Generator Conversion to Propane or NG

[AMProducts]

Ignorant but sincere question(s). Why convert to propane? Is it lesser expensive than fuel? More efficient? More economical? Quieter? I'm assuming it provides the user with more options/flexibility in an emergency and it is perhaps safer to store spare tanks than fuel. Please enlighten me as I'm interesting in learning more.

Propane has a few advantages: 1) it's a pressurized gas, and lives in a pressurized container so it doesn't go bad over time due to loss of volatility 2) it doesn't have any road-taxes attached, so it's usually cheaper than gasoline. Unless you're somewhere really cold, propane is a pretty reliable energy source (IIRC it stays liquid at like -20F or something)

As for gas sitting in the carb - there is a pretty easy remedy.

Test run the genset every couple of months for at least a few minutes, then turn the gas off. The genset will then run the gas out of the carb and it won't sit there until you are ready to run it again.

I have enough Pri-G and Pri-D to treat 2K gallons of gasoline and diesel respectively.

The big thing with any fuel additives are they're mostly there to deal with either water, or loss of volatiles. Most gen-sets have a petcock somewhere in there, however most of the gas tanks are made of low-quality plastic. In general, I try to remove all the gas from the tank, otherwise it's just going to sludge up the tank.

In cases where your carb does get junked up, Chemtool, Seafoam, and Marvel Mystery Oil have all worked wonders for cleaning these things out. Usually seafoam or MMO mixed in the gas will blow some smoke but the engine runs a lot better afterwards. The gas-additives like PRI and Stabil have really shown no-effect in my experience (never used either with diesel however). The #1 thing when it comes to storing gasoline is keeping it cool, and keeping it in a metal container that can handle a bit of pressure. At the moment, I have a decent supply of gas in 30 gallon steel drums (I buy these because they're possible for one person to move with a hand-truck without hurting themselves). The place I get them from they usually had flavor oil in them (wintergreen seems the most common) and are rated for containing flammable volatile liquids. Then I have a drum-pump with which I can fill 20L jerry cans (which is also how I fill the drums). This system has worked out well, and I don't buy the special E0, or use stabil pri or anything else. Just fill the drum, tighten the plug and date it. The longest I've stored fuel was 4 years in a jerry can. As long as the seals are good (you get a little "puff" when opened) never had a single issue burning it in anything.

As far as small appliance engines... if possible empty all the fuel from both the tank and the engine, especially if you're going to store it for a while, in most cases this prolongs the life of the device, and is rather cheap insurance, and unlike the stabilizer products is guaranteed to work.

 

[bgdawgrr]

I always see 5 gallon propane tanks for sale at estate sales and generally they're priced real cheap and most are at least 3/4 full of propane.
When I see the ones that have the older internal threads and can't be refilled, I point it out to the sales help and make a real low ball offer ($2.00) to take them off their hands.
Even if I can't refill it, a full tank for $2.00 is still worth storing until I need it.

BlueRhino swaps are great for this problem.