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PTO driven vs Gas engine
I think a year or two of storage for treated diesel is not beyond expectations, especially with half yearly refreshers.
Does anyone know if the small quiet Honda generators (1kw and 2 kw) have the option to run on propane? They would make a great night time generator (wood stove fan and a couple of lights) if they had longer "legs".
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PTO driven vs Gas engine
I found some info on the portable Honda generators. Apparently they are gasoline only.
Honda does make a small (11 HP) unit that does run on propane.
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PTO driven vs Gas engine
I've always thought there were LP conversion kits for most Honda engines, but in a generator I don't know if getting the engine running on LP is enough. Maybe there would be some tweaks required to the governor as well.
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PTO driven vs Gas engine
On a related subject - I have 3 full propane tanks for my gas grill and all of a sudden none of them give off gas when I open the valves. We called the propane supply place where we had them filled and they said to warm up the valves with hot water - which we did - but to no avail. They are still very heavy and I know there has to be propane in the tanks. I am perplexed. We had them filled at a very professional place that takes care of fire departments with CO2, etc and have been using them for years. Anyone ever have a similar problem?
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PTO driven vs Gas engine
Are you sure the problem isn't with your grill? I remember reading something about a safety mechanism in our Weber BBQ manual that shuts the propane off if it has been on too long without heat. Or, maybe it's a regulator problem.
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Tanks are not attached to grill at moment. Maybe these new quick attach valves don't let propane out when they are not attached to grill? (Old style certainly did).
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FWIW I just went out and tested a brand new tank that I had filled a few weeks ago, and no gas is released when opening the valve while disconnected.
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Thanks Ken! I stand corrected! True safety features that work! I could have sworn in the past I have tested these tanks by opening valves while disconnected. I must be going senile. I will test regulator on the grill tomorrow. Its cold outside right now. Again thanks for your help!
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Happy to corroborate your experience. I learned something too.
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PTO driven vs Gas engine
If you heat with home heating oil, diesel is a great choice, if you heat with propane or natural gas they are probably the better choice for you. I heat with diesel and have a 100 gallon propane tank for cooking so they are both viable options.
The one thing that hasn't been mentioned much is runtime. Take a look at these generators typical runtimes per gallon of fuel. Diesel stand-alone gens that make 10-12kw only burn about a 1/2 gallon of fuel an hour, gasoline gens are often more like 2 gallons an hour and propane is often 1.5 to 2 gallons an hour. (obviously if you have city natural gas, consumption isn't an issue) Even just keeping a 55 gallon barrel of diesel is likely to give you 4 days of constant run time. Even my tractor idling a PTO gen at 2600rpms( maybe a gallon an hour) burns much less than the gasoline gens. The price of HH oil is only $1.30, propane is around $2 and gasoline is $1.89 so diesel is also a winner there. I don't view price as that important as compared to availibility, but what the heck. With even a few day outage, you can quickly offset the higher price of diesel or even dual fuel gens. We all(almost) have diesel tracors so if you kept a 50 gallon barrel filled and used it for the tractor, refilling it when it hit the 1/2 way mark you would still have at least 2 days of constant run for a gen at any moment. Gelling, fungus, getting old is not an issue if you use it in this manner and just add about $2 worth of quality additive when you fill the tank.
Either propane or diesel is still more available in a pinch than gasoline. With no power, diesel or gasoline may not be pumping but my heating oil tank and all your neighbors tanks will still be available. I am quite sure my generatorless neighbor will trade me some HH oil or his extra BBQ tank in exchange for some elctricity or a place to keep his beer cold during the outage  With my hand pump and a little bargaining skill I could probably "bum" heating oil" from friends and neighbors to outlast the longest blackout I'v ever seen. Propane is also still available (small tanks though) everywhere and the companies deliver to your large tank unless roads are blocked etc. Gasoline, even IF the pumps are running is a nightmare to get, EVERYONE runs out to fill the cars, gens, etc. and you can wait hours or find the tanks empty. You can go right up to the diesel pumps though because 90% of the cars take are at the gasoline pumps. At 2 gallons an hour, if the pumps are closed siphoning the cars or filling 5 gallon gasoline containers won't be a long term solution. I am aso less than enthusiastic about filling my 55 gallon drum with gasoline and transporting, unloading and refilling from it. It isn't even fun filling a hot gen with the stuff. If you can't get the gas from the station your neighbor will also likely be less than enthusiastic about giving you the last of his petro when no refill is in sight. At 2 gallons an and hour even if you "score" 50 gallons of fuel you have to do it all over again tomorrow or really ration your power comsumption  Even if you go with the samller gens the % of comsumption differences for the various fuels apply.
Bottom line for me is I look outside right now and see the following.
100 gallon propane tank about 70% full ( 2 days use)
275 oil tank 3/4 full (5-6 days use)
Gas van 31 gallon tank 1/4 full (4 hours use)
I think many/most of us would have similar situations???
Even without considering run time for the various fuels, if I am relying on gas I have an almost immediate need to go out and leave the family at home alone under possibly very bad conditions.
Most of us heat with oil, propane or natural gas. In my humble opinion that leaves very few of us better off with a gas generator than the other options. I think gasoline is really only the best option if you don't use any of the other fuels and don't have a dieel truck/tractor. Then only other possible plus I see for gasoline is that for $500 dollars you have a budget generator.
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01-24-2004, 10:56 
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