# Hurricane Generators - Gasoline - LP gas - Natural Gas ???



## Tboney (Sep 9, 2020)

I've lived in the proximity of the Gulf Coast all my life. (72 years) The first killer hurricane I saw was Camile in 1969. The last one I witnessed was Katrina in 2005. I was lucky enough to excape most of the many, many others that came ashore in the other years. I used to think portable generators were the way to go for extended power outages. Cheap, easy to store, easy to hook up to the essentials. However, most operate off of gasoline, which was very very hard to find where I was during Camille and Katrina. Not impossible to get but long drives, long lines and long waits. Some portables can run on propane. Again, propane was as hard to find if not harder than gasoline during both of my nightmare hurricanes. Besides, a 20 lb tank doesn't last long and who has several lying around? Natural gas sounds like the way to go? Whole house generators mostly use this and some portables can also. During Katrina I saw a huge subdivision that was without natural gas for weeks after a huge oak tree was blown over and unearthed a major gas line near the entrance. Those folks that thought they were "set" after spending 8-10,000 dollars on a standby generator were highly upset and I don't blame them. 

Unless you have a crystal ball there is no way to know the best way to protect yourself during a hurricane. Ice storms are a whole another matter but thank goodness we don't have them this far south. Wherever you live you will just have to make the best determination you can, wish for a little luck and say a big prayer for a good outcome. Best of luck to all of you.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

Don't forget those nice 1800RPM 4 pole diesels. Pretty good "mileage".


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

well tri fuel is my choice.
then you have the option for any of the big 3.
gasoline, natural gas, or liquid propane.
for me here in Iowa i choose natural gas for the primary fuel.
then gasoline as the second.

if you work your system right, you can make a car or a truck as a storage unit for gasoline.
heck now they make campers as toy haulers with a large gas tank on board for a fuel station.

fuel is a big thing when doing a disaster plan...
i have some lp for lights as well as a gas grill.

so far i have only had to break out the full lp gear once in the last 
40 years in town.
it was during an real bad ice storm...
they had shut off the natural gas in town due to large leaks..
bad deal back in the day for the hospital that did have a small lp gen.
sad day for sure!

it is hard to plan for every event to go as perfect...
but if you have a multi fuel source for your power..
then at least you are several steps ahead!

i would hammer the powers that be with emails and letters on the issues with grid tie solar down there.
it is just not right to spend the bucks on a solar system that will not work for your own local power during an outage.
they need to have a better designed back up plan.

down in florida solar would be cool if you could do it as a stand alone system.
power storage is the one thing that is key...
but solar is expensive power.
up front costs, as well as every 10 years rebuild or replace parts.


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## Tboney (Sep 9, 2020)

tabora said:


> Don't forget those nice 1800RPM 4 pole diesels. Pretty good "mileage".


They are nice. However storing diesel for more than 12 months is not recommended. If you buy off road diesel you can't even use it in your vehicle legally. That is if you even have a diesel vehicle. Most folks don't.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

Tboney said:


> They are nice. However storing diesel for more than 12 months is not recommended. If you buy off road diesel you can't even use it in your vehicle legally. That is if you even have a diesel vehicle. Most folks don't.


I used to have my flybridge cruiser with MTU diesels parked right next to where the generator sits now. It would have made a sweet source of fuel for a diesel genset. Sigh - miss that boat...


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## purplewg (Aug 16, 2020)

Tboney,

You are right. There is no single one fuel right for everyone. When I purchased mine I thought, "I can save a lot of money with a propane unit". Well, possibly on initial purchase. Then I got to thinking that all the propane companies serve emergency services first as they should. At the same time I was buying mine (unbeknownst to me) a childhood friend of mine in CA was buying a whole house natural gas unit. After he purchased it he asked me for advice. lol I told him I just bought a diesel. Now, I have a farm with lots of diesel equipment (back to right fuel for each person). I have lots of storage and if necessary I could suck it out of my equipment also. The last hurricane here on the east coast of FL, I was without power for almost two weeks. I ran a portable gas unit. After about a week you could buy gas so it wasn't too bad. With the right additives you can store diesel well over a year. Now, my buddy in CA has mud slides that take out his natural gas line and he is left with nothing. So, I guess you have to decided what works best for you and your situation.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

yup tri fuel works best for me..
gasoline, natural gas (primary now), and liquid propane.
so at least i have a chance at fuel..
and still have small lp tanks for lights, and camp stove that is bi fuel, as well as kero lanterns for lights.

always leave yourself an option..
and never have to look back!!


