Propane generator on Airstream's low pressure port - Actual Experiences, please.

[AZBob1]

I see others on this thread have been successful running propane generators using the external low pressure port of their AS. I have a 2017 International Serenity 19ft. I connected my Champion Dual Fuel 3500/3100 watt generator to the outside propane port using the 6 ft propane hose that came with the AS that I added a 3/8 quick connect male fitting to attach to the generator. This hose does not have a regulator and relies on the internal AS regulator. I could not get enough propane pressure necessary to run my generator. I called Airstream Customer Service and they told me the AS internal regulator has pressure of an 11 in column of water (the measurement the regulator gave to AS. The AS Customer Service person said the external propane port is only meant to use with a small propane stove/grill and does not have enough pressure to run a generator. I also tested the generator by removing one of the 30 gal propane tanks from the AS and using the 6 ft hose and regulator that came with the generator. That worked fine. Does anyone know what I can do to get the external propane port to work with my generator?

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by AZBob1

. . .
. . . Does anyone know what I can do to get the external propane port to work with my generator?

I don't think this is possible IMO. The only way is to do what you did, but you don't have to remove the tank from the trailer. Just get a longer hose for your gen, and use your regulator to attach the hose to one of the tanks.

You gen needs more propane at a higher pressure than the AS's low pressure port can supply. [IMO]

Some folks add an Easy Start device to one of the air conditioners, and use a 2000 watt gen/inverter off the low pressure port. There are tons of threads on this solution.

Good luck,

Peter

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

I don't think this is possible IMO. The only way is to do what you did, but you don't have to remove the tank from the trailer. Just get a longer hose for your gen, and use your regulator to attach the hose to one of the tanks.

You gen needs more propane at a higher pressure than the AS's low pressure port can supply. [IMO]

Some folks add an Easy Start device to one of the air conditioners, and use a 2000 watt gen/inverter off the low pressure port. There are tons of threads on this solution.

Good luck,

Peter

Peter so for your setup on your FC20, from the low pressure port, you can run your Honda 1000 (I believe), and most if not all of the appliances (fur, WH, refer, oven/stove). What's your experience if any on what has to be throttled back/turned off while the genset is running?

Bob

[capt_ron777]

Now, I'm confused . Are the AS tanks with the external quick disconnect not capable of running a gen, either the honda 2000 or the yamaha 2400, or any other. Thats what I read from AZ bob report from AS customer service. I have been reading this whole thread believing people have been mostly using the two AS propane tanks. Answers???

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by capt_ron777

Now, I'm confused . Are the AS tanks with the external quick disconnect not capable of running a gen, either the honda 2000 or the yamaha 2400, or any other. Thats what I read from AZ bob report from AS customer service. I have been reading this whole thread believing people have been mostly using the two AS propane tanks. Answers???

I have run my EU2000i from the quick disconnect I added to my trailer. It will provide enough propane for the generator at full power but I haven't tried to run anything else at the same time. The regulator is supposed to provide enough propane to maintain the 11" WC spec (about 0.4 psi) with all appliances operating.

The EU2000i is claimed to run 3.4 hours at full load on a gallon of gas. That would be equivalent to 114,000 BTU/3.4h or 33,500 BTU/h. The furnace in my trailer is 35,000 BTU. So I would guess that I could certainly run everything except the furnace while running the 2000i, and might even run the furnace depending on how much flow margin the regulator selected by Airstream has.

Al

[Dave-n-Janet]

There has been a lot of discussion about this on some other threads. Basically the 3500 (or 3400) Champion has 2 regulators. To use the low-pressure disconnect, you have to take the small regulator (high pressure) off the Champion propane hose and get hardware to mate up with the quick disconnect. I have not used on the road yet, as my plan is to just fill the gas tank on the gen since at this point it is just backup. Should I need it and use up the 1.6 gal of gas, then I have propane. Also, living on the gulf coast in hurricane country, the 3500 watt Champion also gives me the options of gas (usually 5-10 gal around for lawn mower), propane (a couple of 20 lb BBQ tanks lying about) or the propane on AS should we ever have extended power outage.

