100 Items to Disappear First in a Disaster Situation....


Mullenite
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We would like to think so Prospectmom, but I've read that in major disasters in the past when basic needs are not being met for a long the Natural Man takes over and it becomes dog eat dog. I worry about this and the security of ourselves and our supplies, if we were wise enough to build them up, in a long term situation.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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

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At first I thought this was going to be an ad for Sta-Bil, which I use faithfully, but it turned out to be a very valuable post full of good info.

Based on your information then, buying a machine that is intended to be used on propane or multifuel, is preferential to buying a conversion kit, since the conversion kit means not only a drop in fuel cost but a drop in generating capacity.

There are large gen sets (houshold) with instant start, full shrouded boxes, and an automatic switch that isolates the house from the service lines so you don't shock the lineman, that run on propane. I guess I need a larger area to set it then.

Thanks for the good info.

Keep using Sta Bil. Love that stuff.

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Larry............. THANK YOU........... you just reminded me on the importance of preventitive maintenance on my generator...........I am not going to convert ....... too costly my husband traded wood for that generator and we love it............. You posted a very important post...............

Uintah Jack............. I know your right but am going to take the high road till I fall off it:} We don't talk to everyone about our storage plans for hard times............. We live in the mountains and hopefully will suffer less of the horrors associated with disasters

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  • 4 years later...

Well, I have plenty of wild rabbits. The aggravating creatures eat my flowers!!! If things go bad, I can't say I will be sad to have to live off the flower-eating rabbits on my property!!

By the way, we have been doing really good filling soda bottles and juice bottles with water. I collect the empty containers from family, clean them, and then fill them with our well water. I add drops of bleach accordingly.

We also have the jugs of water that go upside-down on top of a water-cooler. The cooler won't cool if the power goes out, but it will still gravity-feed the water down for us to drink. We have several of the large jugs of water for our cooler.

Storing water isn't hard, it is having enough space to store it that is a challenge for me. We live in a double-wide, and there is limited space in this trailer. We have done the best we can so far.

My husband wants to store water under our trailer. Although it is dark under there, won't it get too hot during the summer to adequately store water for drinking? I suppose we could keep water under there for bathing and such, and that might be okay. Thoughts?

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