Hello everyone,
I am fairly new to the site, but as a few of you know I am looking to buy my first Barth, actually my first motorhome which will be a Barth! The amount of information in these posts and the wisdom of the author's has been a tremendous help in deciding what to check and what to look for (last night I read about "bell cranks" never knew there was such a thing ).
One subject I have not been able to find to much about yet is the advantages or disadvantages of having a common fuel source for both the engine and generator, such as in the Regency's. What are the disadvantages, if any, to the LPG generators. I see where some owners have replaced the LPG generators with gas or diesel. I would appreciate your thoughts -- Gerald

The biggest objection to LP fueled generators is fuel consumption. Usage with an ac running will be about 1 gallon per hour. If you have a large propane tank this is no problem.

Thanks Gary... is there any difference in the amount of sound they make or is that more of a "brand" issue? Is one any more safe than the other as far as running while driving? Is one easier to initially start than the other. I have read about installing bleeder valves for the LPG's

quote:

Originally posted by Gerald:
Thanks Gary... is there any difference in the amount of sound they make?

I have measured propane and gasoline versions of the same genset, and noted no difference. My Kohler manual shows the propane version to have a lower output than the equivalent gasoline genset.

quote:

Is one any more safe than the other as far as running while driving?

I am a sissy, and do not drive with propane on.

There are other opinions.

Gerald.

I have a 1982 35' Regency deisel (8.2) with a 7 kW kohler generator that runs on gas. It's worked great for the last 10 years I have had the coach and run it most of the time while driving especially in the Summer months to keep the 2 AC's working and the bus nice and cool. The bus carries 150 gals. of diesel and has a seperate 50 gal. tank for the gas. It seems the more frequently I run it the better it runs.

ED.

Thanks Ed,
Running with the A/C is what my concern was

bill h
I completely understand, I have always had a healthy respect (fear) of something they have to make smell bad just so you will notice it

I had a Kohler LPG genset in my coach. It was noisy, cantankerous, and a fuel hog (.85 gph at half load). I replaced it with a gaso Honda liquid-cooled, and a 25 gal gaso tank snuggled between the fram rails. The Honda is 6 to 16 db quieter (depending on where the sound is measured) and uses .33 gph at half-load.

The biggest use I have is the Nebraska Star Party, where the generator may run 80 hours during the week, I had to motor 35 miles into town for propane, and 35 miles back - twice during the week. It's 7 miles to a small service station, but I didn't need genset fuel.

I replaced my gasoline genset with a onan marquis gold 5.5 . It unbelievably quiet compared to the genset. I use the old genset as a backup generator for my shop. The newer generators meet the noise guidelines required b national parks.

I've had both, my previous coach was a Coachmen 32 Rear Diesel w/propane generator. I now have the Regency with the diesel main engine and diesel genset. As has been mentioned the propane generators are heavy on fuel usage and for summer cruising with the airs on you'll need a really large propane tank. My biggest gripe on propane was when I calculated the price per gallon: many places will charge you twice the gas/diesel per gallon price. If you can get them to give it to you at bulk price you might get the price down but usually they attendant will try and charge you the small propane tank price (BBQ grill tank).
Just putting in diesel is very convenient and I can't see any advantage to the propane generator: except it does burn fairly clean. If you were to overnight at a Walmart parking lot in the heat of summer and everyone else had their gensets turning the A/C's, yours would put off less noxious fumes.
I would stay with the fuel for your generator that your main engine runs on.

Gerald, Here is the text of a magazine article I wrote concerning generator choices. Bear in mind that it is dated, LPG was 2 bucks a gallon and gasoline was a buck twenty-nine, but the tables are still relative. You can punch in the new values in a spread sheet if you want to for the tables to reflect today's numbers. Good Luck Barth Hunting!

How To Choose A Generator - (92 KB) ~ How to Chose a generator