converting a gasoline engine to run on propane

tanstaafl72555

tanstaafl72555

This Member's Account Has Been Permanently Banned
Life Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
7,244
Location
Spring Hope NC
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
specifically a generator.
The internet has lots of diy articles on how to do this.
Has anyone in here done it?
If so, how has that worked out for you?
Tricks? Tips? Traps?

Thanks in advance.
 
That could be where I bought mine from several years ago. Converted a 5k Coleman w/ B&S engine to high pressure propane. I always had problems getting it to start on propane. Spark issue. I would just start it on gasoline and change over to propane. Worked well. I had 2x100 lb cylinders set up for it. Last time I had to use it, it ran for 72 hours straight on less than 20 gallons of propane.

When we moved, I gave it to my daughter and S-I-L. I have a 12k Wisconsin-Subaru I want to convert and I'll plumb it into the 500 gallon tank I have now.
 
 
Burt Gummer said:
If you could make it work you could have free fuel forever
Click to expand...
Well.... I am an optimist, despite all the background of man's depravity and all. The innovative capacity of the mind of man is staggering to me. I do believe that we will eventually power most stuff with hydrogen fuel cells. Just like splitting the atom. We could not do it... until we could.

The sad thing about nuclear is that there are actually TWO models for a nuke reactor. One breeds fuel and that fuel is a precursor to plutonium, from which we make bombs. The other is a thorium salt bed, which produces very little waste, is nowhere near as dangerous, and is able to be so compact that a small town (10,000 persons or so) could easily set one up and use it locally (I think Fujitsu used to market them.. them or Hyundai or one of those Japanese/Korean firms).

Guess which one DOE chose to utilize in the US nuclear energy program? That's right. The uranium based model. Thorium is cheap, readily available, produces FAR less dangerous wastes, and cannot convert into bombs. It would be a stupid cheap way to power us indefinitely.
 
Last edited:
Many years ago, a family I knew moved to the mtns of WNC. Strong running creek on the property. The dad built a water wheel and mounted it to a generator. Black plastic well pipe to direct the flow and increase the velocity of the water. Turn the water on and lights were on shortly after
 
Reading this thread, I went to the shed to see what generator/engine I have so I can get a conversion kit.

It's a 22 HP Robin/Subaru EH65 on a 12k "portable" generator.

I have a 500 gallon propane tank here and don't use much - cooking and drying only for now.

I guess I'll order the kit and will have to find an electrician to put in a whole house disconnect/transfer switch.

Guess I should have done this last month. Power just went out
 
1075tech said:
Reading this thread, I went to the shed to see what generator/engine I have so I can get a conversion kit.

It's a 22 HP Robin/Subaru EH65 on a 12k "portable" generator.

I have a 500 gallon propane tank here and don't use much - cooking and drying only for now.

I guess I'll order the kit and will have to find an electrician to put in a whole house disconnect/transfer switch.

Guess I should have done this last month. Power just went out
Click to expand...
Y’all getting some bad storms up that way it looks like
 
Burt Gummer said:
Y’all getting some bad storms up that way it looks like
Click to expand...
Just caught the edge of one here. Some thunder a ways away and some wind and rain. Didn't last long.

They're saying maybe 7:30 for power. Have to see what I have to put on the grill for some dinner.

Screenshot_20220925-163609.png
 
Last edited:
I just seem to have bad luck putting in my PO box as the delivery address and companies that only ship via UPS.
I don't have a mailbox, so I have to make sure how they're going to ship. I checked the shipping policy page and it doesn't specify how it goes by ground. And I don't need expedited shipping, those are specified as UPS.
So I'll check before -
 
Eeyore said:
I just seem to have bad luck putting in my PO box as the delivery address and companies that only ship via UPS.
I don't have a mailbox, so I have to make sure how they're going to ship. I checked the shipping policy page and it doesn't specify how it goes by ground. And I don't need expedited shipping, those are specified as UPS.
So I'll check before -
Click to expand...
I called them to order. They had a couple different possibilities for the engine I have. Talked to a lady who was helpful and took all my information and CC info.

