[special-K]

That article didn't tell me anything. What explosion? Are they saying the engines "blew up"? That's not the same as explosion. My thoughts went to propane explosion. I've done a lot of work running a generator 8-12 hours a day with very slack maintenance. No problem. Fill with gas, check oil, and start. They rarely needed oil, only when there was some issue like a leak or old worn motor. Air filters usually got cleaned or changed when they were hard to start. Oil got changed every couple months. I took care of mine better than most. I never heard of any blowing the engine before their time that had the oil checked before starting. This was before automatic oil check.

I guess they're trying to say, in their dramatic and/or poorly written way, that during that period of everyone's use of generators that many failed due to lack of maintenance. They want to make people aware of the importance of proper maintenance.

I remember working for this guy who had an old generator with really low compression that was hard to start and it would put out a cloud of blue smoke when you first started it. It was mandatory procedure to check oil before starting. It definitely "used" oil. I have always placed the generator around the corner from where I work so I don't have to hear it or breath exhaust. One day after lunch, generator started, back to work, and I thought I'd ask the helper if he checked the oil, even though he knew he should. I yell over to him, "Hey, did you check the oi... <<tink!>>... and generator noise stops, no power at the saw. I knew exactly what happened. Walk around and see a hole in the side of the block and a puddle of oil. That was the only generator I ever knew of blow up.