Propane Generator

Generac's are no longer made, and the last generation with inverters were total crap. I have a few friends who had nothing but trouble with them.

Onan is the only new one available, (built in) and they also are not what they used to be.

Buy a good used low hour Honda EV 4010 or 6010. They also are no longer made, but the engines are used in many other things like tractors and such, and are very reliable, and parts are readily availabel.

kevden wrote:
I bought a champion 76530 3500w lp generator last year for the same reasons as you. We tow with an suv. I did not run the generator long enough in one trip to use a full tank, so i cannot answer that question. The only problem that i have is that i left the generator(minus the lp tank)in the back of the yukon all summer, and now the truck still smells like lp gas inside several months later. I plan to try some odor absorbing products.
For the initial oil fill in the spring i used penziol pure plus synthetic and when i changed the oil in the fall it still looked like new oil. Amazing how clean the lp burns. I also like that their is no varnish/gumming of the carb and fuel lines or ethanol phase separation.

You should try an Ozone generator. They work wonders on bad smells. Just don't sit in there with it.

Redterpos3 wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Now, for lets say half load on your genset you will get somewhere around 9 hours out of a 20LB tank. (about 10 to 15% less on propane then on gasoline)

Be aware a genset can't produce the same shaft horse Power on propane that it can on gasoline. IOW's if you max your genset out on gasoline you will be short on power with propane.

Ah, interesting! That's helpful! Yeah, that's the kind of info I'm needing. So somewhere over 4000w would be better than the 3100w ones I'm seeing if i'm looking at propane?

Again, to know the actual figures you want you have to know the actual figures you are going to use.

IOW's if you are going to run an AC a hair dryer a toaster and coffee maker all at once you're going to need a lot of amps.

If you are just going to run one or 2 of these things at once then you won't need so much.

It can also depend on where you are going to camp. If you are going to camp on the beach your genset is going to make full power but if you camp lets say in Leadville Co your genset is going to be down on power by about 30+%.

The best advice I can give you is sit down with someone that knows the average amp draw of various appliances in a TT and give him your goals and go from there.

One thing to think about is this. There is a lot of advantages to picking up 2 2K gensets and run them in parallel. If you need just a little power you can just run one. If you need lot of power you can run both at the same time. And then there is the redundancy thing. If one does not start for some reason you still have power.

I have no idea if you can get a propane kit for lets say a 2K Honda?

PS, I'm not saying propane gensets are bad. There are VERY many plusses to them..........but just like most things in life, there are drawbacks too. It's always a good idea to go into buying things with eyes wide open.

I shopped Generac LP generators for back up home power but did not buy due to run times. (Bought gas for now, and NG is in my future) Here are the specs for their generators, I would assume they are similar for other makes.

3200 watt LP powered unit;
9 Hours with 20 lb. Tank
13.5 Hours with 30 lb. Tank

5500 watt LP powered unit;
4.75 Hours with 20 lb. Tank /
7 Hours with 30 lb. Tank

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Now, for lets say half load on your genset you will get somewhere around 9 hours out of a 20LB tank. (about 10 to 15% less on propane then on gasoline)

Be aware a genset can't produce the same shaft horse Power on propane that it can on gasoline. IOW's if you max your genset out on gasoline you will be short on power with propane.

Ah, interesting! That's helpful! Yeah, that's the kind of info I'm needing. So somewhere over 4000w would be better than the 3100w ones I'm seeing if i'm looking at propane?

Be careful when using a "forklift" tank. Most of them are designed for liquid propane withdraw and not the vapor withdraw that your generator will require.

A tank full of propane will last for a long, long time without going bad, like gas and diesel. That's the big attraction for me. I'm looking into converting my generator to propane for that reason. I plan of a dedicated tank like a forklift tank.

It's really impossible to say unless we know the load put on the genset.

Kind of like asking how many MPG will I get with my V8 truck. Are you towing or solo. What gears? How fast do you drive? How heavy?

Now, for lets say half load on your genset you will get somewhere around 9 hours out of a 20LB tank. (about 10 to 15% less on propane then on gasoline)

Be aware a genset can't produce the same shaft horse Power on propane that it can on gasoline. IOW's if you max your genset out on gasoline you will be short on power with propane.

Anyone have experience with Generac?

Based on BTU equivalence to gasoline, I would estimate 8-10 hours at half-load on a 3.6-4 KW genset, which is typical for running an A/C and normal loads on a 40-55 Amp 12V converter. Most RV gensets are sized to handle peak loads for the 120V hookup (thus 3.6-4 KW for 30 amp service) and normal loads are about half peak.

Peak loads come in when trying to use multiple heating appliances like hair dryers, toasters, electric fry pans and griddles, and heavy motor loads like vacuum cleaners, any of which is a likely overload when the A/C is also running.