I used a debit card and the bank declined it (been having that issue with them - fraud protection). She called me back a few minutes later and asked if I wanted to call the bank. I just opted to use a different card.

I had a shipping confirmation with tracking number about an hour later. It was at my door 2 days later.
 
I converted my eu3000is Honda generator to a tri fuel -LP, LNG, or gasoline. It took me about 30 minutes. Here is where I bought the conversion kit- https://www.hutchmountain.com/ I don’t like carrying gasoline in the bed of my truck when traveling and LP has a long shelf life.
We use it to power our travel trailer when camped remotely or if the power goes out at our home we use it in our travel trailer which is also parked at our home.
BC85BBF2-09B1-4089-A7D7-56487F593F99.jpeg

A3F708C8-0685-4C16-9FFF-386C82CBB348.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Red Marley said:
Done it twice with US Carburetion. Good product, good instructions, good customer service. Zero problems. Wish everything was this easy.
Click to expand...

I just emailed them this week about my generator (generac xg8000e) as it's not listed on their site, but the 410cc engine seems to be generic (ha). I wanted to know if they knew about the 8000e, was the electric start a problem or something unique to that one that made it not supported by their kits? They replied with boiler plate and didn't actually seem to read or answer my question. Kinda disappointing.
 
The two times I have installed these systems, the generator I was installing on wasn't listed either, but I chose the kits based on the information here. If you can find one listed with an engine of comparable size and hp to yours, it should work fine. It's not exactly rocket science; you're going to adjust the flow on your engine anyway. If using natgas, it's important to have a large enough supply hose (there's info on their site) and the correct regulator. The two I installed were both on large-ish electric-start "portable" generators (one of which I still have). I usually start on gasoline and switch over to natgas when the motor is warmed up, but I have started them on natgas. They also have a customer forum with more info. There's more than one way to reach them if you still have questions; when I did it a couple of years ago they got back to me in 24 hours with the info I needed.
 
BlackGun said:
If you have a Generac or Duromax try this sight. It’s not cheap. Many other brands here also.

Generac Generators

Propane and Natural Gas kits for Generac generators
pngtec.com
Click to expand...

Why is that one 2x the price of the other two (more common) conversions? What's it do better/different?
 
Red Marley said:
you're going to adjust the flow on your engine anyway.
Click to expand...

how does that work? they tell you about it in the install instructions? I was trying to find a PDF of the install manual to read about the various kits but didn't see them off hand.

Red Marley said:
If using natgas, it's important to have a large enough supply hose (there's info on their site) and the correct regulator.
Click to expand...

just planning to use the 20 pound propane tanks.

I did see that they want you to reduce the plug gap when installing the kit, might that make it start easier on propane? I want to have it totally dry of gasoline all the time and only use that if I run out of propane. last extended outage I was getting more unleaded which is easier to get in a partial grid down scenario. Gas stations are up, propane dealers are closed.
 
I understand wanting to keep it dry of gasoline, but it’s not what I do. I want to be able to run both. I didn’t reduce plug gap, no problems, but like I said, I start on gasoline. With regard to adjusting, there is a fairly crude mixture adjuster on the gas regulator, consisting of a large bolt with locknut, that controls the gas/air ratio. The way I did it is, start on gasoline, warm up, then switch to natgas (propane in your case), then adjust the big bolt for best running and lock it down. The engine seems to tolerate a pretty wide range of mixtures, but you can tell when it’s happy as you adjust it.
 
Jayne said:
Why is that one 2x the price of the other two (more common) conversions? What's it do better/different?
Click to expand...
The one I listed as the hose and quick connects for the hose. It also does not need to run on gasoline before switching to propane. The instructions on the snorkel says min run of 2 hours on gasoline before switching.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom