The World’s Smallest Portable Diesel Generator: The Dewey Electronics MEP-531A for the US Military

OK, maybe it’s not the lightest, but I would say it’s the smallest generator of it’s kind.  A tried and true electricity in a box product. Simple, extremely rugged, intelligent and, most of all, mobile.  In deciding to stock this product, we had to think of a lot of factors.  Those included:

• Dealing with higher surplus prices at auction. There are simply fewer of these units hitting the surplus market versus the MEP-016D/E line.  I leave out the Onan-based models as they are 2x the weight of these other, lighter, Yanmar based units.
• Spare parts availability. New models take a while to build up spare parts inventories. But since it’s a current production Yanmar engine, all engine components are readily available.

All that said, the reality is:  There really isn’t another choice on the market.  The MEP-531A unit has all the features that you would want including durability and mobility.  Weighing in at 124 lbs dry and 152 lbs wet (with diesel), the unit can actually be carried in a pack and carried for limited distances.  It is easily mounted to any vehicle (jeeps, pickup-trucks, SUVs, any car’s trunk) including ATVs. It can easily rachet down to an ATV or snowmobile utility carrier or luggage rack.

Here is an excerpt from the Dewey Electronics website:  “If the problem involves diesel fuel and clean efficient power in a challenging mobile environment, we want to be involved.”

“Dewey provides research and development engineering, prototyping, testing, and evaluation specifically relating to compact diesel power generation. We sometimes describe it “creating systems that can be fielded quickly – the R&D is focused on integration with a lower case r and upper case D.” We can provide practical expertise in dealing with ‘constrained parameter systems’ for military applications, such as meeting extreme requirements for fuel consumption, space claim, or altitude. Our practical focus includes engineers with years of experience in our manufacturing facility as well as experience getting complete electro-mechanical systems successfully fielded.

Our prototype team has had multiple careers building production systems and prototyping military hardware. We are neither fuel cell scientists nor power conversion gurus. What we are very good at is integrating best-in-class technology from our partners to produce an optimized overall system with the highest probability of successful operation. We can be critical team members on the development of technologies involving power generation, or we can bring all this experience to trouble shooting an existing system or resolving a design problem while still achieving the minimum possible sized system. Here are some examples of projects we have done.”