Ok for the vehicle to idle for 3-5 hours?

tom3 said:

I sure agree with the generator deal. Many (many!) years ago I spent a couple hours hauling 5 gal. buckets of water up out of our small basement to keep the furnace and hot water tank dry. Bought a generator, best insurance I ever bought, never actually had to use it. I keep it ready and a couple 5 gal cans of fresh gas just in case.....

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WOW that's old skool B&S generator, love it!


Ran many of those old engines on mini bikes and go carts I built when I was a teenager.

tom3 said:

I sure agree with the generator deal. Many (many!) years ago I spent a couple hours hauling 5 gal. buckets of water up out of our small basement to keep the furnace and hot water tank dry. Bought a generator, best insurance I ever bought, never actually had to use it. I keep it ready and a couple 5 gal cans of fresh gas just in case.....

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Is there a particular reason you chose gasoline over propane? Propane always struck me as needing less attention, between uses, to remain reliable.

joe

homesick said:

Is there a particular reason you chose gasoline over propane? Propane always struck me as needing less attention, between uses, to remain reliable.

joe

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We use REC-90 gas in FL for generators. No alcohol in it. With some Marine STA-BIL it can easily go 2 years in a generator. When 2 yrs are up? Dump it thru your car or mowers with no ill effect and repeat. When a big one comes into the gulf, I go get 25 gal and we are good for a week +. If not needed, into the vehicle it goes. No money lost or wasted. Been thru 3 hurricanes in 2 years. Including a direct hit from IAN. 7KW Honda fuel injected gen on manual 10 breaker transfer switch. Flawless and can run everything we need. Up and running in less than 15 min.

Being that I did generator field service for a good many years, my go to is a diesel 20kw unit (or similar kw rating). I haven't installed a permanent one yet, but have a diesel 3kw unit that just sips fuel and a 10kw unit with a 16hp Briggs V-twin - again not bad on fuel considering 3600 rpm.

I usually load bank them 2 times a year with a high amp heater or a transfer test. Gets them hot, and ensures proper electricity production. I hate the gasoline one because I got burned by ****** gas one time and had to clean the carb jet to use it. I much prefer a 100 gallon tank of diesel that won't go bad......for year-za and that cute little fella will just sit there and sip it for days.

homesick said:

Is there a particular reason you chose gasoline over propane? Propane always struck me as needing less attention, between uses, to remain reliable.

joe

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Around here unless you already heat with propane and can hook up to that gas is a lot more available.

Dave (of Dave's Auto Center in Utah) is a diesel specialist. He says never let these newer diesels idle any more than necessary and shows evidence why. He says the quickest way to damage these diesels in consumer vehicles is lack of oil changes and excessive idling. You cant compare an automotive diesel engine to those in commercial trucks - 2 different animals.

Maybe one of those "do it all" powerboxes? They can charge a lot of devices.

GMCChevy said:

Around here unless you already heat with propane and can hook up to that gas is a lot more available.

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For a permanent install, I always figured tapping into the city's gas line was the best long term approach.

For a portable, I figured propane over gas, even real gas. Diesel's just nasty, messy stuff.

I already have propane tanks, and it's a neat, clean set-up; and it has a shelf life of forever [AFAIK].

joe

homesick said:

For a permanent install, I always figured tapping into the city's gas line was the best long term approach.

For a portable, I figured propane over gas, even real gas. Diesel's just nasty, messy stuff.

I already have propane tanks, and it's a neat, clean set-up; and it has a shelf life of forever [AFAIK].

joe

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For sure if you already have a gas hook up.
We're stuck with getting propane from Costo or the odd gas station that sells it so with no power for long enough time to need more fuel I'd rather have the convenience of going to any gas station to fill up if I don't have enough in jerry cans already.
I think the one advantage to diesel is that stuff lasts a long time without going bad, but I'm not sure if there's an issue with the parts gumming up over time sitting? And i don't think cheap diesel generators are as common as gas or propane.

I have a 6500 watt Lowes generator and put on a tri fuel carburetor kit. I can run gasoline, propane or natural gas. I run gasoline when I need more power but run on natural gas when it needs less load. I am going to buy a bigger whole house gen set in the future.