US Carburetion Propane Conversion NOT Recommended

[Cybermo]

Originally Posted by robstar

Hey guys and gals,

I recently bought a Honda EU2000i for my rig and specifically to have it converted to propane based on positive posts here in this forum.

So far it's been a nightmare scenario and I now have a $1000 generator with a $281 conversion kit that is basically a 50 lb boat anchor.

I sent US Carburetion my carb after breaking in the genny with gasoline for a day and let them do the carb drilling/set up. I got back my carb and a box full of parts along with two very poorly written instruction manuals that do not remotely relate to my Honda; just generators in general. None of the photos or the parts match the pictures or my setup. If you think their web site is confusing wait until you see their instruction manuals.

Anyway, I sorted my way through the installation and mounting which took about four hours. I spent the following two hours trying to get it to start. Gave it and my arm a break overnight, read through all the directions again, double checked all my work and then spent another two hours trying to get it to at least sputter.

Sadly, I've sent two detailed emails to tech support and have left two messages in four days. No reply and never an answer at their office. At least a courtesy call or short email to say we're busy would be something.

This is the company US Carburetion in Summersville, WV. Their web site is:

Generator Conversion Kits to Propane and Natural Gas.

In retrospect, I wish I had of bought a pre-converted Honda EU2000i from another company and would recommend you do so if you are considering this option. I was definitely excited and looking forward to a nice dual / alternate fuel Honda but all I have now is a US Carb Honda boat anchor.

Hopefully we'll eventually get the thing up and running... hopefully but based on lack of communication and poorly written manuals I cannot recommend this company or their conversion kit(s). Even if I buy a new carb and convert back to just gasoline I've now drilled three holes in my Honda and have wasted $300 and a weekend.

Regretfully,

Robert Starling
Las Vegas, NV

Hi Robert, I just had an experence with US CArb, I wish I had read you Email before I purghaced from them, I have been doing gas conversions for years I can help you get the generator you have to run through EmaIL OR i CAN CALL YOU VOICE AND EXPLAIN ANYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOWiTS MOST LIKLEY THAT ITS EITHER FLOODING AND OR YOU HAVE TOO MUCH GAS psi CLOSE THE BULKHEAD ADAPTER ALL THE WAY THE SLOWLY OPEN IT UNTILL IT STARTS.. THEN TWEEK THE GAS FLOW AS YOU RAISE THE rpm'S TO GET FULL THROTLE THEN TUNE FOR BOTH, YOU WILL WIND UP WITH SLIGHTLY HIGHER idle
GASOLINE And you may lose slight full throttle RPM's sometimes you have to remove the adapter when using Gasoline. in most cases it should run well but some generators just don't like the adapter like 1 in 20 might do that. Heres a copy of what I sent to US CArb after they sold me the carb adapter without STUDEXTENDERS ND A Venturi for an adapter that had one builtin to it sounds like the adapter you recieved aluminum round with a flow indicator, the carburator side is flat. If it's installed backwards the engine will not run or very poorly

[Steven Mc]

I read the series of 2008 posts with great interest, in that I have been working very hard to get info' out of U.S. Carb relative to my purchase of a tri-fuel Yamaha 3000 series genie. Long & short, I cannot get U.S. Carb to admit that, if the genie fails, and the failure is deemed "by a local Yamaha "authorized" dealer" to be due to the U.S. Carb modification.....the warranty won't cover the repair. After what seemed like days and days of calling Yamaha, yesterday evening I was finally put in phone contact with a Yamaha Tech named "Ty" who confirmed that I would really have no response or way to prove otherwise. In short, I could well be creating a $2300 boat anchor. When I explained to him that U.S. Carbs website was cleverly worded so as not to specifically say that "all" Yamaha genie's purchased from U.S. Carb "WILL" be covered by the Yamaha warranty, but would lead a trusting soul to believe that such was the case, he said that he would report such to his Supervisor, that "That's just wrong".

