Just a quick follow-up ....

My cocktail of oils,water, fuel and salt shows no sign of separating. 

Try adding a SMALL (5%) amount of water, and gently agitate.  That may kick it off.  And warm it up to at least 60F, that may help too.  Even heating to 100F may work

I learned a bit of information from my Amish Lister dealer friend

I suspect east coast is too far from me, but what's the dealers name/ph/web ?

Trace/Xantrex SW series have been discontinued, and dealer stock is dwindling .

The replacement line XW series, is not fully ramped up into production.  The XW series is as capable as the SW was,
and has more capability for bells & whistles. (costs more too)

Recharging flooded lead acid batteries is about 80% efficient.  AGM batteries are about 90% efficient, but if overcharged, you cannot add water.  ( to get 100 watts out, you need to charge with 120 watts - 80%)  Holds true for any voltage.

If you have a DC source (generator) and it is running, it's power would be directly feeding the grid-tie inverter.  The batteries may be "on-line", but in an idle state, or preferably, in "float charge".

for 4,000 watts (33.3A@ 120V), I would suggest as high as possible DC voltage as you can locate inverter/charger for.
96V : 41.6A
72V : 55.5A
60V : 66.6A
48V : 83.3A
because of copper losses in the wires.

30A household circuits require 10 ga wire (USA)  more ampreage requires even thicker wire, both for safety and low resistance losses.

Of course, you will need proper DC rated fuses and circuit breakers, conventional AC ones will not work for DC, as the DC arc does not self exinguish.

If you are looking for something solar, to feed the grid, and reduce your electric bill, Grid tie can't be beat, as modern high voltage inverters  [ 300 - 600VDC ] run about 96% efficient.  I will use a generator for the rare blackouts.  Eventually, as I move out of the city, I will have a grid-tie system again, and because of likelyhood of extended blackouts, a generator & modest battery bank.
View my current solar output http://www.mike-burgess.org/images/GT_Screen_Save.png
Updates every 10 min. Los Angeles daylight hours only.

I really like the  "blongg  blongg" sound that the lister(oids) make, when they have the long pipe/expansion chambers.  Is there a good rule of thumb to get the sound - [small muffler - long pipe]  or [long, large bore pipe] .
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvpdYWNFHnU    is a video with an engine at 370 RPM, does that sound change much when at 650 ?  So many engines are recorded with the pepper pot muffler, they nearly sound like the 3600 rpm screamers.
  Just looking for the right sound.

I warn you, these engines are addicting and you going to want more than one. I'm looking at a 16 HP or a 20 HP single to add to my list this year.

Can that post be purged before my wife sees it

I am a little confused on why you would adjust the ph in WMO? Adding lye to the oil doesn't seem right to me. And also where do you get litmus paper for WMO?

I think he adds only water for testing, and if it's too acidic, adds both Water & Lye for adjusting and , and uses ordinary everyday litmus paper to test the water.   When the water tests fine, he de-waters the fuel.  At least that's how I'm understanding his process.   WMO tends to acidify while it's in use in the engine (combustion byproducts)