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## drmerdp (Apr 10, 2018)

Yup, multiple fuels here too. Gasoline and LPG on my eu7000. I’m going to pull the trigger on a hutch mountain kit for my eu2200 as well.


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## fewpop (Sep 3, 2019)

My 10 yr old 5500 watt generator (not inverter) is converted to run on tri-fuel. My 3 different 2000+ watt inverters 
(1 Westinghouse iGen2500 and 2 2000 watt "chondas") are all converted to run on either liquid propane or gasoline. I would only use gasoline if the other fuels were not available, or if I wanted to use one of the lightweight inverters for a quick temporary portable small job use and then I would run inverter out of gas and drain carb bowl. 

I always only use non-ethanol gas in my small engines and I use sta-bil and seafoam additives. So far I've never had a problem starting and running after storages, although I generally run test runs at least every 2 months; and if one is stored longer than 6 months I will add a tablespoon of high quality 2 cycle oil into the spark plug hole and pull the recoil a couple of times (after replacing spark plug & turning off ignition switch) to lube the cylinder walls. 

My experience buying parts for conversions from Hutch Mountain and from US Carb. has always been positive. The guys at Hutch Mountain are really nice about sharing information and their products are top shelf imho.

All of my gensets can be set up to run through my Reliance 6 circuit transfer switch when I choose to.

After over a decade of learning and dealing with what I've accumulated my goal now is to sell all my current gensets and buy one Honda eu3000is and convert it to tri-fuel and maybe live happily ever after. 

My thanks to all the good folks that share valuable info here on this forum.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

fewpop said:


> After over a decade of learning and dealing with what I've accumulated my goal now is to sell all my current gensets and buy one Honda eu3000is and convert it to tri-fuel and maybe live happily ever after.
> 
> My thanks to all the good folks that share valuable info here on this forum.


grin on the honda choice!!
hutch has a good kit!
i tweaked on my hutch kits with a valve for the demand reg as an upgrade.
it helped the natural gas mix.
i would never adjust the screw on the demand reg.. those are factory set.
just my up grade for a good fuel conversion.

pm me if you need more info on the hutch mod..


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## jkingrph (Sep 18, 2017)

iowagold said:


> grin on the honda choice!!
> hutch has a good kit!
> i tweaked on my hutch kits with a valve for the demand reg as an upgrade.
> it helped the natural gas mix.
> ...


Second that about the Hutch kits. I have two little Honda 2000 generators converted for propane. Generators run fine on them, It just takes a few pulls to get the propane line purged so it is feeding to the engine. I only had to use one for a few hours late one afternoon to power some lights. When I was having some problems Hutch advised me of a recall service on those sets, and I got I think it was a spark plug wire/connector .


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

switch over to the iridium ngk spark plug is the best advice when doing tri fuel.
we cover all of this in the honda forum.

yup tri fuel is the way to go for sure.
hutch has a good looking easy to install kit.
click here for the honda generator pages
lots of tips and tricks in there for the new user as well as the pro gen user.


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## drmerdp (Apr 10, 2018)

Iridium for sure.


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## Tboney (Sep 9, 2020)

"yup tri fuel is the way to go for sure. "

Yup, if you have natural gas. A lot of us out in the sticks do not. (and may never have) Although I'll admit a tri-fuel might be easier to sell if you need to do that.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

but if you have the tri fuel setup.
you can always use LP if you are in the sticks if you have that fuel...
and use gasoline as the backup fuel...
or go the other way as well...

I always like to have choices for when things are going bad..
the folks up north of me during the Iowa storm were glad too!!
one had plenty of lp and short of gasoline.
the other lost natural gas to up rooted trees, but had gasoline as a secondary.

and yes I think it helps on the resale!

i had 2 of the older eu2000i units in the fleet.
they sold at 1400.00! each!
that was with hoses and regs for the tri fuel.
they went for camper use.
the gens had a few hours on them.
but looked like new!


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