Anyway, I found this website by accident and, after reading the 2008 postings, just wanted to say that it appears nothing has changed and that this particular vendor is being less then forthright with their customers. If someone knows otherwise, I'd like to hear about it.....because I still have the need for a reliable multifuel genie.........from a vendor I can trust.

[thecatsandi]

The problem with finding a vendor you can trust is that none of us can find any other vendor that sells a kit like what US Carb Sells.

[dstalzer]

Here is another company that does propane conversions.
Central Maine Diesel Generators | Diesel Generators | Triple-Fuel Generators | Propane/Natural Gas Generators

Dennis

[pmclemore]

I am still pleased with my US Carb-modified Yamaha 2400is genny.

Pat

[HowieE]

Have you looked overseas they are far more advanced in this area than we are.

When I wanted to add propane to my diesel truck it was easier to just make my own and run off the trailer tanks.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by pmclemore

I am still pleased with my US Carb-modified Yamaha 2400is genny.

Pat

Me too. Have had it for years.

[Steven Mc]

Below is the second email I sent to U.S. Carb trying to confirm Yamaha's warranty protection of a "Hybrid Yamaha".......and U.S. Carbs second response. While U.S. Carb has, in a respectful and patient manner, responded to my inquiries.....they don't answer the question. Whether a local Yamaha repair facility can (or as is written "should be able to")repair a U.S. Carb "hybrid" gennie isn't relevant to my question; they might well be able to do so. My question is whether it......will......be repaired under Yamaha's warranty.....not U.S. Carbs. The point about shipping it back to U.S. Carb is "THE" driver of my question; I am not too excited about the possibility of having to find a way to ship a 100+ .lb, used, gennie back to U.S. Carb for repair; and, I would think the fastest way for that to happen would be for the local Yamaha authorized repair shop to say "Nope, won't work on it under warranty. It has been altered".

Setting aside the fact that Yamaha has already said that their warranty WILL NOT repair a modified gennie (regardless who modifies it), I guess what I am really trying to get to is doing business with a vendor who will simply tell me that up front.......and U.S. Carb simply seems unprepared to do that.

Immediately below is U.S. Carbs response to my last email. The email they responded to is immediately below that. Was my question not reasonably clear?

Mr.........,

As stated in my previous email, you should be able to take it to a local dealer for any repair work, if for some reason they find that they cannot work on it, they can call our Technicians for assistance or in extreme circumstances the generator would need to be shipped back to us.

We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

Sincerely,

Customer Service Representative
US Carburetion, Inc.


From: Steven Mc
Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2012 4:52 PM
To: tech@uscarb.com
Subject: Question about Yamaha Alternate Fueled Generators.

OK, lets try my earlier question a different way. I appear to be having some difficulty getting the information I require.

In short, under the warranty-section of the Yamaha Hybrid section of your website it's stated: "The standard 3 year warranty accompanies all alternate fuel equipped generators for consumer use". Can I therefore correctly conclude that, if my tri-fuel Yamaha from U.S. Carb should fail during the warranty period, and a local (to me) authorized Yamaha repair facility determines that the failure was due to the "hyriding" of the generator, that the warranty will still fix the generator? Or, must I return the generator to U.S. Carb for repair under U.S. Carb's warranty?

This would seem to be a pretty straight-forward question and answer.

Respectfully,


From many of the positive posts about the "hybrid gennies", I am confident they are fine machines. But, once again, I am not asking about the quality of the gennie.

That's it; I am getting off my soap box. Just tired of vendors not playing it straight-up.

Safe travels to all.

[rodsterinfl]

Greetings

I JUST found this thread myself and I ordered a Yamaha generator from US carb last week! I asked about the warranty and was told that "Yamaha had visited their shop and their hybrid conversion process and, they were a dealer for them and, that the generator was serviceable at any Yamaha service center nationally. I am buying it already converted from them. I hear what some are saying here and I surely do not want any issues. My thought is that since they are doing the conversion, as a dealer, they would have to make good on it. I would think that Yamaha would yank their dealership from them if they were causing a problem.

