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.

[SoundGuy]

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. 😄

[Chuck_thehammer]

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I guess my other post in this thread is invisible...

deleted... not wanted..

[colliehauler]

Grit dog wrote:
Oh my gosh. Silly winter topic of the week.....
Traveling, put the genretor and gas cans in the truck bed. That’s what it’s there for. Or you could build/install a rack or box on the back bumper of the TT if it’ll hold(but stuff gets dirty back there). Or you could put the gas can(s) in an outside vented storage compartment in the camper.
At home, store in garage. If you’re not experienced with gas cans (sounds weird , I know) gas vapors exhaust and and contract with temperature , so don’t seal them up completely, leave a vent that will seep a little so they don’t balloon up in the summer or collapse in the winter.
Maybe I’m weird, but I’ve only carried like thousands of gas cans in/on most any type of motorized rig. It’s a gas can. Tie it down so it’s not bouncing around on every bump and go enjoy your camping trips!

You all do realize that as we speak thousands of people are filling gas jugs and putting them in their truck or trunk and there’s millions of gas powered tools in garages around the world.......

This ^^^. Use common sense and you will be fine.

[colliehauler]

Dave H M wrote:
When a electric water heater calls for heating the water a electric contact is made that powers the heating element.

We are in the ozone layer now. If the contacts spark it is inside the outer jacket and also covered with insulation inside that jacket.

Happy trails.

So your a expert in hydrocarbon vapors, what is your occupation and training? My point is unless you have a explosions proof room there will always be hazards.

Even in the lab that everything had to be intrinsically safe, we had open flames on the gas chromatograph and the sulfur detector.

[TomG2]

Oh my gosh. Silly winter topic of the week.

Forget the generator. Go where you don't need air conditioning and get a second battery to handle the rest.

[NMDriver]

I guess putting a trash bag around the can and tying it closed is not going to get any votes but it does keep the vapors--If any--from leaking into the garage. As for the generator drain it, and use a 55 gal bag. You want all the fuel out of the carb anyway if storing for very long.

A bag will work in the back of a truck or trunk of a car also.

[Grit_dog]

Oh my gosh. Silly winter topic of the week.....
Traveling, put the genretor and gas cans in the truck bed. That’s what it’s there for. Or you could build/install a rack or box on the back bumper of the TT if it’ll hold(but stuff gets dirty back there). Or you could put the gas can(s) in an outside vented storage compartment in the camper.
At home, store in garage. If you’re not experienced with gas cans (sounds weird , I know) gas vapors exhaust and and contract with temperature , so don’t seal them up completely, leave a vent that will seep a little so they don’t balloon up in the summer or collapse in the winter.
Maybe I’m weird, but I’ve only carried like thousands of gas cans in/on most any type of motorized rig. It’s a gas can. Tie it down so it’s not bouncing around on every bump and go enjoy your camping trips!

You all do realize that as we speak thousands of people are filling gas jugs and putting them in their truck or trunk and there’s millions of gas powered tools in garages around the world.......

[Jbrowland]

babock wrote:
No problem leaving it in your garage. Gasoline vapors are heavier than air so would be at around a foot level. That's the reason water heaters are required to be raised from the floor...so they won't ignite gasoline vapors.

My garage has vents along its perimeter. Does yours?

Looks like we live close to one another. I’m in the SFV.

Yes. Typical early 80’s construction in the valley. I have two vents on either side of the garage door about 2 inches above the ground.

Side note, while the genset is pretty quiet I do wonder if I can even safely use it on my patio if there was occasion to use it. My neighbors are pretty close to me on three sides. If they have their windows open, they will smell the exhaust. Sometimes city life sucks. 🙂

[babock]

No problem leaving it in your garage. Gasoline vapors are heavier than air so would be at around a foot level. That's the reason water heaters are required to be raised from the floor...so they won't ignite gasoline vapors.

My garage has vents along its perimeter. Does yours?

[Jbrowland]

GordonThree wrote:
OP does your townhouse have a common yard? Maybe you can dig in a 50 gallon oil drum while your neighbors are away.


http://prepperswill.com/make-gas-cache/

Thanks for the replies so far folks. Most kind of ya’ll.

I live in “cement city.” No common yard of any kind. I have a small patio and my neighbors are all very close to me. The garage is the only secure place to store things unfortunately.

My genset is a Champion 3100 watt portable with the remote start. Weighs about 110 pounds when full. The garage is a very small,two car garage. I also have a washer and dryer down there along with the hot water heater. The only space I have to store the genset and the gas can out of the way where they won’t get bumped is about 8 feet away from the water heater.

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. Solar helped in my old class C but wasn’t always reliable with tree coverage and winter hours. Perhaps that’s another thread all together but I have done that before so I know the drill. The new trailer doesn’t have solar on it yet. Just a portable panel I can deploy if needed to help.

Question #1. If I were to empty the genset and the gas can how do I make sure they won’t still have fumes escaping? According to some of the prepper web pages I have read, empty cans and gensets can be even more dangerous with trace amounts of gas left over after emptying.

Question #2. I know thousands of folks must be carrying gas in their trucks when they camp. Almost half of the RV’s at any NP are trailers and they mostly bring generators. I didn’t think much about them when I had the class C. How do you all who have trucks and trailers carry extra fuel when traveling? Where do you put the gas can in the bed of the truck? Where do you keep the gas can in between fills?

[GordonThree]

OP does your townhouse have a common yard? Maybe you can dig in a 50 gallon oil drum while your neighbors are away.


http://prepperswill.com/make-gas-cache/

[coolmom42]

I understand wanting to store gas for a bug-out situation, although you do need to use it and refill the storage pretty often, unless you add a stabilizer.

NATO standard jerrycans are the best available.

[DiskDoctr]

It only takes a small dogbox-sized attachment on your garage (rubbermaid storage shed, etc) to put your cans in, out of sun and out of sight.

Large detached garage, wouldn't worry about it. Attached garage, fumes from cans, cars, etc are not pleasant.

[TurnThePage]

You could store the generator in the travel trailer. Empty the unused gas from the can into your vehicles. When camping time arrives, fill the can and be on your way.

[Chuck_thehammer]

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