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  1. #1

    How to Refuel a Generator While It's Ruuning

    First a little back ground. A few years back, I bought a used 3250 watt Powermate generator. When I bought it, it had a crack in block, and a gas tank FULL of water. Replaced block and installed improved connecting rod. Earlier rods were prone to failure. Cleaned gas tank as I best could. Last fall just before hurricane Florence, repaired a hole in gas tank, using gas tank putty. Ran generator for a couple days during power outage. Afterwards, started smelling gas, so took tank off. Bottom was like Swiss cheese, full of small pin holes. Checked around for a replacement tank, but none were available. Replaced tank with a Septa 6 gallon under the seat marine tank. Fabricated some brackets to hold tank on top of generator where original tank had been. Added a "pulse fuel pump," as new tank had a top outlet. Left hose long, so I could remove tank from generator, and set on ground. This way, I could fuel generator while it was running without fear of spilling fuel on top of generator. Got to thinking about how to drain tank, when generator isn't in use. For generator, because of long run times, I use ethanol fuel as it's over a buck a gallon cheaper. Plus, I can return unused fuel to cans and run in truck. I added a quick disconnect to fuel line to allow me to drain tank into fuel can. The disconnect I used came from Bay Area Powersports ($10.95 shipped.) I ordered two so I could just connect fuel line from generator to line into gas can. Got me to thinking. If I could drain fuel back into can, why couldn't generator pick up fuel directly from fuel can. I had another can with same type cap, with a broken spout available as a parts donor. Using hole saw cut out a steel disk from a junk power washer frame, and ground it to fit inside the cap. Because the hole saw had a 1/4" pilot bit in it, disk already had a hole in center. Used a cut off bolt, and two nuts to make a mandrel to hold disk in drill, while using angle grinder to reduce it to needed size. Soldered a piece of 1/4" copper pipe into center hole of disk, with about 1" inch sticking out on each side of disk. Connected drain line to one side, using copper pipe as barb for fuel hose, slid disk inside extra cap, and added another piece of fuel line to other side to drop down to bottom of fuel can, for fuel pick up. Screwed disk assembly onto fuel can, and connected it to fuel line to generator. Opened vent hole of gas can and using mouth blew into can to force fuel into carb. Pulled starter rope, and off she went. FYI, fuel can was placed on ground, not elevated. So now, I can either use boat tank, or directly from fuel can, and I can take gas cans and fuel tank to gas station and fill all of them up, extending my run time.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    Sounds good, but why can't you run non-ethanol gas in your truck?

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    Sounds good, but why can't you run non-ethanol gas in your truck?
    Tom, I run the ethanol stuff from the pump in my truck, but not in my small engines, with the exception of generator. I don't like to leave any fuel in generator tank. Other than monthly run test, generator can sit for months. Nothing worse than trying to crank an engine with stale fuel in it, especially when it's ethanol mix, and has absorbed moisture from the air.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    That's a good plan. It just sounded like if you ran non-ethanol in the generator that you couldn't put the leftover in the truck. I run non-ethanol in all the small equipment. My generator can go years at the time without running, so even running non-ethanol in it, I keep a spare carb on hand.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    That's a good plan. It just sounded like if you ran non-ethanol in the generator that you couldn't put the leftover in the truck. I run non-ethanol in all the small equipment. My generator can go years at the time without running, so even running non-ethanol in it, I keep a spare carb on hand.
    With quick connects on the fuel line of generator, it makes it easy to drain fuel into a can and use it in the truck. On my fuel cans, using a zip tie and a tag made from bleach bottle, label both date and if fuel has ethanol in it. This way, I know I have fresh fuel.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Cache Valley, Utah
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    1,722
    I lived for years in the pacific northwest where big windstorms and power outages are a fact of life. Earthquakes are also a possibility. For years my generator was a big Hobart welder that used at least a half gallon of fuel an hour. I got in the habit of storing a row of 5 gallon cans of ethanol free gas in my storage shed. Each can was dosed with Stabil before filling and I would put the fill date on a piece of tape on the can. The gas was also used in the riding mower, pressure washer, log splitter, and so on. Every six to nine months I would dump the oldest gas in my truck, refill the gas can(s) and put them at the end of the line. Even though I no longer live in the PNW, my generator is connected to the gas main and my cylinder index is considerably lower, I still maintain the same habit and every six months or so the oldest gas goes in the truck and the cans are refilled. No need to worry about what is E-zero or not. It also helps that E-zero gas here is only about fifty cents higher than regular gas, and readily available. I have, in the past, used treated zero ethanol gas that was two years old without problems, but that's pushing it.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Cav View Post
    It also helps that E-zero gas here is only about fifty cents higher than regular gas, and readily available. I have, in the past, used treated zero ethanol gas that was two years old without problems, but that's pushing it.
    Here almost all the non E gas is mid grade, and over a buck and a quarter more than regular with ethanol. Quickly adds up when you lose power for a couple days to more than a week. That's why I run ethanol gas in my generator.

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