[Steven Mc]

rodsterinfl -

I am, sincerely, pleased that you are comfortable with your US Carb conversion; I will likely install one on a gennie I am about to purchase. The point (the only point) that I am trying to put a fine focus on is this, "Is a local Yamaha-authorized repair facility.....under its dealer licence.....required to repair, under Yamaha's warranty, a Yamaha gennie that has been outfitted with a US Carb retrofit".

US Carb's response to you; namely, "I asked about the warranty and was told....that the generator was serviceable at any Yamaha service center nationally" doesn't answer the question. "Was serviceabe" "Is serviceable" "Should be serviceable", etc. etc. etc......doesn't say that it will be serviced.

"It will be serviced under warranty is declarative. "Should", "may", "can", "might", "are" responses you'd expect from politicians. And no, I am not suggesting that a Yamaha gennie which has failed due to a problem related to a US Carb retrofit should be repaired under the Yamaha warranty.

I read service guarantees, service policies and warranties routinely for my work.....and the first things I look for are "may", "should", "have", etc.... Replace each one with "back door out", "back door out", "back door out".

The truth of the matter is that you are buying the US Carb retrofit for a very defined reason....fuel flexibility. And, by all accounts, the US Carb retrofit fulfills that goal hands down. That's why I am going to buy one. Just don't buy the retrofitted gennie under the belief that you "will" receive local service, under the Yamaha warranty. At best, from everything I have read about the retrofit.....that assumption is exactly that......an "assumed fact"......which isn't a fact.

[rodsterinfl]

I haven't gotten the gen yet. I completely understand what you are saying and appreciate your posts. What I was thinking is that if I let a Yamaha dealer do the conversion, it should provide a better guarantee against issues with warranty. At least if something would be found to be a problem related to conversion, it would not be my work under investigation. I paid $89 more for them to do it.

I was finally put in phone contact with a Yamaha Tech named "Ty" who confirmed that I would really have no response or way to prove otherwise.

and, neither would they. Having a Yamaha dealer do the conversion tips the scale that much more in your favor.

[rodsterinfl]

I have a question to those that have the converted tri-fuel generators. I purchased the generator new. The modification was done by the dealer. In the manual it mentions to run the unit for 1.5 hours minimum to break the engine in BEFORE modifying it. Additionally, the U.S. Carb website states that the generator is shipped ready to run propane out of the box.

My conclusion is that I do not need to do the break-in run as it is already modified. It also seems strange that there would be a need to run the generator on gasoline to break it in. My father, a mechanic for years, said that break in should occur regardless of fuel used since the fuel is not a lubricant as in a diesel - doesn't make sense to him either. The only reason we figured is to make sure the new generator works/worked before the conversion as would be the case of someone performing the conversion themselves.

Thoughts?

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by rodsterinfl

I have a question to those that have the converted tri-fuel generators. I purchased the generator new. The modification was done by the dealer. In the manual it mentions to run the unit for 1.5 hours minimum to break the engine in BEFORE modifying it. Additionally, the U.S. Carb website states that the generator is shipped ready to run propane out of the box.

My conclusion is that I do not need to do the break-in run as it is already modified. It also seems strange that there would be a need to run the generator on gasoline to break it in. My father, a mechanic for years, said that break in should occur regardless of fuel used since the fuel is not a lubricant as in a diesel - doesn't make sense to him either. The only reason we figured is to make sure the new generator works/worked before the conversion as would be the case of someone performing the conversion themselves.

Thoughts?

Maybe they are thinking you should run the generator for a couple of hours on gasoline, then convert it and change the oil to get the construction crud out of it.

[ROBERT CROSS]

....... a few up-grades on the Honda LPG conversion.

The Honda tach/hour meter took a dump after 170hrs. Replaced with a Hardline unit. Much better quality, one wire connection.



Removed the clunky brass fitting that US Carb had put on the LPG carb supply line. Replaced the connecting line with RC fuel line,(yellow). Much more flexible, easier routing.



Removed the pinch clamp that I was using to shut off the gas and installed an in-line valve.



Bob