Existential Angst wrote:

Awl --

The online big-box for generators appears to be
http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect....enerators.html

and I was seriously looking at Generacs, woulda bought one some time ago if
the lead time wasn't MONTHS, after all that weather bull**** in the
northeast.

Then I started hearing some dicey stuff about the Generac engine AND their
crappy service, and they weren't nearly as quiet as one is led to believe
(some youtube vids).

So ahm still poking around, cuz I really need a backup, and I found
http://www.generatorsales.com/natura...generators.asp

where these guys (in Maine), put together their own generator systems, using
nat gas Honda engines.

Now, here's the Q:

Is this something a half-baked diy-er can do, or is it best left to people
who, well, actually do this? As I understand it, any gasoline engine can be
pretty straightforwardly converted to nat gas, and all's you need is the
generator motor and an automatic voltage regulator -- or so I think.

Or is it the case where it's not so hard to do, put procuring the parts at
an economical price is the difficult part?
Such as http://www.nextag.com/honda-gx630/products-html where they're
asking $12-1300 for the Honda motor itself.... which is already a
substantial fraction of what generatorsales is asking....

Generator sales has a 13,750 W jobbie (double the net wattage of the low-end
Generac), for a few more dollars, and a much simpler (read: reliable?)
system it seems -- ballpark $2,000. Plus you can *talk* to these guys in
Maine, without all the big-box bull****.

Next Q:
Can these things be made substantially quieter with an automotive-type
muffler? An enclosure?

Any other companies making affordable nat gas gensets?
--
EA

If you want quality and quiet in a packaged standby generator you have
to bypass the air cooled consumer lines (any brand) and move up to the
liquid cooled commercial models. Those models from most any brand are
pretty decent.