chrisser
05-22-2008, 08:10 AM
A year or so ago, I bought a small generator. Its a McCulloch Mite-E-Lite with a 4hp B&S gas engine from around 1968.
Nothing really fancy or powerful. I bought it because it was very simple - it generates straight AC, but the only regulation for voltage (and, I assume, frequency) is via the engine governor.
Anyways, I bought it because its portable (one person can easily lift it with a little grunt) and I figured I could run some lights and simple appliances in the event of a power outage. Could also run simple hand tools at my wife's garden at her parents' property w/o a 300' extension cord.
I have it apart and it has almost no wear inside the engine. Figure I'll get a cheap Harbor Freight hand truck and mount it to that so I can cart it around.
What I'd really like to do, however, is convert it to run on a B-B-Q sized propane tank. I figure propane is a heckuva lot safer to store than gasoline, and if the power is out, the gas stations are down for the count.
I know I could just purchase a propane conversion kit, but they sure are expensive for this project (more than I paid for the whole generator).
Anyone know of any resources that would show how to build a propane converter using off-the-shelf parts?
I have another engine that I jury-rigged a simple propane injector using a plumber's torch and small propane bottle. Worked pretty well, although it had no regulation and I worried about the possibility of backfeeding into the bottle and blowing things up.
I have a drill press and small lathe as well as a milling attachment I built for the lathe, so I think I could probably build something if I knew how.
Anyone have any sources for something like this? (or warnings that this is a dumb idea?)
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Nothing really fancy or powerful. I bought it because it was very simple - it generates straight AC, but the only regulation for voltage (and, I assume, frequency) is via the engine governor.
Anyways, I bought it because its portable (one person can easily lift it with a little grunt) and I figured I could run some lights and simple appliances in the event of a power outage. Could also run simple hand tools at my wife's garden at her parents' property w/o a 300' extension cord.
I have it apart and it has almost no wear inside the engine. Figure I'll get a cheap Harbor Freight hand truck and mount it to that so I can cart it around.
What I'd really like to do, however, is convert it to run on a B-B-Q sized propane tank. I figure propane is a heckuva lot safer to store than gasoline, and if the power is out, the gas stations are down for the count.
I know I could just purchase a propane conversion kit, but they sure are expensive for this project (more than I paid for the whole generator).
Anyone know of any resources that would show how to build a propane converter using off-the-shelf parts?
I have another engine that I jury-rigged a simple propane injector using a plumber's torch and small propane bottle. Worked pretty well, although it had no regulation and I worried about the possibility of backfeeding into the bottle and blowing things up.
I have a drill press and small lathe as well as a milling attachment I built for the lathe, so I think I could probably build something if I knew how.
Anyone have any sources for something like this? (or warnings that this is a dumb idea?)
Thanks in advance,
Chris