Gen conversion from LP to GAS????

[Razor1974]

Hello folks we just purchased a land yacht wide body and our first use of the gen consumed 22 gal of LP gas which cost almost $70.
I ant to convert my gen back to gasoline. Any suggestions on how to do this effectively?
I know I will need a carburetor for gasoline
Possibly a intake manifold
And I'm assuming the gen has a place that I can mount a mech fuel pump?
I will also have to mount a fuel cell.

Anyone that has converted gens to gasoline I would appreciate your input.
Wes,

I will get model numbers and so on this evening

[HowieE]

I converted mine from gas to propane. The replacement of the carb will be easy but the limiting factor in going the other way will be a gas tank. I got my conversion from Call Central Maine Diesel. They should have the answer.

[J. Morgan]

Has the gen always been LP?

If it is a conversion, there is a fair chance that the carb is still in place but just not used.




Superat stultitia.

[GammaDog]

Propane is a bit less efficient than gas, but my Honda 2000s burn 2 lbs of propane per hour on full throttle.. At 4.4 pounds per gal I would have to run almost 50 hours to burn 22 gallons of propane. Even when dry camping in freezing temps I run less than 4 hours of generator time a day. And battery charging does fine on eco throttle which is more efficient.

What type of generator do you have and how long did you run it? Was there any other propane load on (especially furnace) that might have contributed to your bill?

[Razor1974]

Originally Posted by GammaDog

Propane is a bit less efficient than gas, but my Honda 2000s burn 2 lbs of propane per hour on full throttle.. At 4.4 pounds per gal I would have to run almost 50 hours to burn 22 gallons of propane. Even when dry camping in freezing temps I run less than 4 hours of generator time a day. And battery charging does fine on eco throttle which is more efficient.

What type of generator do you have and how long did you run it? Was there any other propane load on (especially furnace) that might have contributed to your bill?

Thanks for the replies!
We used only the gen for AC while driving and getting the coach registered. I will have to see if the carb is still in place? Not sure if the fuel pump is there as well?

I figured this would be a higher amount of LP than expected it certainly shocked me I will have to get the model number and let you guys know. We have already out in a lot of love and maintenance in this coach. As a mechanic/ carpenter / home builder this thing keeps me busy but I love working on it. I'll keep you guys posted.

[nvestysly]

If the generator used more propane than you expected my guess is it will use more gasoline than you expect too.

For a given volume of fuel propane has less energy than gasoline. Some people say that means it's less efficient. I guess that depends on how efficiency is defined. If you define efficiency as the amount of energy output from the system divided by the amount of energy input to the system then it's a moot issue.

Back to your problem - the generator used more propane than you expected. Is that really the case? Perhaps you refilled the propane at a supplier that charges high prices. You paid $70 for 22 gallons so that's $3.18 per gallon. I recently paid nearly $4 per gallon and that's way too high but I found myself in a location that didn't offer many propane refilling options.

Looking online I see propane prices around the country vary from under $2 to over $4. If you had only paid $2 per gallon ($44 to refill your tank) would that have been more tolerable?

I guess what I'm getting at is the fact that we don't know if your generator is running properly, if there are leaks in the system, if you have other problems, etc. Don't be too quick to eliminate propane and switch to gasoline without understanding the situation more thoroughly.

[Razor1974]

Originally Posted by nvestysly

If the generator used more propane than you expected my guess is it will use more gasoline than you expect too.

For a given volume of fuel propane has less energy than gasoline. Some people say that means it's less efficient. I guess that depends on how efficiency is defined. If you define efficiency as the amount of energy output from the system divided by the amount of energy input to the system then it's a moot issue.

Back to your problem - the generator used more propane than you expected. Is that really the case? Perhaps you refilled the propane at a supplier that charges high prices. You paid $70 for 22 gallons so that's $3.18 per gallon. I recently paid nearly $4 per gallon and that's way too high but I found myself in a location that didn't offer many propane refilling options.

Looking online I see propane prices around the country vary from under $2 to over $4. If you had only paid $2 per gallon ($44 to refill your tank) would that have been more tolerable?

I guess what I'm getting at is the fact that we don't know if your generator is running properly, if there are leaks in the system, if you have other problems, etc. Don't be too quick to eliminate propane and switch to gasoline without understanding the situation more thoroughly.

Good points! We did find the cheapest fill station and that is quite high compared to gasoline. We did look for oaks with water and soap in a spray bottle and no leaks were detected. The reason I want to go to gasoline is that we had a 5500 Yamaha gasoline gen and it would run exactly 24 hours on 5 gal of gas. This ration is much more reasonable that 21 gal at 10 hours. Plus you can refill much easier than finding an LP station which is much more expensive than gasoline.

[J. Morgan]

On the bright side of going back to gasoline is that you can draw out of the coaches main gasoline tank with a small low pressure electric fuel pump and not worry about mounting another fuel tank, and you would have very long generator run times on a full tank of gas.

Assuming of course that your coach is not diesel powered.


Superat stultitia.

[GammaDog]

One more thought. It sounds like you just purchased this airstream. Do you know for a fact that the propane tank(s) were full when you got it? Is it possible the generator didn't burn all that propane, but the prior owner did and he may need to be converted to gas?

[Razor1974]

I talked to Cummings yesterday and rhe conversion is possible. The gen is the exact gen just dif fuel set up. He sent me the schematics and oarts diagram fir both.
I will need intake and complete carb assembly including air filter housing. All hoses and fittings and finally a fuel silinoid and fuel pump. The conversion will mak it a 7 not a 6500.
Everyone told me it can't be done. People are systematic robots and can't think out of the box. Once I pull the LP parts I'll have a complete LP kit to sell.

I have a deselect coach
I knew exactly what amount of LP gas was pumped in, my empty gauge is a little off. It ran longer than I expected on e so that tells me I need to change the gauge.