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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 7th, 2023

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  • Propane is very cold. If you’ve ever had some squirt out on your fingers when hooking up a tank you’ll know how cold.

    At my job we have a propane powered forklift. When it’s anywhere close to freezing out, it’s a bear to cold start. It will behave how you describe, runs for a moment then dies.

    As a result we have a plug in heated magnet we throw on the throttle body to preheat the system. Even then once you get it rolling you have to give it throttle until the engine reaches operating temp. Kinda like using a choke but the forklift is fuel injected, so an adhoc choke.

    I’ve heard folks with propane car conversions will run the engine on gas to heat everything up and then switch over to the propane. If that is possible with your generator that would be the next thing I’d try.

    The reason your cooking gas works is because inside where the ignition is happening is presumably warm and also less complicated than running an engine.

    I’m guessing your generator is outside/in an uninsulated space and the engine is having a hard time reaching operating temp with Sub-Zero propane feeding it. Keeping the tanks warm may help, but I think engine temp is a bigger factor.

    I have no idea about run times on propane vs gas. I have heard that propane is less efficient, but cleaner burning.

    I am far from an expert, but these are things I’ve seen and dealt with. Best of luck!