Generator tri-fuel conversion kits

[jimmycthemd]

I've been shopping around for a backup generator for the house. We had a couple of two and three day power outages a couple of years ago and decided it was time to pull the trigger. In looking around, the dedicated home backup gensets are extremely expensive ($2,000 to $10,000 minimum). So, I started looking at portable gensets (in the $400 to $800 price range). I usually have about 30 gallons of gas at home. 20 gallons in the boat and 10 gallons between our motorcycles. We're pretty concientious about filling them up before returning home. Well, my wife asked "Why not hook it up the the Natural Gas line to the heater/stove?". Excellent question! I did some research and found this site:

http://www.propane-generators.com/

They have conversion kits that sit between your carberator and the air cleaner to hook up to propane, natural gas or both ranging from $200 to $300. They support most Briggs and Stratton motors and a pretty wide variety of others. The way they work is you turn off the gas to the carberator and then open up the valve to the propane/NG. This could potentially give you two or three fuel options for your genset depending upon what's avaialable/convenient at the time.

Anybody have any experience with any of these conversion kits? They sound good and, if practical, I'm going to try to select a genset that they support. Let me know what you folks think.

[Grand58742]

I remember someone talking about them years ago on maybe...ARFCOM? Can't recall exactly and it's a mountain of threads to search for over there. But IIRC, they were fairly impressed with the device and how it worked. They were able to hook up the 4.5 and 20 pound propane bottles which makes it even more advantageous.

Wondering if it isn't worth the extra coin just to go ahead and buy the factory tri-fuel model. And wondering what an aftermarket mod kit for multi-fuel does to the factory warranty. A company called Winco offers the dual and tri fuel (NG, LPG and Gas). Little pricey though compared to the Honda's and Briggs and Strattons. About at a Generac level and maybe a tad higher, but I guess you pay for the mods.

Anyone know anything about the Winco type generators?

[jimmycthemd]

The smallest tri-fuel Winco is 5500 watts continuous and costs a little over $2,000. For the B&S 3250 watt (enough to run my fridge/freezer and a few more items) it's $470 and another $300 for the tri-fuel kit ($200 if you go with EITHER LP or NG...dual-fuel). Total cost of the conversion and the B&S
is about $800. Another advantage of the B&S is I've rebuilt numerous B&S engines on lawnmowers, etc., so I'm very familiar with their operation/maintenance (also, they're everywhere so, if I have to scavange parts....). If I had more funds to allocate, I'd go with the Winco or something similar.

[SeldomSeenSlim]

I have no experience with these types of generators or the conversion kit. I did not see anything at your link that provided details on fuel consumption. Below is a table for a comparable Yamaha tri-fuel 4500 watt generator.

On Gasoline -
Consumption at 1/2 load 0.35 gallons/hour
Consumption at 3/4 load 0.49 gallons/hour
Consumption at full load load 0.53 gallons/hour

On LP Gas -
Consumption at 1/2 load 0.31 gallons/hour
Consumption at 3/4 load 0.43 gallons/hour
Consumption at full load load 0.47 gallons/hour

On Natural Gas -
Consumption at 1/2 load 37 cu.ft./hr
Consumption at 3/4 load 52 cu.ft./hr
Consumption at full load load 57 cu.ft./hr

This would be something to consider so you can plan on how much fuel you would need to stock up on if the NG source went out and you had to rely on what you have on hand.

[Grand58742]

They do tend to be a bit costly lol

I've been looking at a B&S myself and with the recent storms, figure it's high time I grabbed one before they disappear.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

They do tend to be a bit costly lol

I've been looking at a B&S myself and with the recent storms, figure it's high time I grabbed one before they disappear.

Gonna make an Okie outta you yet LOL

[PerryJeff]

I have run a mower that was converted to Propane with the dedicated kit. I think it was 16 HP Kawasaki engine. Ran great the owner loves it he has a couple tanks from forklift and mounts the tank right behind his seat just like forklift and can quick change it when needed. He said the oil is much cleaner than any gas engine when he changes it is the main difference, and quieter.