[Shop-talk] LP Generator supply

Donald H Locker dhlocker at comcast.net
Sun Aug 22 04:24:07 MDT 2021


I'm surprised to see responses assuming natural gas is the house supply.

In the original post, Jim specifically stated that he has LPG/Propane
house heating with a large tank for supply. Someone, somewhere along the
line missed that fact and that piece of conversation went off the rails.

Donald.
--
> On Aug 21, 2021, at 1:08 PM, Jim Stone <1789alpine at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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

On 2021-08-22 5:56 a.m., nick brearley wrote:
> Surprised nobody's responded to Phil's very valid concerns.
> 
> I realise that this may not be helpful to Jim who's having to study the
> weather radar at hourly intervals but I did a net search and came up
> with this among other items:
> 
> https://generatorgeek.com/can-a-propane-generator-run-on-natural-gas/
> 
> Short answer, no without modification. As a minimum it must be worth a
> phonecall to http://www.sportsmangenerators.com/contact.html. Although
> bearing in mind these are wholesale importers they may not be the
> ultimate authority. And not available until Monday.
> 
> Good luck with the storm.
> 
> Nick Brearley
> 
> 
> On 21/08/2021 20:19, Phil Ethier wrote:
>> No. LP gas and household natural gas are different. You need to rejet
>> products to change over. 
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Aug 21, 2021, at 1:07 PM, Jim Stone <1789alpine at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>  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
>>> <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
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>>
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> 
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