Note - the AS low pressure is only rated for 25,000 BTUs, while the 3500 watt generator could pull more. May be a problem with extended use, I just don't know yet, although I haven't seen any problems reported on forum yet.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by CruizinDux

Peter so for your setup on your FC20, from the low pressure port, you can run your Honda 1000 (I believe), and most if not all of the appliances (fur, WH, refer, oven/stove). What's your experience if any on what has to be throttled back/turned off while the genset is running?

Bob

I have not really tested other propane-fired uses while the small Yamaha 1k inverter gen is running. I think the water heater may have run at the same time, but probably not the oven, range top burners, or the fridge (on propane), and definitely not the hot air furnace.

My guess would be that the trailer's propane system could handle almost all propane-fired uses at the same time, as the only one pulling off the low-pressure port is the small gen.

Sorry I don't have any usage/capacity stats available, nor the time or expertise to theorize. When the weather gets cold, I may try a full-scale test-run.

Have a good weekend.

Peter

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

I have not really tested other propane-fired uses while the small Yamaha 1k inverter gen is running. I think the water heater may have run at the same time, but probably not the oven, range top burners, or the fridge (on propane), and definitely not the hot air furnace.

My guess would be that the trailer's propane system could handle almost all propane-fired uses at the same time, as the only one pulling off the low-pressure port is the small gen.

Sorry I don't have any usage/capacity stats available, nor the time or expertise to theorize. When the weather gets cold, I may try a full-scale test-run.

Have a good weekend.

Peter

Peter thanks. No problem on the experience. I suspect you're correct, but things could easily be scaled back if needed. If you're using the oven the furnace would likely be overkill . And like you said with a longer house and two tanks....

Bob

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by CruizinDux

. . . And like you said with a longer house and two tanks....
Bob

Tanks for the suggestion, and

. . . tanks again!

[GammaDog]

See post,#6 in this thread where Rocinante quoted a number of prior posts including mine. A few thoughts on the recent additions to this thread:

- The low pressure port on our 2014 model trailer is rated for devices of up to 25,000 BTUs. I have not attempted to calculate a BTU rating for generators, but I recall someone on the Forums did and concluded that a single 2000 watt generator would exceed the rating. In other words, Airstream isn't claiming we should be able to meet our trailers' electric needs with the power from that port.

- The factory installed port on our trailer is an MB Sturgis model 250 low pressure propane disconnect (or equivalent... in any event, fittings that comply with that standard seem to be compatible with our trailer). This is a 1/4" series brass fitting. I know that many generators (including my two Honda's with the PropaneCarbs.com conversion kits) use 3/8" rubber tubing. Note that the port itself is a bottleneck in a system plumbed with 3/8" tubing.

- I have run tests with two Honda 2000s running simultaneously at full throttle off the trailer's low pressure port using a 1/4" tee. That's documented in the post Rocinante linked to, I believe. I had every propane source in the trailer running at the same time including the furnace and all three stove burners. The generators still produced 120 volts to the trailer's 120 volt system.

- Propane evaporation is strongly affected by ambient temperature. When I ran my tests, it was a warm day in Florida. Clearly, I was exceeding the design limits of the system as Airstream expressed them. I doubt that test could be repeated with the same results at colder temps. I would not advocate running that much propane load on the system at once, but for my own purposes I wanted to see if the system was capable of it. In practice, I do run both generators simultaneously off the trailer's low pressure port with a tee fitting and 10' Camco extension hose successfully, but I turn off all other propane loads when I do that. Note, I only need that much generator capacity to run my AC, so by definition it is hot when I do that and the heat supports higher levels of propane evaporation from the active 30 pound tank.

- I appreciate that the Forums have become prime advertising space for EasyStart products as the solution to generator capacity issues. Note that the specs on some Dometic Penguin II models indicate that a "2000 watt" generator (the Honda 2000's are actually rated at 1600 watts continuous output) or even 2400 watt models may not maintain full 120 volt output with the AC running and certainly would not if any other load is present... even the trailer's converter. Voltage drop is a sign that the electric load is exceeding the capacity of the source. If I was attempting to cut corners on generator capacity I would make sure I had a surge protector with a low voltage shutoff between the generators and all of the electric/electronic stuff in my trailer. That may just be me.

