I decided to conduct a little experiment, with my YAMAHA 2400, to find if there is an actual loss-in-power while fueling with LP.
For those who haven’t come across the various threads on this- it’s a debate that’s come about because of the disparity between gasoline and LP’s BTU/gallon ratings.
According to the DOE: LP=91,330 BTU/gallon, while GAS(summer average)=114,500 BTU/gallon (gasoline blends/additives depending on season, can vary BTU rating)
I realize I should establish a ‘control’ or baseline first, by quantifying the numbers based on gasoline fuel-- but heck, I never claimed to be a scientist. I’m gonna start with LP, and compare them to the YAMAHA published numbers for peak/continuous amp output.
So, ‘Part 1’ will be LP. If anybody’s interested I’ll put up ‘Part 2’, which will be same generator/loads running on gasoline.
At some point, I’d like to factor in a ‘fuel-consumption’ number (which is probably what the real variable is here)- I have no idea how I might do that- so feel free to chime in...
here’s the equipment:
(1) YAMAHA EF2400IS. Tri-Fuel converted carburetor by USCarb. Published SPEC’s by YAMAHA running gasoline: 17A(20A MAX), 2000W (2400W MAX).
Measuring instrumentation:
(1) RadioShack Analog clamp-on ammeter
(1) HD modified extension cord
(1) APC switched/fused 7-outlet power strip
I’ll generate load with these:
(2) Craftsman halogen shop lamps: 3.5A low/7.0A high (ea.)
(1) RIGID 4GAL/5.0HP shop vacuum: 10.0A (probably has a startup spike, but ammeter doesn’t give me ‘rush’ feedback)
Findings:
24A load:
both halogens on high, shop-vac running. Genset ran/powered items for ~10sec at 4380 RPM, then tripped to ‘overload’.
20.5A load:
one halogen on high, one on low, shop-vac running. Genset ran/powered items at 3220 RPM for 10 minutes.
So, what I’m finding is the 2400 is capable of significantly higher output than what YAMAHA publishes. It’s probably safe to assume the start-up under the 24A load had a significantly higher ‘spike’ that it was supplying also.
The test I’m real interested in, however, is starting my 13.5k BTU A/C unit, on a nice hot and humid summer day.
You can find a picture narrative of the above, here:
Picasa Web Albums - JOSEPH - YAMAHA EF2400...