Dual fuel generator - does it need gasoline or can it just be run on propane?

[newbury]

I've recently bought a new Champion 200914 4250-Watt dual fuel inverter generator, mainly for my Virginia house. Last year I bought a Duromax XP9000ih dual fuel for my Mississippi property. I've run the Duromax for about 5 hours break in on propane. I have not started the Champion yet.
I'm pretty aware of the dangers of ethanol on carbs, so I was planning on keeping both on propane as long as possible.
BUT
I just stumbled across this Youtube video "I broke my champion generator" where the guy claims that since he only ran his on propane it built up water in the carb.
Now I never read of that before.

Have any TBN'ers run dual fuel solely on propane then had trouble switching to gas?
Should I just pour in some Sea Foam and crank it through without firing then stick to propane?
E0 is about an 80 mile round trip for me from where I sit in Va. and nowhere near where I normally travel. When I get back to Mississippi E0 is about 2 miles out of the way.

(Note I don't have a lot of trust in this tuber, he forgot to put the main jet back in the carb and his engine ran rough.)

 

[deserteagle71]

Sounds like total BS to me also. How could burning propane build up water in a carburetor?? I drove a dual-fuel GMC van for over 32 years; most of the time I ran it on propane because it was cheaper and ran better than it did on gasoline. One of the advantages of running on propane is how clean it keeps the engine intake, including the carburetor. There is no way propane can "make" water except after it is burned and water vapor comes out of the exhaust! NOT before it is burned and in the carburetor.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I also have a Duromax dual fuel. It has never seen gasoline, nor will it. I run only propane. Carb never needs cleaning nor rebuilding

 

[Hay Dude]

I wish our country as a whole would adopt propane and natural gas more broadly as a fuel source.
We have a seemingly limitless supply and we have excellent technology for getting it out of the ground.

 

[mrmikey]

I've got a Firman tri-fuel, only ever going to be run on propane since we can't get normal, crap free, gas here.

 

[5030]

Propane fired engines run on vapor not on liquid so the liquid carb bowl is not used. The YT'er is totally FOS, just like most of them are. I watch YT for entertainment only and hardly ever take any of it seriously and you shouldn't either. I have one of the Champs myself for the RV and it's never run on any liquid fuel in the last 10 years or so. Besides propane delivers more energy (BTU's per volume than gasoline does) and it runs much cleaner. Other than maintaining the air cleaner and changing the oil, it has never had anything done to it. Never even changed the spark plugs.

 

[ponytug]

I've recently bought a new Champion 200914 4250-Watt dual fuel inverter generator, mainly for my Virginia house. Last year I bought a Duromax XP9000ih dual fuel for my Mississippi property. I've run the Duromax for about 5 hours break in on propane. I have not started the Champion yet.
I'm pretty aware of the dangers of ethanol on carbs, so I was planning on keeping both on propane as long as possible.
BUT
I just stumbled across this Youtube video "I broke my champion generator" where the guy claims that since he only ran his on propane it built up water in the carb.
Now I never read of that before.

Have any TBN'ers run dual fuel solely on propane then had trouble switching to gas?
Should I just pour in some Sea Foam and crank it through without firing then stick to propane?
E0 is about an 80 mile round trip for me from where I sit in Va. and nowhere near where I normally travel. When I get back to Mississippi E0 is about 2 miles out of the way.

(Note I don't have a lot of trust in this tuber, he forgot to put the main jet back in the carb and his engine ran rough.)

A) I wouldn't worry about getting water in the carburetor. Don't leave the generator out in the rain and you should be fine.
B) If you only plan to use propane, I would not put any gasoline it. If you switch back and forth, then no to putting SeaFoam in preventively, but yes, I would run run the carburetor dry when you finish using the the gasoline. (Try not to let your generator run out of fuel under load, as it isn't good for the generator or the load.)

All the best,

Peter

 

[arto98607]

Propane fired engines run on vapor not on liquid so the liquid carb bowl is not used. The YT'er is totally FOS, just like most of them are. I watch YT for entertainment only and hardly ever take any of it seriously and you shouldn't either. I have one of the Champs myself for the RV and it's never run on any liquid fuel in the last 10 years or so. Besides propane delivers more energy (BTU's per volume than gasoline does) and it runs much cleaner. Other than maintaining the air cleaner and changing the oil, it has never had anything done to it. Never even changed the spark plugs.

Since about the same amount of humid air (with water), will still have to go through the carburetor, is there a possibility that some of that water could settle down on the bottom of carburetor float bowl - I doubt it.

I have two dual fuel generators which both have ran only on propane, but I probably have not operated either long enough to say for sure?

Not going to worry about that much.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I have run several 2000W inverter generators solely on propane, a couple thousand hours on one before it died, 900 hours on another that is still running in Honduras.
My current yamaha i2400 has never seen anything but propane.

My longest life genset came from preventative maintenance and following a few common sense self imposed rules.

Changing the oil at the recommended time interval or when it gets discolored.
Not placing more load on the generator than it is rated for.
And as @ponytug says above, try to never let your generator run out of fuel under load, that always shortens the time to end of life.

Funny thing about propane is it does have a fair amount of water vapor that is created by burning it. So the water only ends up in the exhaust stream, not in the intake.

I have also maintained a few Ford industrial generators that have been switched back and forth between LPG and gasoline, never a problem.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Never put gas in my Firman 9500w dual fuel genny. That Youtuber is full of it!
I've been running this genset for 5 years on only propane.