- Although I have not had an issue with our Airstream, there are many posts in the Forums about primary regulators delivering more or less pressure to the system than the stated "11 inches of water column" that the book says. In my opinion, if tests like people mentioned above did not work, the first thing I would check is whether the trailer's low pressure system was actually at 11 inches. Primary regulators are often adjustable and are certainly replacable. If the pressure wasn't at or very close to 11 inches, I'd get that addressed before drawing any other conclusions.

[switz]

One needs to remember that the larger generator in post #61 would draw more gas than the 2,000 watt Honda I use with our 2015 23D. Since we have a Magnum hybrid MSH-3012 converter/inverter connected to a 300 amp-hour lithium battery, the additional current to start the air conditioner is provide by the battery. The running current of the 13.5K A/C is less than the maximum continuous power rating of the 2,000 watt Honda and works just fine.

Just like with the typical 30 amp service, one has to choose what appliances are running at the same time. Power management philosophy has to be applied to the propane use when considering to run the Honda generator.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

The EU2000i is claimed to run 3.4 hours at full load on a gallon of gas. That would be equivalent to 114,000 BTU/3.4h or 33,500 BTU/h. The furnace in my trailer is 35,000 BTU. So I would guess that I could certainly run everything except the furnace while running the 2000i,

Okay, now I'm confused on your math. The only power required by the furnace is the 12v. control. The 35,000 BTU is provided by the combustion, not the generator.

[OTRA15]

The furnace's combustion air heats a chamber whose hot air is exhausted by a 12-volt fan which is the main battery drain in cold weather IMO. The newer Alde baseboard system I assume uses a 12-volt circulator pump (or pumps if dual zone), and they would also draw down the batteries.

[Pete B55]

I use my Champion 3400 directly off low-pressure port on our Classic. I don't use the regulator that came with the generator in that configuration. I do have to turn the low-pressure port valve to about 3/4 setting - then it works great under any load

[Roadtech]

Originally Posted by Pete B55

I use my Champion 3400 directly off low-pressure port on our Classic. I don't use the regulator that came with the generator in that configuration. I do have to turn the low-pressure port valve to about 3/4 setting - then it works great under any load

I do the same, works great.

[AZBob1]

Originally Posted by Pete B55

I use my Champion 3400 directly off low-pressure port on our Classic. I don't use the regulator that came with the generator in that configuration. I do have to turn the low-pressure port valve to about 3/4 setting - then it works great under any load

I have the Champion 3500 but am not able to get it to run off the my AS's low-pressure port. I do not use the regulator hose that came with my generator. Instead am using the unregulated hose that came with my AS. Not sure what you mean when you say to adjust port value to 3/4 setting. Wouldn't that close off some of the propane flow? I am not getting enough even with the value wide open. Could you please let me know what I am doing wrong??

[mojoe7009]

Originally Posted by Roadtech

I do the same, works great.

Ditto

[dasams]

Originally Posted by AZBob1

I have the Champion 3500 but am not able to get it to run off the my AS's low-pressure port. I do not use the regulator hose that came with my generator. Instead am using the unregulated hose that came with my AS.

Is the ID of the AS hose large enough? I use the 1/4" GenConnex hose and it works great. Just need to fully prime the carburetor to purge out the air and then it'll fire right up. BTW mine's a Honda.

[FCStreamer]

Originally Posted by dasams

Is the ID of the AS hose large enough? I use the 1/4" GenConnex hose and it works great. Just need to fully prime the carburetor to purge out the air and then it'll fire right up. BTW mine's a Honda.

I think the question is whether the larger generators can run as they presumably use more fuel. I’ve read some folks running 3500 watt generators, some can’t. It may have to do with the thickness of the line.

For those who successfully ran a 3500 or higher generator on the AS port, what hose did you use? And did you use the regulator that came with your generator?

[Dave18134]

I use the Champion 3400/3100 dual fuel and it runs off my front accessory quick connect just fine--no fiddling with the valve. I followed the same procedure as posted by @Airmiles (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ml#post1996143).

In a nutshell: 1) remove the 2" diameter high pressure regulator on the hose supplied by Champion. (This is attached to the 5" diameter disk that acts as a safety valve--leave that on the original hose), 2) attach a female quick connect (QC) in it's place of the 2" regulator, 3) Get a 10-12ft hose made up with male QC's on both ends and connect one end to the accessory port on the AS, 4) connect the other end to your female QC on the hose/valve assembly.

@Airmiles posted a picture that is worth all these words. It works.