Storing/traveling with gas for portable gen

[Jbrowland]

Hello all. Thanks in advance for the advice and insight you folks always offer.

I recently switched from a class C with a built in gen to a travel trailer to pull with my truck and after buying portable generator and a 5 gallon gas can I realized I may have an unsafe situation according to the 5 hours of reading I have done on the internet concerning storing and traveling with a portable gen and gas can with gas in them.

Here's my specific situation. I live in a townhouse in the middle of the city with a two car garage below the living area where I am currently keeping two cars along with my new generator (holds 1.6 gallons of gas) and a 5 gallon can of gas (red plastic No Spill version) filled about 95%. I do not have any other place to store the gas can away from the house (like a shed etc...) and yes, I have a water heater with pilot light in the garage as well. Not ideal.

I am leaning towards NOT storing the gas can in the garage and emptying the generator but then where will I keep the gas can and how will I fill up the gen before trips and so much for using the gen in case of an emergency? What do you all do and what would you do in my case to mitigate the potential for safety issues?

Also, how do you all travel with portable gas cans for your gens in your trucks? I used to mow lawns when I was a kid and most of these things were kept in the garages of several houses in my hood and no issues.

My trailer is stored at a private storage facility about 15 miles away. I have a 25 foot parking space at the storage facility with RV's on both sides of mine.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts. There are so many positives with the trailer over the class C but this issue is one I didn't really think about until it was too late. My bad.

[Jbrowland]

Thank you all for your time and thoughts. Every post has added some positive fuel for thought so to speak. 😉

[westend]

Yes, solar charging is too good an option for the 12V system to not have some. The OP states 300W and 2 batteries worked great for him. That would certainly work for running the furnace for a couple of days. That means, on some trips, the generator and gas can will stay at home.

I'd suggest to find a worthy metal storage box that can be installed outside your home. With close proximity of neighbors, an OSHA approved box may be the best solution. If the OP has a cheap plastic gas can, replacement with Rotopax or gerry can should be on the list. Both of these cans have mounting brackets available so can be deployed on the exterior of the trailer and not be in the way of other stuff in the truck bed.

[TomG2]

And the answer is, "Solar". Portable units if shade is a problem. No AC required means no generator to me. One can cook without a microwave, our ancestors did it all the time.

[Chuck_thehammer]

I do not believe an answer is available to suit OP problems with fuel and generator.

He lives in California. (yes?) and he should have California legal generator.... the only issue is fuel can.. and many answers have been posted.

[donkeydew]

yep an osha storage cabinet and a osha approved gas can will go a long way to protecting you and your neighbors

[drsteve]

http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/storage/flammable-osha-cabinets/flammable

[Z-Peller]

Jbrowland......

When I had a gasoline engine truck I just carried a 2.5 gal empty gas can and when needed I siphoned gas into it from my truck tank for the portable generator fuel. When generator was topped up I emptied gas can back into truck tank because I had no safe place to carry a can of gas. Could you not do the same thing at home? If you don't like sucking on a hose you can get a hand siphon pump.. lol....I store my Honda 2000 at home in my garage in a rubbermaid tub as someone else mentioned, with a foam type weather seal I attached around rim. Honda gas tank vent is closed too, and I never have even a wiff of fumes until I pull lid of the tub.... I am Mr. cautious and feel quite ok with it.

[SoundGuy]

Jbrowland wrote:
My 3100w genset runs the AC just fine without mods.

I agree. A small 1000w genset for charging batteries and small things seems like a good solution when the ac isn't needed and carrying weight is an issue. My genset weighs over 100 ponds when full of gas and oil.

If I do decide I can do without the AC when dry camping then I may consider a smaller generator but would most likely just install solar again.

And therein lies the rub - weight. 😞 If we could only have a 2K inverter genset that weighs no more than a current 1K it'd be a grand solution. My 2K Honda ran everything including the MW oven and had I installed a Micro-Air Easy Start kit on the A/C it would have run it as well. :B Only one issue - a 2K, although half the weight of your 3100, is just too darned heavy. Interesting you've come this far by investing in the 3100 yet are once again considering solar when you previously said - "Solar helped in my old class C but wasn’t always reliable with tree coverage and winter hours." I agree though, solar does solve the problem of dragging around a heavy genset & having to fool with gas.

