Duel fuel spark plug heat range

[Little mule]

Hi everyone 

I have some questions on Duel fuel trucks propane/gas well not rover content I need some help with a duel fuel generator .

at the Moment we are on the generator again here in Canada because of another storm.

we have been on our petrol generator for the past 5 days and it’s been working great 10,000 watt pretty much runs the whole house and parts of my shop.

I will be converting the generator to duel fuel propane/ petrol . I want the ability to run propane because 1 it’s half the price of petrol 2 I can run it in the shop and still be able to move about without the bad fumes you get from running it on petrol. On propane you can at least walk around the shop and not die.

with the duel fuel system do you need to run a hotter spark plug or will the spark plug you use when you run on petrol be hot enough to use when running on propane ?
when I was in the military we had factory installed propane systems on truck and cars not duel fuel just propane and they had to run a hotter spark plug because the propane burns a lot colder than when running on petrol.

I want to run on propane AND petrol can I just get away with the factory petrol spark plug ?  

any ideas on a good heat range spark plug would help out a lot for instance do I move the heat range up or down on the scale ?

When I run the generator on petrol I can run it for about 25/27 hours before I have to refill the petrol tank it holds 8 US gallons of petrol.
the propane tank I have is a 100 pound tank and according to the company that sold me the conversion kit I should be able to run the generator on a 20 pound tank for about 10 hours but only at half load . So I should be able to run the generator on full load longer on propane using my 100 pound tank at least that’s the theory lolol. 
when the power goes out at -20 I’ll have to start the generator on petrol , once it’s warmed up I can switch it to propane .

i look forward to any and all answers 

tony 

[miketomcat]

@elbekko is the only one I can think of on here that might know, he runs propane on his P38.

Mike

[Bowie69]

It makes very little difference, I've run LPG for thousands of miles in the past and never touched the plugs. 

[elbekko]

1 hour ago, miketomcat said:

@elbekko is the only one I can think of on here that might know, he runs propane on his P38.

Mike

For now, but not for much longer (no longer worth the hassle, so it's getting removed).

@Little mule, generally we just adjust the gap of the plugs to be a little smaller (0.6mm on BPR6ES). The timing curve is also slightly different, but for a generator I doubt that matters much.

[FridgeFreezer]

42 minutes ago, elbekko said:

The timing curve is also slightly different, but for a generator I doubt that matters much.

Honda GX motors are (or were) available to run petrol or LPG/CNG/whatever, looking at the changes between those models might give a clue. They must've made about a billion of them by now and that's before you get to the thousands of Chinese clones of them.

[geoffbeaumont]

If it's got a good strong spark it'll be fine - if the spark is weak you'll have problems on propane long before it's an issue on petrol. When I had a duel fuel range rover classic I ended up upgrading from the standard coil and dizzy to EDIS distributorless ignition, which massively improved running. I ran standard plugs, thorough, and once on EDIS I was able to run greater than standard gaps (I had to run smaller gaps on the original ignition).

So - it's going to put your generators ignition to the test, but if that is already good it should be just fine as it is.

The fumes running on propane will be much less unpleasant, but don't assume they aren't toxic. If you can't guarantee keeping them out of you workshop, it's time to install carbon monoxide alarms. At least with petrol exhaust you can tell you're breathing it...

[Little mule]

BEFORE  I get all the back lash I KNOW I’m stupid and I fully expect them . Now that I’m back up and moving again you think a mechanic would know better but some times the stupid ones are right in front of you . I had a little miss-happen and ended up going to the hospital,from over dosing on exhaust fumes and gas fumes . 
I know I know the first thing I asked my self was did open up the garage door enough . You think a 12 wide 10 high door would be enough apparently that wasn’t enough . I almost passed out when I got back in the house and then my nose started to bleed a lot and it would not stop. Off we go to the hospital with the lights flashing in the back of the wagon .
apparently the meds I’m on for my heart do not go well with gas fumes WHO KNEW ???.?. My pharmacist didn’t nor did the doctor at the hospital . 
I actually found it out online after I got back home and looked it up .A little oxygen and some cauterizing of a nose blood vessel cured the bleeding problem . I was on oxygen for about 10 hours then I was released and have been in bed the past few days . To say my wife was Mildly miffed is an understatement .
but who knew really

now I have I have looked online I found out all alone while taking my meds I should not be around gasoline fumes. WTF

no one has ever told me or have I read where it states do not be around or work with these products . 

now getting back to the original question I asked .thank you for all the comments and suggestions by the way . 

my generator only has just under 200 hours in it and is a 12 hp . I’ll leave the spark plug as it is for now and just worry about not making myself sick . 
I did find out the generator will run almost 27 hours on 10 gallons of gas so it should run for a few days on 100 pounds of propane .

we have another huge storm coming this weekend with about 100 mm of rain and wind gusts of over 100 kph . It will last from Sunday till Tuesday . Not looking forward to it .

lets just say let this be a warning to everyone make sure your work place is safe to work on or in and make sure if your on meds that you can work with chemicals and dust and wear a damn mask even if it’s only for a few mins . 
don’t worry my wife is holding the big stick very close lol.

I shouldn’t laugh but we all learn from our mistakes. Sometimes it takes some of us to be hit with the big stick a cpl of times to learn . YES I have.

cheers

Tony 
 

 

[Happyoldgit]

I think it’s easy to overlook personal safety sometimes Tony. Glad to read you are doing ok now.

[FridgeFreezer]

Well I'd never even have considered that as a thing that could happen - glad you're OK!

[geoffbeaumont]

Don't think any of us will be telling you we told you so over that one...CO is one thing. Exhaust fumes interacting with meds isn't one that would have occurred to me 😲 Glad you're okay!

How thick do the fumes have to be? Sounds like a city street could be pretty dangerous...

[Little mule]

My shop is 2000 Square feet with 12 foot ceilings . When I was filling the generator with fuel I made sure the main lift door 10x12 was open as well as the man door . I will be headed back into see the doc this week and he will order tests to see how much of the membrane was effected and burned away from breathing in the fumes and to see if I’m going to have any future problems .

the meds to lookout for are
KETOROLAC   : a anti inflammatory drug used to joint pain as well as helping to reduce any swelling I you also have to eat at the same time 

CYCLOBENZAPRINE : it’s the little small house shape . these stop muscle spasms in my legs .

these two drugs are very dangerous when working in the shop

ill also have to get rid of the brakes parts cleaner because of the ammonia smell.

there are some new cleaning products you can buy that do the same job but no harmful fumes .

[Shep The Disco]

Gosh that's rather rubbish.

Can you get some sort of battery powered respirator.?  Would be good if you can keep working and regain fitness....