LarryKJ7YM

Well I never guessed that I would ever have anything of stunning importance to say on this forum. In fact I am here mostly because I am a rank amateur, just mining data and learning a lot. However to my surprise I came across this interesting add for a generator modification kit. Hmmmm.......I have spent over 20 years as a Generator Technician and although the add brought up some valid concerns in parts of it's rant. Perhaps I may be of some help with a few suggestions. We loose power every year in my remote desert local so the suggestions though few come not only from a Master Generator Mechanic but also from a user of the product. The add starts out by telling us that Gasoline will fail you every time. Hmm? Well, it is very true that if a generator is left unused for a long period with plain old gasoline in it, you will indeed have a gummed up carburetor, and it will fail to start. So much of my life's income has been based around this very fact. So the add has some credibility here. However I might have starved if people were aware of a product called STA-BIL. (No I have no association with this company) Anyway, what Sta-Bil is, is a fuel stabilizer. I have tested this product for years. I once placed this product into a chainsaw that had two-stroke oil mixed into the fuel (which causes even faster degradation of the fuel,) and then we set that saw up on a shelf in the shop for just over two full years. It started first pull, and that was the day I became a real believer. I was almost tempted to not tell any of my customers. But I have found that even with being honest about it, many people just don't take the time to prepare that way. So off they would go camping or hunting with their new generator and the very next season they would all show up in large numbers just before they were ready to leave. In a real panic of course, all wanting me to rebuild their carburetor right away. Needles to say we never starved! Now the next item I would like to address is the following statement: [Propane and natural gas powered engines provide the same power as gasoline.] Well, I will agree that a Factory Built Propane generator rated at say 5KW will have as much power as a Factory Built Gasoline generator rated at 5KW. I must tell you however that the engines are not, and cannot be the same size. Propane only has 74% of the power of gasoline when run in an internal combustion engine. This means that when you get a 10,000 Watt generator made for propane from the factory, the engine was built from a 25% or larger gasoline engine to get the same power necessary to push that 10KW generator head. If they did not you would only have a 7400 Watt generator. Sadly natural gas has even less power than propane. Now here is the rub with this add. It might lead you to believe that a conversion kit on your wonderful gasoline powered generator will give you the same power as before it was converted. I can promise you though, that if you had a fine little generator properly sized to run your refrigerator it surely will not once you do a straight conversion to propane. (Unless of course you make sure the conversion is the kind that will allow you to continue to run on gasoline as well as the alternate fuel. Then the conversion becomes an expensive, but sweet deal indeed.) May I please add one last comment about electrical generators? It is an exacting and unforgiving science. 746 WATTS = 1 horse power. This is an unforgiving rule when applied to power generation. A gas motor that is underpowered on say, a lawnmower in heavy grass, can be compensated for by slowing down or raising the deck. But with a generator if you flip a switch to an electrical load there is no forgiveness, it either has all the necessary power or it does not. There is No Forgiveness in this application. The modification of a generator in any way runs a risk of power loss even when using gasoline in a multi-fuel modification, because after the modifications, the unit may no longer be as efficient as it was when running straight gasoline unmodified from the factory. You will want a solid guarantee from the vendor that this will not happen. The best way to verify that the conversion does not degrade your unit is to take it to your local Generator shop and ask them to do a load test on it before the mod. They should be willing to do this for free or nearly so. Ask to watch, in fact do not do it if they will not let you watch. What they are going to do is place differing loads up to what your generator is rated for, to see how it actually performs. (Do not be concerned if it does not quite reach the advertised Wattage only the very best ever do. So don’t let anyone sell you a repair because of this test unless you yourself have notice a loss of power beyond usefulness for your applications since it was new.) Once you do the conversion it should be tested again using gasoline to verify that there is no loss of power in the gasoline mode. At this time they should also test it with the alternate fuel to tell you how much power you can get out of it with the alternate fuel. Expect to pay for this second set of test, unless of course you hired them to do the modifications in which case it should be included in the price. If you live in or near Casa Grande, AZ I will do this for you for free both before and after your mod. I mean the test, not the modification. I am not in this for the money, I am retired from the business now, but I just happen to still have the load tester. I now work as a Communication Tech for a local county college district, and I stay way too busy with that. But I would be glad to help a neighbor in need. So to summarize, I feel there may be some value to the idea of a multi-fuel mod to your generator. But you can, with very little expense, store gasoline both in and out of your generator for years without worry, especially important to know if you cannot afford the mods. Secondly I do not recommend a straight conversion that looses your ability to burn gasoline in the generator, as the power loss is drastic. I myself keep a small, very quite, fuel efficient generator for the many nights we loose power during our monsoon season. This allows me to burn about 1/5 a gallon of gasoline for 6-8 hours of lights and fans. I also own a 7KW generator that can surge to 12.5KW to run my fridge and freezers in case the event last longer than just one night. I hope I am not being too forward or pushy, I am not trying to flame anyone here, but with a lifetime of experience on the subject I really just wished to share a few thoughts. My apologies, if I have offended anyone, or been out of line in any way. Larry