[beemerphile1]

Back when I was working we had a fire cabinet outside the building for flammables. Any chance of having space for a locking cabinet outside for the genset and fuel?

[Veebyes]

Maybe I am living on the edge but I store gas in containers with vents closed or non vented containers & they are in my garage with the car that has a vented gas tank that is not closed.

On the road the genny rides in the 5er basement with whatever gas is in it & the tank vent closed. I seldom carry more than a 2 gal plastic gas container, also in the 5er basement along with all kinds of other flammable cleaning supplies.

Flammable stuff does not burst into flame for no reason. Perfectly safe in sealed containers which are secured in a moving vehicle.

[Jbrowland]

TurnThePage wrote:
So... Is there a reason you couldn't store the gen in the rv when it's not being used? I used to do that often with no problems at all.

Thanks for the reply. Yep. I could. That said, it weighs well over 100 pounds (not easy to move around and up the stairs by myself) and my RV is stored 20 miles away from my home so that would mean I couldn't use it for emergencies or keep an eye on things. But yes. I could always do that and have considered that decent option.

[TurnThePage]

So... Is there a reason you couldn't store the gen in the rv when it's not being used? I used to do that often with no problems at all.

[Jbrowland]

SoundGuy wrote:

Jbrowland wrote:
I’m now wondering just how often I’ll need to run the AC and if I really need the genset at all. It’s the furnace we mostly use at night that kills our batteries when we camp.

That's a question only you can answer. I too had hoped I could power a 13,500 BTU A/C with a Honda EU2000i and while it did work it would start to go into overload whenever outside ambient temps began to rise above the mid 80s, just when I'd want A/C. :R These days I think that issue could be solved by installing a Micro-Air Easy Start Soft Starter Kit on the A/C but of course that's even more $$$. I had also hoped that once cooled down I could shut down the genset and the trailer interior would remain cool ... such was not the case at all, as interior temps immediately began to rise noticeably as soon as the A/C was turned off. :M That in turn meant that if I was going to be using a genset to power A/C that genset was going to have to run ALL day. Some don't mind but no way I want to listen to any genset droning on at full tilt just to power A/C, no way do I want to have to continue to feed it gas. Eliminate A/C and other than the MW oven I can pretty well do everything off battery power, which is why I'm now considering a small, lightweight 1000 watt genset to recharge the battery. However, to justify the purchase of any genset I'd not use all that much I'd like to also use it to run the house furnace at times we may lose power. However, the recommendation of others here on the forum and measurements I've taken with a Kill-a-Watt meter suggest a 1K genset would likely go into overload, the solution being a heavier 2000 watt model, but at my age I'm much less interested in tossing around a 50 lb genset than maybe I used to be. If a 1K genset won't work for me then I may just add a second battery to the trailer, forget the genset idea entirely, and call it good. 😄

My 3100w genset runs the AC just fine without mods.

I agree. A small 1000w genset for charging batteries and small things seems like a good solution when the ac isn't needed and carrying weight is an issue. My genset weighs over 100 ponds when full of gas and oil.

If I do decide I can do without the AC when dry camping then I may consider a smaller generator but would most likely just install solar again. The solar on my old class C roof was amazing with 300 total watts and two 6V batteries.

[Jbrowland]

TomG2 wrote:
Oh my gosh. Silly winter topic of the week.

I agree for the most part...unless the individual asking the question has zero experience with something potentially very dangerous. That's why we have this forum. It's incredibly helpful for anyone seeking knowledge to get answers from a variety of people with experience who are willing to take the time to respond respectfully. Additionally, I have found conflicting info regarding almost every post on this thread from several reliable sources so that makes peeling back the layers of truth from such a topic difficult. Thanks for your opinion. 🙂

[GordonThree]

Watch the various myth busters episodes on gasoline. My favorite is rolling a lit cigarette around in gas, only thing it did was extinguish the cigarette.