I hear what you are saying and am with you on the quality of the 3500 series especially the diesel version. I guess I am thinking more along the lines of a larger, slower speed 900RPM heavy duty installation and I was interested in the OP for the following reasons:
No cylinder heads or valves
-No sparkplugs,coils etc.
-The OP is dual fuel and would switch to full diesel mode in case of a gas system interruption and stay online until the problem could be corrected.
-Available as standby power/black start in case of power outage.
- Compression ignition with pilot fuel = better thermal efficiency
Sorry, can't pocket the savings to buy a motorhome!
I still am curious about how difficult they are to maintain and especially loading those lower pistons.
Here is an article I found that shows some of the maintenance issues with gas engines.....
http://www.practicingoilanalysis.com/ar ... ilAnalysis
We see receded valves like that ALL the time burning digester gas....except when the head of the valve comes off and works its way through the piston and /or cylinder head and then the turbo.......ugly! AND expensive.
Not so sure about the drain intervals they discuss on the OP towards the end of the article.....
Thanks again for your thoughts!