I know this will be different for everyone, depending on how often, and long you run your generator,distance from a supply, as well as how much it eats...but do most of you keep just a 5 gallon can(s), or do you have a 25-55 gal drum for it? And does anybody use an additive like "Stabil" to help it stay fresh? (or whatever it's called) Thanks for any replies...rsbhunter
I'll admit to 3 ea of 5 gal cans which get rotated thru the mower as well as standby for the gennie. Yes, stabil is the right stuff around here, and seems to help the longer term storage. Rotate stock anyway.
Rsbhunter. Yes , we keep extra gas which is rotated very often. My suggestion to you would be to buy a unit that already runs on lp gas. It will not go bad, much safer to store and transport if you need to bring it in yourself. If you plan on running your cabin on lp gas, will they bring you a tank and keep it filled ? If so, run a second line from the main tank to where your gennie is and you have a pretty good supply of lp on hand.
Lp fuel Very true.... read somewhere that lp will stay good indefinitely, or at least long after gas has become a jellied mass...are lp generators more expensive to buy, because the difference in hassel of keeping liquid fuel in cans, and safely, might offset the $ difference...rsbhunter
I keep 8 5gal cans on hand and rotate through them throughout the year. This gas is used in lawn equipment, generator & autos as needed/rotated. I also converted my generator to run on either LP or gas. It's not a hard modification to do. I used this site to get the parts for the conversion: Generator Conversion Kits to Propane and Natural Gas.
KcKndragon That is excellent info.....hope people will pay attention to it...i made a shortcut for it, as soon as i get a gen , if a kit is made for it, i will be ordering it...duplicity is a good thing....having 2 options for fuel would be great...rsbhunter
Brush up you're Googlefu,and look for a carb conversion kit. My Dad set up His Honda 5500 before He passed on,and it will run on LP/gasoline/ethanol.With a swap of the jets it will also run on natural gas,and methane from a digester. He got the conversion kit over 10yrs ago,so they shouldnt be to unobtanium to find. Matt
I keep 8 drums of gasoline, plus a 300gal tank on a stand, and 10 drums of diesel, plus a 180gal tank on a stank, plus couple drums of kerosene. The gas and diesel, I use PRI-G and PRI-D products which far and away beat Stabil brand. I've kept gas in drums 5 years with PRI and no degrade.
Can you give us a sketch of the "stank?" Can't imagine how it's used ----. Don't you DARE edit that now---
I currently keep 8 gallons of non-E10 corrupted gas stored for my Gennie, Mowers, etc. Have five steel 5-gallon cans I am about to get filled with the same this weekend - that'll give me over thirty gallons of Non-E10, and another thirty gallons of E10 gas for the vehicles. I do use the Stabil Marine formula, in the 'long-storage strength. Don't forget to store oil, filters, etc for any small engine equipment too!
What most folks do around here in Alaska, is keep their fuel in 55 USG Drums, either Steel, or Plastic, with Plastic being the newer, and preferred container. I fill those at a $.03/USG discount, for volume buying. Gasoline up here, has NO Alcohol added, so we don't have any issues with it going bad in a few months. Our Gas is good for a couple of years in Sealed Containers. Diesel is good, essentially, for ever as long as it is in Sealed Containers, and has no water in it when the containers are filled. I have no way to pump Propane during the winters, so that isn't a big issue for "Me", and the local folks fill their 100# Bottles, before the Power goes off at the Propane Pump, at the end of summer. No one uses Propane for generators up here, as there is no Propane delivery, in my neighborhood. Those folks that cook, or make hot water, with propane, have multiple 100# bottles for their Storage system.
I may of converted one or two.... When your ready ..shoot me a p.m. These are all now Tri-fuel unit's...
What's the run time on the Brigg's unit? Mine is a bit bigger, but I can make a better guess if I know what yours can do. I'd like to set it up for dual fuel with a quick switchover scheme from gasoline to propane and back. Should be fairly simple IIRC.
. I have a similar generator, best use of it was for our church to run a "concert" in a local park. My little genny ran all the electronics for the band to play away and piss off the nearby residents (yes we had a permit so after the 3rd visit by the PD I'm sure they just started ignorning the noise complaints). Needless to say the genny was MAXED out (amps, instruments, mics, speakers, lights, etc.) there were a few times where we thought it should have popped the overload protector, but it held out. 4 hours, used about 3/4 of a tank of gas. Would have kept going, but it was getting dark and noise rules were going to kick in Oh, and mine is tri-fuel as well, but I've never run it on NG, only LP & Gas.
With an appropriate Dual or Tri Fuel Carb, all you need to do is turn off the Gasoline, to the Carb, and open the LP/NG Line to the Demand Regulator. Most Demand Regulators operate at an incoming Pressure of 11" WC. (Water Column) The same pressure that your BBQ Grill Regulator puts out. If you need expert help for ANY specific Genset, there are Factory Techs, that hang out, over on the Generator Forums on www.smokstak.com ...... YMMV....
The father-in-law reported 11 to 11.5 hour's run time on his 10hp.Brigg's...4.8 gallon propane bottle Run time WILL varie due to load and size of unit... Myself...I ran a 15 hp.Brigg's on Natural Gas for 11 hrs. during Gustav... With a full tank of gas...Just for back-up... This is one of the YMMV deal's...
Mine is supposed to run around 12 hours on a tank of gasoline at half load (rated at 5600 watts standby duty. B&S engine.) It has run for 6 hours on around a gallon at a bit over idle with some lighting, reefer, TV, 'puter, and well pump (intermittently) and water heater. All other estimates are for eyeball purposes. Thanks, guys.
