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Message
Anyone have a lead on a tri-fuel generator?
Posted on 7/29/24 at 10:01 am
Posted on 7/29/24 at 10:01 am
It seems tri-fuel are sold out everywhere. I have been looking for a few weeks now and would prefer a generator I could run on natural gas so I don't have to worry about refueling.
Everything 9500W or higher are sold out. Seems Westinghouse is the main brand and I'm guessing Beryl is the reason they were all snatched up?
Any leads?
Everything 9500W or higher are sold out. Seems Westinghouse is the main brand and I'm guessing Beryl is the reason they were all snatched up?
Any leads?
9
Posted on 7/29/24 at 10:02 am to LSUZombie
My local Costco (BR) still had some this week. Firman Tri-Fuel.
Was a workhorse for me during Ida.
Was a workhorse for me during Ida.
Posted on 7/29/24 at 10:07 am to LSUZombie
You can buy kits to turn many of them especially the more popular gas engine generators into a propane. It’s fairly simple to do for many of them.
Propane is great if you have a huge tank, but the portable propane tanks are only 5 gallons give or take and not going to last you long.
Propane is great if you have a huge tank, but the portable propane tanks are only 5 gallons give or take and not going to last you long.
Posted on 7/29/24 at 10:10 am to baldona
quote:
the portable propane tanks are only 5 gallons give or take and not going to last you long.
yeah, i have a dual-fuel Firman. Don't have natural gas at our house. The small propane tank lasts roughly 4 hours. But, at least it doesn't gum up the carb.
This post was edited on 7/29/24 at 10:32 am
Posted on 7/29/24 at 10:41 am to lsugolfredman
quote:
My local Costco (BR) still had some this week. Firman Tri-Fuel.
Was a workhorse for me during Ida.
Think I might need to go this route. Might hold off on natural gas and just run it on gasoline for max power.
Can you tell me how long it ran on a full tank?
Posted on 7/29/24 at 11:10 am to LSUZombie
Get dual fuel and a conversion kit if you're in a bind.
Posted on 7/29/24 at 11:35 am to MorbidTheClown
quote:
The small propane tank lasts roughly 4 hours
damn that doesn't sound good. That's an expensive 4 hours it seems. i know propane and natural gas aren't going to be more efficient than gasoline, but that seems like a lot less.
5 gallons of gas would last me 6 hours easily, and cost $15 instead of $25.
That's $2.50/hr compared to $6.25/hr
Starts to add up real quick when the powers been out for 5 days.
Posted on 7/29/24 at 11:53 am to LSUZombie
we can thank the shitty state of Texas for that.
Posted on 7/30/24 at 11:58 am to baldona
quote:
You can buy kits to turn many of them especially the more popular gas engine generators into a propane
Was coming on here to say that. When I was in the market last year I went with the duromax 13k dual fuel and converted it with a kit. Think at the time it saved me probably $600+ compared to buying a trifuel.
Posted on 7/30/24 at 3:58 pm to LSUZombie
I have the tri fuel Firman from Costco and it has worked flawlessly on natural gas the two times I’ve needed it.
Posted on 7/30/24 at 4:12 pm to TeddyPadillac
true. Although it's more like $19-$20 for a tank exchange and less if I take the tank to get refilled.
It's probably still more expensive but, then you don't have the hassle of carburetor issues later.
It's probably still more expensive but, then you don't have the hassle of carburetor issues later.
Posted on 7/31/24 at 7:52 am to LSUZombie
A friend of mine just went through this recently and I helped him do a load calculation and such for his HVAC with a soft starter. His comments:
quote:
Just picked up a Westinghouse wgen10500tfc, which is a trifuel gen that pushes 8500 running watts in nat gas and higher on propane and gasoline. Scoured FB Marketplace, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Harbor Freight, etc for weeks until I found a feature on the Home Depot app that notifies me when back in stock. I got a notification email that this was back in store at 5pm and saw the inventory was around 250 qty. by 7pm it was down to 180 and by 5am they were sold out. Luckily I pulled the trigger and picked it up today.
Some important things:
- sign up for notification emails when an item is back in stock
- check warranty information before converting the fuel source of your gen. I was shopping duel fuels until I read that converting a duel to nat gas would void warranty.
- 8500 running watts on nat gas was as low as I’d go from what I heard and researched. I’m aiming to power 5 ton AC (with soft start), nat gas tankless water heater, water softener, electronics (internet and tv), and a few lights. Because of this wattage, it was between a Westinghouse 10500 and a Duromax 13000hxt. The westing was well priced with copper clad aluminum windings, which is good enough. And the Duromax was expensive, but with copper windings, which is ideal. All other brands/models were either OOS, too expensive, or had 100% aluminum windings. I would consider the Predator 13000 (7500 running watts on nat gas) if I had a 3 or 4 ton AC since it’s well priced with copper windings
- an electrician adding an interlock kit to breaker box and an inlet from indoor breaker box to near gas meter was $450 (inlet provided by me $50; kit by electrician). A plumber is going to T off a nat gas valve from the meter for $250. I bought a 50 ft 50A cord for just under $300 as well as an all-weather gen cover for $150.
Posted on 7/31/24 at 9:49 am to bapple
quote:
- check warranty information before converting the fuel source of your gen. I was shopping duel fuels until I read that converting a duel to nat gas would void warranty.
Personally this should be the last worry that I would ever have. Its like a combat soldier worrying about a warranty, when the shite hits the fan and you need something to work you only use what you are comfortable with and what's going to work or can be fixed.
If you are more comfortable with a tri-fuel bought OEM, certainly go that route. But adding an aftermarket propane or Nat gas conversion is extremely easy and if you have a generator like a Honda, Yamaha, or other very proven model than doing that should really not be an issue at all.
I just can't tell you the amount of times I've had "warranty" work not be worth it, and paid to get something fixed. I once had a 2 year old AC under warranty have a circuit board go out in the summer, it was a 3 week wait for the warranty part. I know that's anecdotal, but you gotta ask yourself in the time of a storm how good is that warranty and how fast is that service going to be? Cash is usually king.
Posted on 7/31/24 at 9:51 am to baldona
the only caveat to the conversion kits is that if the generator has an "eco-mode" it probably wont work after the NG/LP conversion, at least it didnt on my honda. it runs great, it just wont throttle down with no/low load...WOT all the time
Posted on 7/31/24 at 1:15 pm to cgrand
My Duromax XP9000IH is able to throttle down on eco mode while on NG after i converted it, it just can't start my soft starting HVAC compressor while on eco mode now
This post was edited on 7/31/24 at 1:16 pm
Posted on 8/1/24 at 10:51 pm to DVinBR
Have heard same thing on propane consumption
5 gallon tanks last 4 hours
No thanks
5 gallon tanks last 4 hours
No thanks
Posted on 8/2/24 at 8:05 am to LSUZombie
I went with the Firmin trifuel from Costco. Having a natural gas line ran today so I won't have to worry about fuel.
Being that my power goes out randomly on clear, sunny days I feel this will bring great peace of mind for me. At least I know my fridge and freezer will be safe.
Being that my power goes out randomly on clear, sunny days I feel this will bring great peace of mind for me. At least I know my fridge and freezer will be safe.
Posted on 8/2/24 at 11:10 am to LSUZombie
There's a Facebook page, "Generators: Portable Generators To Power Entire House."
Also " DuroMax Power" also has a FaceBook page.
Both are very helpful.
Also " DuroMax Power" also has a FaceBook page.
Both are very helpful.
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