propane question and genny problem

[JDKing]

ok, so we load up the old 1994 Safari Sahara to go off on a weekend of rockcrawling at the new Katemcy Rocks! great place btw. about an hour outside of houston i popped a breaker, running both a/c's and the wife using the convection oven, thought oh well overload, no biggy, turn off an a/c when using the oven. then the power started cycling on for 2 mins off for 2, so we stopped all the a/c's and oven, turned off the genny for a few mins restarted only using 1 a/c, same thing. we pulled over and the genny seemed to be struggling, checked the propane line all good, valve open. still the same. luckily my buddy had his 6500 watt honda genny and my cheater plug we ran his genny on the trailer and ran the wires redneck style down the side ziptied to the rv... any ideas plugs are new, air filter is new. could use an oil change...

on another note how long can yr genny run on 42 gallons of propane? mine is only good for about 1.5 days, which can get extremely pricey on an extended trip like we had last weekend. usually i bring the 6500 watt honda gas genny for that, only about 10 gallons a day, running the whole time.

[RV Wizard]

LP does not have the BTU's like gasoline or diesel. Therefore an LP generator is very fuel inefficient (a hog) to produce current. Have you made certain that the governor linkage did not get stuck? I would also check all wiring connections to be sure they are good. If all these are good, you may have a problem on the genny itself, like the voltage regulator. Let us know what you find.

[jcthorne]

You have discovered why diesel coach owners do not want propane generators.

[OnJa]

What can cause a false LP gauge reading?

[Gary RVRoamer]

The LP gauge is driven by a simple float in the tank and is pretty reliable, but that only runs the gauge at the tank. If you have a remote readout, it is electrically driven and poor connections can make that read wrong.

Propane capacity is only 80% of the tank size (tank capacity is measured with water, not propane). Thus a 40 gal tank only holds 32 gal of propane when it is 100% full. Your mechanical gauge may have two scales, one for water and one for propane. Take a close look and see.

[OnJa]

I only have 1 scale it seems. One wire leading to my control panel over the door. Even when I disconnect this wire from the LP tank, it reads full. I know the LP tank is M/T because nothing comes out the % valve when opened.

[RV Wizard]

A short in the circuit to ground can make it read full. If you disconnect it from the monitor side and it reads empty try running a new line thru the window to the tank temporarily to verify this short.

[wa8yxm]

How long can your run a Genny on 42 gallons of Propane?

Depends on several things but 21 to 42 hours is not uncommon for Onan 5500 watt products.. Your day and a half sounds just about right.

[chasfm11]

I'd agree that 1.5 days on a tank is about what we get. That assumes that both roof A/Cs are on. About that only time we run that long is when we are traveling with guests. When we run the genset with just one A/C unit, the run time can be longer.

We've never come close to running out of propane because our gauge reads very pessimistically (there is always a lot more propane in the tank then the gauge indicates). When you combine that with only being able to fill to 80% the result can be quite limiting.

If you are going to be staying the same place for a while, There are hookups called "extend-a-stay". Essentially, it is a large external propane tank that has a hose back to the RV and is often used by snowbirds for heat. If you moving, that is obviously going to help you much.