using that as an excuse to weasel out or their warranty obligations .

The Aurora says it has a catalic (sp?) converter in the exhaust that will get fouled with off-road. maybe, maybe not....
3*.I was wondering if I could REMOVE that piece of wonderment and it would NEVER get fouled
Thoughts?

3*They would probably void the warranty if you did that.
My first inclination is why buy a product from a manufacturer that is so miss informed about fuel for their equipment?.

4*Why must everyone mess with the way things are designed to run properly?!
Run it with the equipment that's on it and off road diesel.
5*The ONLY difference is the dye to make it for OFF Road use. That way if someone uses it on road and isn't paying the taxes they get nailed.
.

4*Because Manufacturers buy into the Myths and Hearsay about fuel just like so many consumers do.
5*Some how it seems that not paying takes makes off road an inferior fuel to many folks. .

Thanks for the rply AND the spelling lesson :laughing:
The reason I keep asking about the fuels and the cat-a-lit-tick perverter is that
6*Aurora says that if warranty repair is required they can see in the perverter IF off road diesel was used....and decline warranty repair.
7*I agree (to my limited knowledge) that off road is the same fuel.
Thanks again.

6*Perverter is the right word because Aurora certainly has a Perverted concept about diesel fuel .
7*I would neve ever buy something like this from someone who is so in the dark about the fuel to operate it on.
Find another GEN.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree 100%.. it's either a way (another way 0 for them to get out of the warranty.. or they are clueless.. or both.

that would be -3- good reasons to NOT buy fromthem in my book!

soundguy

 

[Coyote machine]

I agree 100%.. it's either a way (another way 0 for them to get out of the warranty.. or they are clueless.. or both.

that would be -3- good reasons to NOT buy fromthem in my book!

soundguy

What he said, AND if a manufacturer is looking for ways to blow off warranty claims I wouldn't buy from them and they must KNOW they make an inferior product to begin with.

Walk away. Better yet- RUN away!:thumbsup:

 

[Dustpile]

The issue with off road diesel fuel is many generator users think their home heating oil is off road fuel. They do not realize that it can contain up to 50% Kerosine. Kerosine has no lubrication properties at all and will damage fuel injectors and fuel pumps. The EPA also approves those engines for use with automotive diesel fuel.

As for the quality of Aurora portable diesel generators, if any other company had anything close in quality then they too would be UL listed or CSA approved. NO other company has their whole product certified like Aurora does.

 

[Coyote machine]

The issue with off road diesel fuel is many generator users think their home heating oil is off road fuel. They do not realize that it can contain up to 50% Kerosine. Kerosine has no lubrication properties at all and will damage fuel injectors and fuel pumps. The EPA also approves those engines for use with automotive diesel fuel.

As for the quality of Aurora portable diesel generators, if any other company had anything close in quality then they too would be UL listed or CSA approved. NO other company has their whole product certified like Aurora does.

The EPA has approved what engines for use with diesel?
And what does UL / CSA listing have to do with quality of manufacture?
Ul listing is a process that some manufacturers choose to go through to become UL listed. It is a series of hoops and criteria that some companies can meet and others can or can't depending on those criteria.
UL does NOT approve anything, it merely lists the item in question as having passed certain criteria, albeit stringent ones at that.

 

[grsthegreat]

Do you pull your meter when you do this very dangerous act? You do know that simply turning off the main breaker, the neutral remains connected. In a perfect setup this by itself is not a big deal, but an incorrectly wired cord and plug (usually a cord and two plugs) could put 120 volts on the power company neutral. Due to all the outages my area has had lately, two linemen have been killed due to fools who think they are qualified electricians because they can wire up a simple outlet.

According to each electrician I had out to give me estimates for installing my transfer switch per code, back feeding with a portable generator now is a minimum of a $10k fine and a minimum of 90 days in jail. Then, if you do actually pull your meter, that too is illegal unless you have the power company come and do so since that is their equipment and you are not allowed to touch it. I personally look at 'code' as a minimum way of doing things; not some far fetched expensive way that is not needed.

If you ever look inside a transfer switch (single pole) youll see that ONLY the power legs are transferred. the neutrals are never transferred. Ive installed somewheres between 50-60 of these over the years, and unless its an industrial unit, the neutrals are just connected together. That being said I agree....USE A TRANSFER SWITCH. Not worth the risk to anyones health. And as you get older, will you remember to switch off the needed breakers.

 

[grsthegreat]

Personally i wouldn't risk a denial of warranty work on this gen set. Just run on road diesel. Keep 20 gal of it onhand and rotate it for use with the tractor as needed to keep it fresh. I mean your talking like $0.30/gal x 20 gal = $6.00.

Not worth risking the warranty for this.

All large (over 20kw) gen sets that i have installed in the past have been diesel. Has to do with the efficiency at running these larger engines AND the fact that most critical care situations (hospitals and houses with elderly care going on/life supports) don't want to rely on natural gas delivery shutdown, and don't want large propane tanks in their parking lots (legally have to be 50 feet from generator here in Idaho). Ive installed hospital units with 500 gal diesel tanks as the base of the generator, and they get emergency delivery of diesel as needed.

Now my own 10KW generator is Propane..its 16 years old and I bought it USED. Its an Onan battery start but has a manual transfer switch as i don't care if its running if I'm not home. I or the wife can start it with a push of a button from the utility room and manually flip the transfer switch.

Now, i don't want to get into a pissing match on this (again) but since i install these units and HAVE to follow the NEC codes, I HAVE to install any generator that is not large enuf to supply the house's load (without flipping any breakers off by hand) with a generator transfer switch and panel. I cant simply put a 200 amp transfer switch on a 200 amp system and hook up a 8 KW gen set to it. I have to have my work inspected and the inspectors here WONT allow it. Now if it was a 20 KW generator, then there would be NO problem with it.

Home depot/Lowes USED to supply their generators with small 6-10 space transfer switch panels here years ago. Now days they just come with 100 or 200 amp transfer switches (was cheaper for them). So homeowner A buys this cheap 10KW gen and wants me to hook it up. I CANT legally do it.

I HAVE TO install a generator panel that can handle EXACTLY what the generator can output. Now a homeowner doesn't have to do this...he can do whatever he wants, but I cant. Then again, if he sells his house and a home inspector sees an illegally installed unit....pay now or pay later.

 

[crazyal]

I don't think they are trying to not honor the warranty, I think it's more of a case of the retailer not knowing their product and the mfg not knowing that the US no longer sells high sulfur off road diesel. A lot of countries still allow high sulfur diesel (mixed with who knows what) to be sold. I would assume that the owners manual is written in Chinese and poorly translated into English. The seller should know this but clearly has no clue.

 

[Soundguy]

That's a whole lot of 'not knowing' and = I would not buy from them if they really don't 'know' what they are selling, who they are selling to / market.. etc.

that's all apart of being in business... knowing your market, and it's environment.. rules, regulations.

soundguy

 

[Dustpile]

If your not familiar with it takes to get CSA and ETL approval then perhaps it is better you stick to what you know best. It has a great deal to do with quality and laboratory testing of their products by nationally recognized testing facilities.

Not hard to tell who lives on the forums and what the agenda is.

As for the manuals, they are online, download it and read it. You may actually learn something.