Propane gennie maintenance in cold winter

Slymer wrote:
I have tried quick start fluid, with no luck, but this is not an engine. It is a built-in propane generator. Definitely getting spark and all other appliances are getting propane but it appears the generator is not. I have managed to get a couple of hoses off & blow them out. Still no luck. Just cranks over & over.
Got it running about a month ago, finally,.....but now again no luck.

I know you have spent hours scouring the Internet, so this may be info you already know...

- The vent tubes are known to attract nesting insects. I am not sure exactly what problem that causes, but I suspect there is some sort of vacuum signal that is not longer accurate and thus causes a bad fuel mixture. This seems a possibility given it was running fine, and the only thing it did was sit.

- I have had trouble getting mine to run if the air filter is not seated perfectly. And it is a craptastic design that is very difficult to get in place with the cover properly sealed down. Seems I had to tape mine in place one time to get it to idle properly. Very fussy about ambient air pressure - won't run without an air filter in place.

- I also had a problem where the propane continued to refine in the lines. Propane is a byproduct of natural gas and petroleum refining. It morphed back to oil in my lines. That oil went to the lowest point of the system - the generator feed line. Messed up the carb pretty good. Ended up capping all the lines off at the appliances (delicate diaphragms), then individually opening them and blowing them out with brake clean & compressed air. I revised the propane lines to include a T-trap which I can drain out a few drops of oil now and then.

HTH!
-Eric