I have purchased a Mylar bag sealer, Mylar Bags, and the oxygen absorber packs and am ready to go. I of course worry about the potential of rodents finding my packs and doing harm. I do not wish to go into overkill on this but I am thinking of placing these packs into reconditioned food grade buckets. My question is on the lids I will need. They vary a lot in price, but can be found fairly cheap if they do not have the sealing rubber gasket. Does anyone here feel I really need to double seal? I am thinking we should be able to buy the simple non gasketed lids if the only real intent is rodent control? Larry Casa Grande AZ

Can anyone here suggest a good and hopefully less expensive Canning Sealer. I can hardly believw how much they cost. Next mont our Mylar bag sealer should arrive. We followed the storehouses lead and bought the same model they have. I think the 350.00 cost is an at cost amount, but still a large some for our humble family. However we are more than a hundred miles round trip and that adss up to many many hundreds of dollars at todays fuel prices if we were to commute every time we got a little extra food. I believe for this to work for me I will want to hammer at it every payday a little at a time for a very long time. It will certainly be a lot more convenient ant that should raise our participation level a lot. Might just be a wash though, we will see. It would be nice to put everything in Mylar but I have lost food to rodents in the past. I like the idea of putting the Mylar in 5 gal. metal buckets, but have no idea where to find such buckets. It seems the world is all about plastic these days. Larry Casa Grande, AZ

In a truely odd coincidence I found myself in the same part of the state as the LDS cannery so I called ahead and got directions to the place. In my last post, I asked if anyone knew if the local LDS Distribution/Cannery's sold Mylar food storage pouches. The answer is yes. Today I bougt the last 107 bags they had left at the Mesa cannery so don't go there for them for awhile. I am sure they will get more. I also looked at thier Pouch Sealer, a rather nice automatic impulse sealer, they do not sell those at the Mesa Storehouse, but I was able to order it from ldscatalog.com in the Home Storage department. It was a little pricey at $350.00. (At least I thought that was a lot untill I saw what a #10 Can Sealer cost!!!! Like 3 times as much.) So bags it will be for now. But with the cost of fuel so high I am sure it will pay for itself in trip cost alone, compared to driving up to that part of the state as often as I would need to for my many meager future purchases. I am not going to be one of those that can afford to do an entire years supply all in one swat. Thats it for now. I have no idea how long it will take to get the sealer. But we will try to share our experiances when we start melting bags, sticking bags, and wilting bags as a beginner. P.S. Iggy. I was born in Roseburg Oregon. Larry the PressureCook [email protected]

Yeah what about htis Tuna in oil thing? I like to buy it packed in water to. If you saw the size of my tummy you would understand :-)

:-) Well I should share with the group that I am fired up on my years supply do to it's being used all up in a 6 month run of my wife being out of work, and into several surguries over that time period. It turned our world upside down real fast. My years supply turned out to not really be a years worth but closer to 6 months. Anyway we made it, and now I do most of the cooking as my wifes arm and shoulder are fairly perminantly damaged. Anyway as odd as it may sound all my meals are prepared with a pressure cooker on an induction burner. Yep 100%. You go with what you know. OK I do have and seldome use a bread machine as well. With our years supply gone I am looking at things anew. In some ways fun, in others scarey. Things have changed in 20 years. No more giant pails of wheat for me!! I also, as one member of this group stated, feel some urgency in this. I will be purchasing a Myalr Bag sealer in the next week or two. I will be getting a foot operated model fairly close to the type I understand that the Storehouse uses. Except I think I may go with a 10mm seal instead of the 5mm. I have heard rumors that I may be able to buy the bags from the storehouse up in Mesa. Does anyone know if that is so? Larry [email protected]

Hello Iggy, I also live in Pinal County and work at a community college in the area. Small World Larry