Honda generators convert to propane?

[beachbunny]

Ive been thinking about this a bit and im sure some slider has done this.
Type kit recomendations and pros and cons would be appreciated,tia,BB

 

[Weldor]

Propane has less btu than gas. Propane is easier to store for long term of course. I have had both, depends on how long your running. My gas and diesels can run longer on a tank than my propane running on 20 lber's. Don't have to worry about ethanol with propane so less maintainence on the carb.

 

[WyldGoose]

I was looking into this a while back. You can buy a kit and do the mod yourself, which voids any Honda warranty. Or you can buy a generator from these guys already modded and they warranty it for like 3 years I think…

Honda Propane and Natural Gas Generators modified by Genconnex

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[survivalistd]

Is this for at home or at deer camp?

 

[rayporter]

at the least get an RV manifold for 2 tanks. that way when it is zero and you have to change tanks at 2 in the morning all you have to do is flip the lever.

 

[Rich M]

I looked into it for a Honda 2000 - the 20# propane tank will supposedly last about 24 hrs. 1 gal of gas last about 10-12hrs. Figure 2 gallons of gas will do what a gas grill tank will.

Propane stores longer, gas not so much. We store a couple jerry cans and every quarter or so will use em in the car or boat, refill it, use stabil. Also run the genny about every 3 or 4 months for a little bit to keep the gas fresh.

Figure you get a 100# propane tank. That's equivalent to 2 5-gallon jugs of gas.

We did 7 days on 10 gallons of gas (on and off use) - kept fridge, chest freezer cold - had TV and fan in evening and slept with a window shaker AC in bedroom. This was after a hurricane. Would fill the tank up after work and run til we left in morning, say 6 pm to 6 am.

Anyway - more details are required - size of genny and desired use.

 

[beachbunny]

Is this for at home or at deer camp?

Camp

 

[beachbunny]

Propane has less btu than gas. Propane is easier to store for long term of course. I have had both, depends on how long your running. My gas and diesels can run longer on a tank than my propane running on 20 lber's. Don't have to worry about ethanol with propane so less maintainence on the carb.

No kidding,a tank of gas outlasts a 20#r? Whoa bear

 

[beachbunny]

I looked into it for a Honda 2000 - the 20# propane tank will supposedly last about 24 hrs. 1 gal of gas last about 10-12hrs. Figure 2 gallons of gas will do what a gas grill tank will.

Propane stores longer, gas not so much. We store a couple jerry cans and every quarter or so will use em in the car or boat, refill it, use stabil. Also run the genny about every 3 or 4 months for a little bit to keep the gas fresh.

Figure you get a 100# propane tank. That's equivalent to 2 5-gallon jugs of gas.

We did 7 days on 10 gallons of gas (on and off use) - kept fridge, chest freezer cold - had TV and fan in evening and slept with a window shaker AC in bedroom. This was after a hurricane. Would fill the tank up after work and run til we left in morning, say 6 pm to 6 am.

Anyway - more details are required - size of genny and desired use.

The honda 2200 as well as the honda 3k

 

[Rich M]

The honda 2200 as well as the honda 3k

The 2200 is similar to my 2000 so the number should be kinda close. The 3000 will burn more fuel.

We got the 2000 to keep a freezer of meat frozen and found out that by staggering start-ups, that it will run a bunch of stuff.

Wife & I were discussing getting another 2000 to connect and run in series but they make 2200s now. Will figure out if we get two 2200s or a 3000 or 5000. Building a camp and need to see if we will worry about running a well pump or not. Well pumps are notorious for needing more power.

I do want to buy another gas genny before they discontinue them in favor of those battery powered solar charging battery packs.

 

[Silveroddo]

You can buy an equivalent Champion that’s dual fuel and they used to be 30-40% cheaper than the Honda. I’ve had a Honda 2000 and I’ve used my dads dual fuel Champion, if I needed one that size there’s nothing about the Honda that was significantly better.

 

[yfarm]

The 2200 is similar to my 2000 so the number should be kinda close. The 3000 will burn more fuel.

We got the 2000 to keep a freezer of meat frozen and found out that by staggering start-ups, that it will run a bunch of stuff.

Wife & I were discussing getting another 2000 to connect and run in series but they make 2200s now. Will figure out if we get two 2200s or a 3000 or 5000. Building a camp and need to see if we will worry about running a well pump or not. Well pumps are notorious for needing more power.

