Our Listeroid is a clone of the original CS 6/1 Lister engine from the early 1930's. Built from cast iron, they are made to stand the test of time. Designed to run on a variety of fuels, these clones are a true testament to the original designs. Coupled to a 5 KW genhead, it doesn't get much simpler. Nothing fancy to fix, give it oil and fuel and let it run.
When running, the steady rhythm becomes almost musical. Single cylinder, slow turning, 650 rpm, with lots of power for those heavy start-up loads from the pump or compressor. This machine will run on waste vegetable oil, straight vegetable oil, filtered waste motor oil, or just plain old home heating oil. No starter, no electrical system, just a hand crank and a tank of water for cooling.
Every part on the engine is serviceable, and it even ships with spare gaskets, piston rings and a set of valves. The generator is also a throwback from the past. A simple four pole machine, turning at 1800 rpm, self exciting and heavy, built for long running hours and also fully serviceable, with replacement parts available. It even shipped with replacement brushes.
Stationary power plants were once the norm in the steam era, and also in the days of these early diesels. Now we have portable engines with lots more HP, but they are built to run a few hundred hours before they need to be rebuilt. These old diesels were built to run hundreds of thousands of hours, with only basic maintenance to keep them going.
There is something very magical about these old machines. They labour away, huffing and puffing with a steady thud, thud, thud. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just a simple prime mover and a belt. It doesn't get more basic. But sometimes the simple things in life bring the most pleasure. Knowing that we can produce power for long periods, without the screaming sound of the high rpm generators, provides peace of mind when grid power is unavailable.
