propane generator - portable

[ampsucker]

thought this might fit best in lawn and garden.

i'm looking to get a small (3500 watt or so) portable generator for my mom for the winter outages she sometimes sees. she has wood heat as a backup, so this would just run a small fridge, some lights, fans, etc.

i am looking at this model:

DuroPower® - DP3500ELP 3500w Propane Generator with Elec. Start

It has electric start and would run about 12 hours on a BBQ size propane tank or about 2.5 days on one of her 100 lb larger tanks.

I have never heard of this brand of generator or engine before and was wondering if anyone has experience with this company or their small engines. I'm guessing it is a chinese import.

I have looked at other popular choices but this unit seems to be sized right for our needs and has the electric start which I find difficult to locate in the smaller engine sizes (less than 10 kW output).

The reason for choosing propane over gas is the long sit times when not in use makes us often throw away or burn a full tank of gas each year just to keep it form going bad and gumming things up even with Stabil. Otherwise, there aren't any noise or efficiency concerns and diesel isn't an option since it gets pretty cold and she doesn't have any other diesel equipment.

The unit will be stored in a shop and rolled outside under a lean-to for use. it could be permanantly plumbed under the lean-to and have pretty good protection so all she would have to do to start it is uncover a small tarp from the unit and plug in her heavy duty extension cord. i would keep the starting battery top charged with a small harbor freight top charger.

Thanks for any feedback,

amp

 

[Slade]

My neighbor has one of their small diesel models and likes it.

You should probably make sure that she starts it up at least a couple times a year though and doesn't just expect it to work when needed.

 

[ampsucker]

hey, thanks for the feedback! it's good to hear that somebody finds their products decent!

the company, duropower, uses their own brand of small engine. i imagine it may be a rebadge or knockoff of someone elses design. i was unable to find any reviews on it, so it's probably either a new company or not very popular in the US.

with the yamaha and honda units almost three to four times the price, it seems like a good deal. we won't be using it a lot of hours, don't need ultra clean inverter power for delicate electronics, but do need it to start up and run a couple of times a year.

i will be starting it each quarter or so for her to make sure it runs, although with what i've read about propane engines, this shouldn't be much of a concern.

eventually, we may be getting a bigger unit to run the house, well pump, a/c units, washer/dryer, etc. but, that's down the road a bit.

amp

 

[ray66v]

Propane generator.... I would love to be able to generate my own propane.

 

[ampsucker]

bump....

(yes, aside from generating our own propane, diesel, gas, etc, does anyone have experience with one of these things that RUNS on propane and generates electricity? i need to pull the trigger in the next couple of weeks!)

;-)

thanx,

amp

 

[ray66v]

I have toyed with the idea of converting mine to propane, with a kit. Generator Conversion Kits to Propane and Natural Gas. This could be a less expensive way for you to go.

 

[kenmac]

JMO, I would stay with one of the well known engine brands such as B&S, Kohler, etc., For future parts, service , etc,. If you convert, make sure your engine is an OHV type engine

 

[ampsucker]

thanks for the replies!

here is what i've found out from a little web research.

yes, you can convert a gas engine to a propane or NG engine with the kit. or, you can buy a tri-fuel set up so you can run any of those fuels. there doesn't appear to be significant price difference between any of the fuel options. the major price influence seems to come from the brand name and the type of technology used to produce the electricity. an inverter based system produces the cleanest a/c wave but i don't need super clean power so don't need to pay the premium price for that.

from reading, when you do the conversion with the kit from gasoline to propane, you take a performance/efficiency hit due to the engine design being optimized for gas from the factory. i'm not exactly sure what the design differences are, but apparantly an engine built from the beginning to run on propane will run more efficiently than a gasoline engine converted to run on propane with just the carb kit. might have something to do with timing, valves, cylinder design, etc. i'm not sure.

mostly, i'm looking for any feedback on the duropower brand since it is an unknown in my area. it "looks" good on the website, but you can't see much about how it actually starts, runs, and how long it might last. i also haven't been able to find any other reviews on this brand, so maybe that's a tip it is either very new, or not very popular? since i'm not spending my own money, (it's for mom, don't ya know!) i'm less willing to gamble without some kind of idea if it's a decent product.

if it was for me, i would probably take a chance. these systems aren't very complicated, so if it was my own, i could probably keep it patched up and running fine. although, that is a good point about being able to get parts for it.

thanks for any more feedback from the experience base on TBN!

amp

 

[kenmac]

my experence with the china stuff is. The engine tolerences aren't as close as the better names. which will cause premature engine / generator failure in some cases as in a long running engine as would be the case for a generator. You will loose a little kw going from gasoline to propane and more wirh nat gas. Check out northern tools for tri fuel generators. They list the kw ratings for the 3 fuels used

 

[Bird]

The reason for choosing propane over gas is the long sit times when not in use

I know nothing about the brand you're looking at, but I've owned 2 motorhomes with gasoline powered Onan generators; a single cylinder 2500 watt in 1973 and a twin cylinder 7000 watt in 1992. I've also owned a 4500 watt Kohler on propane in a 32' fifth-wheel travel trailer, and I have a brother who was a factory trained service tech for Onan, but also worked on the other brands. You lose about 11% of it's capacity when you convert one from gasoline to propane. And the most common problems with generators are the result of lack of use. You should run the generator under at least a 50% load; preferably more, for at least 30 minutes; preferably an hour, at least once a month; preferably once a week.

 

[arthurb]

ampsucker,

I bought a portable gasoline Briggs N Stratton generator earlier this spring. It has a 15hp engine, and has a 8500/13000 watt useage. I also had an automatic 10 circuit transfer switch install to use with the generator during a power outage. I would be more concerned about replacement parts availability and servicing this generator when repairs will be needed. I agree with the other members that have mentioned this before me.

Briggs N Stratton makes a home standby generator that is powered by LP or NG. It's rated at 7500 watts. There sold at Sears and TSC in my area here in Ohio. I came real close in buying this unit, but I wanted more then 7500 watts. I personally would feel more comfortable with a generator with a Briggs, Kohler, Honda or a Subaru engine so you know you'll have parts and servicing availability. I hope this info will help you, and good luck with your choice.

 

[John_Mc]

I have a Generac 4000XL generator. It's electric start (or at least it would be if I ever get around to replacing the dead battery), and came with it's own trickle charger which can be left plugged in all the time. 7.8 HP engine. It's rated 4000 watts continuous, 6600 surge. (I've not seen any other generators this size with that kind of surge capacity.)

It was made to run on gas, but I bought an easily installed conversion from www.propane-generators.com/ to allow running on propane or gasoline. I've got a 500 gallon propane tank buried in my yard to run my boiler, so it made sense to run it off of this. I don't have to worry about not having fuel available, and don't have to deal with stale gas.

The generator has performed well for me, bit on gas and on propane. I do notice that I have to manage loads a bit more carefully when running propane. I have no idea how much capacity I lose when running propane, but it still runs what I need it to run when the grid power is down. As an added bonus, I can still run it on gas when I need a portable generator.