I do want to buy another gas genny before they discontinue them in favor of those battery powered solar charging battery packs.

Have seen solar powered well pumps with full stock tanks when hunting in NM, assume the output is low but continuous?

 

[CMF]

Westinghouse makes a dual fuel too. We have two igen4500df for our fifth wheel. They've been good so far, except I have to unplug the cranking battery or they drain dead.
You can easily switch between fuels. After sitting up a couple months sometimes mine are harder to crank on gasoline, so I hook it up to propane and it cranks right up then switch it over to gas.

 

[gearguywb]

I looked into it for a Honda 2000 - the 20# propane tank will supposedly last about 24 hrs. 1 gal of gas last about 10-12hrs. Figure 2 gallons of gas will do what a gas grill tank will.

Propane stores longer, gas not so much. We store a couple jerry cans and every quarter or so will use em in the car or boat, refill it, use stabil. Also run the genny about every 3 or 4 months for a little bit to keep the gas fresh.

Figure you get a 100# propane tank. That's equivalent to 2 5-gallon jugs of gas.

We did 7 days on 10 gallons of gas (on and off use) - kept fridge, chest freezer cold - had TV and fan in evening and slept with a window shaker AC in bedroom. This was after a hurricane. Would fill the tank up after work and run til we left in morning, say 6 pm to 6 am.

Anyway - more details are required - size of genny and desired use.

A couple of things to clear up here.

A 20lb cylinder will hold approx 4.7 gallons of propane. If 1 gallon runs your generator 10-12 hours, then your run time will be much longer that what you have stated, or the generator will not run that long per gallon.

A 100 lb cylinder holds approx. 24 gallons, not 10.

Any DOT cylinder is measured in weight capacity of the liquid it is going to be filled with. 20lb tank, 20 lbs of propane.

Propane weighs 4.2 lbs per gallon.

 

[Mike Islander]

So....about 3 gallons of gas = propane tank worth of run time.

Regarding gas freshness, easy to store modern ethanol free gas for a year or even 2 in an airtight container with no additional additives. In the tank, 4-6 months. Run dry and drain carb = well over a year storage for gasoline.

 

[Weldor]

Don't forget they only fill tanks to 80% . Exchange tanks have 3.5 gallons of propane in them. 20lb tank = 5 gallons propane.

 

[taskswap]

I looked into it for a Honda 2000 - the 20# propane tank will supposedly last about 24 hrs. 1 gal of gas last about 10-12hrs. Figure 2 gallons of gas will do what a gas grill tank will.

Also, if run-time is your primary goal, you can get kits that let you plumb a generator right into a 5-gal gas can.

I personally think the storage aspect of gas is a bit overrated. Sta-bil is cheap and will keep gas for 2 years, but you shouldn't be keeping gas that long anyway. IMO any generator should be run once every month or two and nearly all modern generators have a pre-installed drain tube so they only take a few minutes to drain. If you have extra gas at the end of the season it's not like it's oil-premix. Just dump it in your car instead of letting it sit.

I'm a big fan of propane for generators, but for houses where you might want a more automated, low-maintenance setup (especially if you're off-grid). Having bought and installed a propane conversion for a portable/camping generator, I personally wouldn't do it again. It honestly doesn't add enough convenience for the cost and complexity involved. (The one I did was for a Predator 3500 for the curious.)

 

[Duckhunterbrad]

I have switched from Honda generators to predator generators from harbor freight. They come with the kit to switch to propane and have electric start! I've been running 3 of them for the last year and have had great luck.

 

[rayporter]

figuring 10 to 12 hr run time seems very optimistic for a gallon of propane.

last month i ran a 2200 honda at night for a week. each night i filled the gasoline tank at about 7 and under partial load it would run out between 1 and 2am.

also you can get attachments to add a 6 gal boat tank to the honda, for a total of 7 gal.

 

[Weldor]

This is scary, our friends had to use their whole house propane Gen (Generac) during a winter storm a few years back. Big house 5500 sq, ft 3 story. That Gen used 300 gal. of propane in a day and a half. They had 1000 gal pig but got worried and called for a fill up. At that time propane was $4.48 a gallon. I ran my diesel Gen about half the kw of their Generac and my house is way smaller. 3 days on 18 gallons of diesel. Not a direct comparison but sometimes things are not what they seem. I usually run my gens dry for the summer then fuel up in the fall and run them once a month for a hour. With the small gen's everyone is talking about , seems like a personal choice if you want to haul gas or propane.