Generator & hot weather

[lakebuster]

Do yall use ethanol free gas, that is all I run in my small engines and genset in camper. Had problems as you mentioned before going to only ethanol free fuel.

[Pirate]

David,

You know, I can't answer that for the fuel that was in the Generator tank, or what we added.

Getting tougher to find the ethanol free, and tougher yet to find a gas station with ethanol free...that I can get the rig into...

But something to remember...

Thanks,

Pirate

[jeffwelsh]

While on my trip, I filled the almost empty tank up with premium. So that should have eliminated any possibility of bad gas.
-Jeff

[lakebuster]

Put a can of Sea Foam in fuel tank, connect trailer and stop and go to mix fuel in tanks. Then run generator on no load for up to an hour then try to load. If it dies leave down overnight. Repeat process until generator stays running. Then check with local marinas, that is where I get ethanol free gasoline. Ethanol is fine for a car you use everyday, but like a boat generators are used sporadically and it gums up in the Jets. The first time this happened to me cummins/Oman changed out fuel filter and pump. Good luck

[HornedToad]

lakebuster,

As you can see from the map, while most areas have access to ethanol free gas, West Texas does not... pure-gas.org : ethanol-free gas stations

I've run ethanol gas through my 1994 Bayliner for 20 years & four different generators for the last 10 years and have never had a problem. My secret is the same as yours... I religiously add Sea Foam (or Sta-Bil if I can't find it) at every fill up!!!

Maybe the advantage I do have in West Texas is the low humidity would lend itself to less condensation in the fuel tank?

[jeffwelsh]

Hey Pirate, I'm curious as to where you will energize the new pump from? Ideally it would only be energized when the genny was running. I'm also not too optimistic about that option. I had my unit out with a down hill slant when the genny acted up and I took the fuel line loose before the filter and got a gas bath. Gravity was definitely helping then with plenty of flow.
-Jeff

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by jeffwelsh

Hey Pirate, I'm curious as to where you will energize the new pump from? Ideally it would only be energized when the genny was running. I'm also not too optimistic about that option. I had my unit out with a down hill slant when the genny acted up and I took the fuel line loose before the filter and got a gas bath. Gravity was definitely helping then with plenty of flow.
-Jeff

Basically he can tap into the positive wire that goes to the OEM pump and just run a length of wire to the new pump. No need to run a negative wire all the way back there since it can be grounded where it gets mounted.

[3KQ]

One thing I found in my last Moab trip was that my generator would just stop after a while of running the A/C. In looking on other forums, some have been having the controller stop the engine due to overheating. After checking everything, I changed the oil and put in 30w. The problem stopped after the oil change. The oil in these is used also to help cool the unit. If the oil is thin due to not being changed for a while (multi-viscosity oils can become thin with too many contaminants), it will not help remove heat as well as it should.
May not be the same as your problem, but it solved mine. Just my 2 cents.

[Pirate]

Spent six hours wrassling around on the gravel, but got it 99% done.

First, mounted the new pump on the outside of the frame, as that's the only place I could get a drill in to mount the pump bracket to the frame. Got the bracket mounted, then the pump mounted, then the Inlet and Outlet fittings screwed into the pump.

Our 2014 Voltage Epic 3800 has a 2" ABS pipe that runs from right back by the Toy fuel tank all the way to the back of the Generator.

The fuel and vapor hose then turn hard right, go behind the Generator enclosure, then into the Generator compartment and to the Generator fuel pump.

After two tries getting the new hot wire taped to the fuel hose and push it up the 2" ABS conduit. No luck.

So took the vent hose loose from the Generator, pulled it out. Then taped all three together and successfully shoved it up the ABS conduit, then behind the Generator enclosure, into the enclosure and reconnected to the Generator pump.

Terminate the hot wire and ground wire for the new pump.

Just didn't have a crimp on splice to tie the new hotwire to the existing switched hot wire.

One of the two white wires to the existing pump has a fuse fitting in the wiring loom. 25amp fuse. So I suspect that's the switched wire for the existing pump.

I'll get a crimp splice tie them together...and see how it works!!!

More to come,

Pirate
Took the fuel hose loose from the pump and pulled it all the way out of the 2" ABS pipe.

[calewjohnson]

Thanks for the info thus far...I am sitting at 30ish hours on my generator so far. I am changing the oil (going to 30W as 3KQ did) and filter next week. 15W-40 comes from the factory, saying it is good for year round, but 30W is better for hot environments.

Anyway, I was digging through the the Onan stuff, they rate their fuel pump for up to 3 foot of lift, meaning that there should be no problem pulling the fuel from the tank to the front (as long as the rear is not 3 foot below the front). Though I am unsure if they mean lifting from below (meaning like it is now) or lifting it to somewhere above (meaning like you are placing the new pump).

A couple questions now...what is the fuel line lads of? If a rubber hose, I wonder if it is actual fuel hose, or is it vacuum hose (which would not surprise me). Is there any way to get a hard line from the back to the front, this would probably be better in the end...

Cale

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by calewjohnson

Thanks for the info thus far...I am sitting at 30ish hours on my generator so far. I am changing the oil (going to 30W as 3KQ did) and filter next week. 15W-40 comes from the factory, saying it is good for year round, but 30W is better for hot environments.

Anyway, I was digging through the the Onan stuff, they rate their fuel pump for up to 3 foot of lift, meaning that there should be no problem pulling the fuel from the tank to the front (as long as the rear is not 3 foot below the front). Though I am unsure if they mean lifting from below (meaning like it is now) or lifting it to somewhere above (meaning like you are placing the new pump).

A couple questions now...what is the fuel line lads of? If a rubber hose, I wonder if it is actual fuel hose, or is it vacuum hose (which would not surprise me). Is there any way to get a hard line from the back to the front, this would probably be better in the end...

Cale

If I thought the blind installers actually used vacuum hose instead of Neoprene fuel line to supply the generator I wouldn't be sleeping in this thing every night for the last year or so.

Granted, they pull some stupid **** but

[Pirate]

Cale,

The fuel hose looks like a normal one...but there is the outer rubber, a layer of thread, and then a softer inner lining. Was a real PITA to get on 5/16 brass nipples. But finally got 'em both on the new fuel pump.

The fuel hose is not very rigid, not hard to squeeze flat. So afraid that the original pump may have been sucking the hose flat, creating an obstruction in the heat.

Splice the hot wire for the two pumps together. Press STOP to prime an you can hear the back pump doing a lot more than the front pump.

Shut everything off and started the Generator.

Refrigerator on AC.

Started the Zone 1 AC unit.

Started the Zone 2 AC unit.

Have the satellite dish up, the HD DVR on, the Wireless Bridge on, the Living Room TV on.

Its 97 degrees here, and the system has been running smoothly for 30 minutes!

So far so good.

Pirate