[Shop-talk] LP Generator supply

[Mark Miller]

Putting two regulators in series (like when you hooked your regulator to 
the already regulated house supply) does not work well: regulators need 
a bit more pressure on its input to overcome its internal drops. So it 
was fine for the first one but the second one was starved and restricted 
the flow.  Hooking the generator directly to your existing piping should 
be just fine (that's how I ran mine when we lost power out here due to 
wildfires the past couple of years).  Good luck with your upcoming 
weather.  And if you want to be fancy with hooking it up I recommend an 
interlock to attach (safely!) to your house panel.  I used: 
https://www.geninterlock.com/ and have put a few of them in for others.  
Inexpensive, easy to use and install, safe.

Regards,

Mark Miller   707-490-5834
markmiller at threeboysfarm.com


> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2021 14:05:20 -0400
> From: Jim Stone <1789alpine at gmail.com>
> To: Shop Talk <shop-talk at Autox.Team.Net>
> Subject: [Shop-talk] LP Generator supply
> Message-ID: <027899F9-876C-4CD0-8A43-33F46A324516 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I am on Eastern Long Island, directly in one of the projected paths of Hurricane Henri.  We are being told to plan for 7-10 days without power, although FWIW we were only powerless for 4 days following Sandy.  Shortly after Sandy I purchased an LP Generator (https://www.jbtools.com/buffalo-tools-gen4000lp-4000-watt-propane-generator/?wi=off&gclid=CjwKCAjwyIKJBhBPEiwAu7zll1U54VH4euJneVO0jmOzjdgwy6-t0MUdEtaEHYXf_7W0sQxKo54TphoC__4QAvD_BwE) which, of course, I have never needed, although I do run it periodically to be safe.  It is designed to run off of LP tanks and comes with a standard regulator.  A little Googling shows the following specs for the regulator:
>
> Low Pressure Regulator
> Inlet Pressure:               25-250PSIG
> Outlet Pressure:            280mmH2O= (11"W.C.)
> Flow Capacity(MAX):    119000(BTU/hr)
>
> We use Propane for DHW and heat and have a 500 gallon in-ground tank.   I had an outside gas line stubbed out when the house was remodeled, just in case I ever needed it and I would like to be able to connect the generator directly to the house supply and avoid having to depend on the portable tanks.  The house supply is regulated and, as an example, here are the specs for the water heater:
>
> Max Inlet Gas Pressure:    13.0 ?W.C.
> Min Inlet Gas Pressure:     8.0 ?W.C.
> Recovery Rating:               206/Gallons/HR
> Max Working Pressure:     150psi
> Max Output:                       180,000 BTU/HR
> Max Input:                          11,000 BTU/HR
> Manifold Pressure:             3.9 ?W.C. (For Max Input)
>
> Am I missing anything, or should I be able to hook the generator directly to the house supply without the regulator?  For the record, I tried it once with the regulator attached and it barely ran and didn?t put out any appreciable power.  I always meant to research this before I needed it, but like many of us, never got around to it until now.
>
> Thanks,
> Jim
>
>
>