I don't have any first hand experience with diesel generators, but I saw three cases where power was lost and diesel backup was switched on. In two of these thr

I don't have any first hand experience with diesel generators, but I saw three cases where power was lost and diesel backup was switched on. In two of these three cases, the generator failed (once didn't start, the other time it ran for 30 mins). In both cases it was in scenarios where I'd imagine reasonable care and maintenance were applied.