Best way to install extra propane

@Grit dog wrote:
@Spectra, where do you need that much extra propane? I guess if you go back country in the winter for extended periods? Apocolypse?

Apocalypse here..LOL

I have 2-25 gallon and 1-10 gallon propane tanks I use during hunting season/fishing and long stays in the winter months snowmobiling or just getting away..No propane generator here,just a couple Honda's..The 2-25 gallon were plumbed to the front of my last travel trailer and the 10 gallon I use the most,for my TC's and running a heater only off the tank..

When the wood stove in our house had a crisis,I put a 25 gallon tank out the window and used the Big Buddy heater...

A man can't have enough propane tanks..IMHO propane generators suck..




For the op..Just mount a propane holder to one or both sides of that giant step..I am thinking of putting a propane tank on one side and a generator base on the other for when the ATV trailer is not in tow.

Kayteg1 wrote:
It kept us comfortable in 124F weather.

100° is comfortable? :?

Grit dog wrote:
@Spectra, where do you need that much extra propane? I guess if you go back country in the winter for extended periods? Apocolypse?

That's not my trailer.

I posted that with a little tongue in cheek for the OP.

"Seems like you found something that works for you. What I’ve been doing works for me. It’s up to others to determine what works best for each of them."

Agreed. It wasn't my intention to make it a generator vs. solar debate. My suggestion remains for the OP to consider adding solar. Solar will result in less need to run the generator, less propane consumed, less propane to carry and buy.

@Spectra, where do you need that much extra propane? I guess if you go back country in the winter for extended periods? Apocolypse?

Propane generator would be a deal breaker for me. Burns fuel quicker than comparable gasoline and much more of an inconvienence to "gas up."

But like devildog, if you already have one, I'd make a bumper mount, under mount in truck body (only if tis a long term dedicated camper rig) or something.
What about in the back "wings" of the camper? I made a mount there to haul the 2k generator. On our camper at least, could fit a 20lb bottle on each side with a creative mount.

work2much wrote:
How are you determining full? LED's work? Are these led acid/AGM?

...

running the generator for several hours or a decent solar array which in good weather will keep the battery from becoming low and in need of a long charging effort to 100% full.

As noted, I’m going by my LEDs and they are lead acid maintenance free because that’s what was available at Yellowstone 3 years ago when they basically failed. I’m happy with that level of durability. I’m not a full timer, but I have had my current camper/charger for over 13 years. It seems to be fine even if it isn’t perfect.

In practice, it doesn’t really matter if they are “fully” charged or not. But, you need sun to charge with solar, so I don’t think there is any guarantee it will fully charge either. It would depend on when you discharged and the charging conditions.

For instance, if you were fully charged during the day, solar wouldn’t do anything for you at night/evening if you ran your batteries down. Similarly, solar wouldn’t do a lot for an overcast/rainy/snowy day. However, I could run my generator for a while as long as I had propane either during the day or night and in spite of the weather.

Seems like you found something that works for you. What I’ve been doing works for me. It’s up to others to determine what works best for each of them.

jimh425 wrote:

work2much wrote:
Running a propane generator to charge the batteries is slow and consumes a lot of propane.

Sounds like a converter/charger issue. I can usually take my two batteries from a low battery to full charge in 30 minutes to 1 hr. Not exactly scientific, but my leds are fully lit.

How are you determining full? LED's work? Are these led acid/AGM?

If you have 2 batteries whether they are 2 12v or 2 6v in series you should have about 200-230 Ah or 100 or so usable if you drain the batteries down to 50% (low) You would need a 200ah charger for 1/2 hour or 100ah charger for 1 hour. But that math isn't even close to what any multi stage charger will do no matter what its price/quality. To start most converter chargers are 60AH or less, but the real issue is that as the progress through their stages charging current is diminished. At the final float stage the battery is receiving just a trick charge. To get to 100% will take a while. For led acid battery health it's important to fully charge the battery with some regularity and even overcharge the battery in "equalize" mode to desulphate plates.

Lithium batteries are far better in this regard as they can take a high rate of charge to their top but the nature of chargers will diminish charging current as voltage max gets close. They definitely will charge much faster though especially with a programmable charging source.

Bottom line is that 1/2 hour -1 hour is not fulling charging the batteries. Your half hour charge may be enough to make the led lights work but for optimal battery health make sure to have a charging source that will take the battery through all the charging phases and fully fill the battery such as plugged into shore, running the generator for several hours or a decent solar array which in good weather will keep the battery from becoming low and in need of a long charging effort to 100% full.

work2much wrote:
Running a propane generator to charge the batteries is slow and consumes a lot of propane.

Sounds like a converter/charger issue. I can usually take my two batteries from a low battery to full charge in 30 minutes to 1 hr. Not exactly scientific, but my leds are fully lit.

We went to Alaska a couple years ago. No problems finding propane. We didn't need to run the air conditioner at all. You might consider a solar kit to tend the batteries. Running a propane generator to charge the batteries is slow and consumes a lot of propane.

Here's your answer. :)




I put a Tee in one of the lines from my propane bottles so when they ran out
I could just hook another one up to the existing lines.

Mine are horizontal tanks and they are too expensive for me to buy extra ones.




Its easier for me because I'm always towing a trailer for my ATV so carrying extra bottles of propane, an extra 30 gallons of fresh water and extra gas for the ATV isn't an issue.

I don't know why but I don't think I'd want an extra 20+ gallons of propane riding on my back bumper.

Good luck