Portable generator converison

[Norm reynolds]

Hello to all I have been reading on the side lines alot lately
But have not chimed in for a while
Have not been well in the last few months
Any way I would like to know if any one has had any experience
Converting a portable generator for gasoline to a tri –fuel
So you would be able to run gasoline –natural gas and propane
I have a 7750 . watt with a 13.000 watt surge Generac
I have been storing 20 gallons of gas and have been switching the gas out every 6 months in the car and refilling the gas cans ( pain in the a***) I have never used it yet in the two years I had it . In the last few weeks we have had some storms and people 5 mils north of me have had no power for over a week . The problem is I have enough gas for about 3 days . I would like to have a better system just in case I lose it for a week or more
I have found this company that sells conversion kits but I can not find any one that has tried this > It does not look hard but would hate to waste the money if it did not work
Here is there web site
http://www.propane-generators.com/
Thanks Norm

[firstgenaddict]

Changing to LP should not be that difficult... my dad said that they did some conversions of gas to LP with some Forklifts at the papermill back in the 70's. I belive that you ahve to replace the carb, add a few valves / regulators... not much else... it will run much cleaner.

[njsteve]

Sounds crazy but why dont you rig up a long fuel line that can be inserted into the car of your choice (or your neighbor's car when they're not looking http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif) in the event of an emergency and the generator can run off of the car's fuel tank. -I had to do this one year with our house generator when all of the gas stations were closed. I was sitting there wondering where I was going to get gas when it occurred to be I had about 150 gallons in the various cars sitting around the house.

[PeteLeathersac]

Not too familar w/ Propane but think it's probaby cheaper to source the conversion materials than Natural gas is since it's more widely used in the Forklift industry. .

That said, I had some experience w/ bi-fuel Natural gas-Gasoline vehicles about 10 years ago and the biggie there is Natural Gas needs a much higher pressure storage supply tank than Propane so that's expensive alone unless you have an onsite supply source you can tap into. .
On carburated bi-fuel Natural Gas/Gasoline cars the carb can stay and the natural gas is mixed w/ the air supply before going through the carb. . The gasoline supply is shut off then the engine run until it's running out of gasoline and you flip over to the natural gas. .

As a side note, on engines dedicated to Natural Gas only you can up the compression ratio as Natural has quite a high octane rating but this is also the down side of bi-fuel system as the lower compression ratio used on the gasoline has less power operating on the natural gas even with the timing advance system used when running the Natural. . I always thought a dedicated Natural Gas only performance engine would be good as the octane is somewhere north of 125 octance?

Best advice would be to research a lot before you spend anything and if there's no onsite supply source of Natural Gas at hand, don't even consider it. .

~ Pete

[Norm reynolds]

Yes I do have a on site source of natuarl gas that is what I use to cook and heat my home I would have to run about 14 ft of 3/4 gas pipe I just do not know if this converison will work
Thanks Norm

[PeteLeathersac]

Ok, if you have a supply of the Natural Gas it is possible. .
And I'm no expert and only know a little about it so confirm anything and everything and again don't spend any money until you have all facts and components required planned out and costed accordingly. .

The first thing to consider is SAFETY! . Using lighter than air gases isn't the same as spilling gasoline. . If something leaks, even a little bit, you're in danger also putting others at risk! .
Hand in hand w/ the safety issue is location of the unit. . A well ventilated area is best and considering this thing makes noise running, I'd expect you're not putting it in your basement anyway? .

Next, will your Natural Gas provider even entertain this idea? . They're certainly not going to just let you do what you please also anything you do or have done will probably need certified components also an inspection before the use is allowed? . Again, check first before you spend anything! .

On to the machine. . The cool thing is most gasoline engines will run on Natural gas without major internal modifications (don't forget hardened seats on old engines). .
As long as the conversion components are confirmed Ok by your gas provider you may be able to do the machine conversion yourself but the supply line modification and hook up by a certified tech? .

Here's a link to conversion kits. . The title says propane but there's Natural, Bi-Fuel and Tri-Fuel there. . Google has lots of results on this topic too. .

http://www.propane-generators.com/

Again don't spend anything until you know everything is a go on paper first....and no smoking! .
http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif
~ Pete

[PeteLeathersac]

Didn't see you had found the same site already....I better stop using that aluminum cookware?? .
~ Pete

[BBIGG BLOCK 396]

Norm,check out this site i believe thay have what you are needing. http://www.propanecarbs.com/

Bobby Dodson

[WILMASBOYL78]

We have a weekend house in the mts. of upstate NY...the power is always going off..summer and winter! Everyone up there has a backup system using propane, because most folks also cook with it. We are getting ready to start the process for installing a propane unit.....they are the way to go. The unit is self contained with a battery and starts itself automatically once a week to keep the battery charged. Getting a larger 100 gal. tank for propane. I can get info on brands and pricingand ask my guy about the conversion you need...let me know and I'll get it together.

wilma