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Old 11-09-2012, 10:47 PM
iajim iajim is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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I'm not sure what the conversion kits consist of but I do know that in LP dedicated engines they usually used valves made with Stellite, a much harder material and I do believe the angle of the valve grind was different from gasoline only. On modern engines a multi-angle, usually 3, is pretty common so that may not be a problem. A couple of advantages with propane is that it has a naturally high octane rating(nearly 100!) so you can raise the compression ratio, but then you'll have problems if you ever switch back to gas. The "less power" aspect of propane is something you'll probably never notice with a generator. The other benefit with LP or Natural Gas is that it enters the cylinder and head as a vapor, gasoline enters in very tiny droplets that can wash off some of the oil film from the cylinder walls. Thus propane engines have a very long life. If I haven't bored you enough, propane is C3H8, three carbon atoms attached to eight hydrogen atoms, this makes up one molecule of propane. Light Naptha, the base material for gasoline has 7 carbon atoms per molecule, pretty big difference. The carbon is where most of the real power comes from in an internal combustion engine, so it does have less power but it burns much cleaner; less carbon going in = less CO coming out the exhaust. Don't worry about advancing or retarding the timing, the higher octane will take care of that and generator engines are a long way from race engines. I personally changed over a propane power tractor(Ford 900, 1957 vintage) to gasoline. I did this for 2 reasons, first- original vaporizer parts were almost non-existant and after market vaporizers were hit or miss, you had to buy one, try it and then be prepared to buy another until you found one that worked. Second- cold weather starting(zero degrees and below), you needed as much/many block heaters and starting fluid for propane as a diesel. I realize you're going the other way, gas to propane. I don't think you'll have any problems as long as you know this kit has worked on near identical applications, you don't want to be the "experiment". Also ask if the vaporizer is adjustable and what instructions come with it, that could be a "make or break point". And on the Ford tractor, I didn't change the timing and I did run regular, not premium fuel with no problems. I hope this helps, let us know how the conversion works out. Jim
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