Generator for the tractor

A word about the CNG, that is not what you see being installed around the country. What you are seeing is LNG. Natural gas compressed to the point of becoming a liquid. The holding tanks for the 2 states of the same gas a vastly different. You won't get much time out of CNG because it is not very compressed. That's why it isn't very popular as a motor fuel. But LNG is another story. That's the fuel of the future.

I wonder how the LPG tanks would affect traveling through tunnels.

Also, since LPG is a pressure feed system, it could be a work around the fuel pump issue.

Does the Yamaha have a pump? I know the Honda 2000 does but I think the 3000 might not. Isn't there some rule about there having to be a fuel pump, ie. no gravity fed system?

 

Gravity feed is fine, so long a it has a shut off valve, like the eu3000 does.
The cables that seem to be a big deal, are useless. The output is not regulated, thus they make for a crap battery charger.
Much better getting an automatic charger mounted inside, wired to you're inverter or batteries.
I have the cables for the Honda, free to anyone that pays shipping if that tells you anything...I learned the hard way, thus why I got the small craftsman charger. another thing, on most generators, the economy idle has to bfe turned of to
get the full DC output, so it kind of uses a lot more doing so.
I don't think a 2400 watt generator would power a rooftop AC unit in a reliable fashion. The 3k Honda would do it fine after I fitted a hard start capacitor though. The dometic commercial unit only came with a capacitor that did both the fan and compressor, and would overload the generator while on economy idle. $15 later, problem solved. Bad thing is, the dometic was wired for another capacitor already! So it was a5 minute job to install one.
Maybe it was just missing on my unit, never asked.
I keep the gas cams inside my headache rack, so absolutely no extra space needed for me, but a propane tank would be a pia to mount for me.
Martin

 

But CNG is what the primary fill points the major truck stops are putting in. There are some LNG pumps also, but not as prevalent. As for CNG not being compressed very much, how about 3000-3600 psi or roughly 1% of it's atmospheric volume. Might not be much to some folks. Actually, if you do a little research on this via any search engine, CNG is the predominate motor fuel, NOT LNG. Loves, PFJ, and some others already have CNG/LNG pumps in place, with most being CNG. And I thought we were talking about generators here. Not sure how CNG vs LNG for a vehicle motor fuel really factors in that.

Since DOT allows onboard fuels, such as propane, NG, and gasoline as part of business, not really sure on the tunnel issue. Might pay to look into that one. I do not deal with tunnels that have restrictions, so not an issue for me. And maybe in the one time or two I might, I would just keep my mouth shut. But, unlike propane, NG disperses in atmosphere. Propane will "pool up" in concentration on the ground, that is why it is banned in some tunnels. And NG must not be a real problem or restriction in tunnels... what of higher number of local delivery and other vehicles that are fuel by CNG? They going to ban a whole class of vehicles from tunnels? They haven't yet. As a reference, I give you NYC and NJ. NG powered vehicles are not banned from the tunnels. And there are a lot of them doing local and inter city delivery.

Virtually all portable generators that have overhead valve design have a fuel pump. And all of the Yamaha generators have a dedicated on/off fuel switch, unlike, say, the Honda EU2000 which it's fuel on/off switch is a part of the regular on/off switch. The Yamaha, you can turn off fuel and run the carb empty so there is no fuel left in it for traveling purposes and keeping fuel from gumming up in there. And Yamaha was briliant enough to actually include a visible fuel gauge on it's smaller portables. Honda must have overlooked that little item.

As for battery charging, I already have a charger as part of my inverter setup. I plug it in each week when I go home as part of my weekly regimen to make sure the batteries have a full, complete charge before leaving the house. Found that batteries tend to hold up better over a longer period of time when they are done that way. So, for me, I would just plug the inverter/charger direct into one of the portable generator outlets.

 

Personal preference and different needs will dictate more than anything.
I run otr and Honda has the largest dealer network. I have also run one on my last truck, and if something flat out works, I stick to it. Past one had a couple of thousand hours on it and never missed a beat. The all metal frame and enclosure also seems to hold up very well versus plastic.
Pick your poison, but do pick one. The money saved is unreal, especially when you have under $3k n a reliable system, not to mention the pride in doing the work yourself and not paying out the rear for some simple brackets and wiring.
Pick a generator, pick an AC unit, save money. Brands are a personal choice, just like I would never own a peterbilt, but others swear by them, etc
Martin

 

My point about CNG was: Have you ever seen a portable CNG container similar to a 20# LPG "BBQ" tank? I haven't. The reason is that one cannot get the a similar volume/BTU/ run time out of a similar container. Otherwise BBQs would likely run off CNG and not LPG.

The CNG option on a generator is probably very functional in some instances but for mounting on a tractor, it seems unlikely.

I've seen lots of tunnels displaying signs " no propane" at their entrances.

 

Yes, I have. On the back of some forklifts. Sure, many use propane, but there are a lot of NG forklifts nowadays. Mostly same issue, fuel does not pool up when it leaks. And the cost factor is there. I think if one of those cans work for a forklift, it would be fine for a portable generator. And the NG tank could be mounted on the frame rail using similar brackets than they mount it on a forklift. Would be more difficult I suppose with those that have fairings on the side. Either way, it is still a viable option. Not for everyone, like most things aren't, but still an option that would work for some.

For those that do want to play with gasoline, these are some real nice, durable, functional fuel packs. Little pricey, but they hold up extremely well, can be mounted in brackets externally if one wanted to do so or stacked on one another since they fit together also. They are very heavy duty. No chance of these things leaking no matter how they bounce around riding down the road.

http://rotopax.com

And as for a dealer network, I have a full blown sales and service dealer for Yamaha located 13 miles from my doorstep, so that was a factor also. They are also the John Deere dealer for my ag stuff, so that makes it a cool combination. Would have to go 45 miles for Honda.

 

Well, I was nearly eating some humble pie yesterday.......Honda wouldn't start on the remote or the key! I figured dead battery as I leave the ignition on for the remote starter. Went and pull started it, fired up on the first pull, then left it running for an hour or so to charge the battery.
Hour or two later, still dead battery!!
Turns out, after removing 4 nuts on the front cover, the positive battery terminal wasn't tight, which was my fault from putting the remote starter on it. Oops.
10mm nut tightened, fired right up again! Changed the oil in it today, and it's purring away running the ac again.

Martin

 

Whew.... glad it was a simple fix! I thought I was the only one that stuff like that happens to.

 

Does Honda make a remote start for the 2000 I generator ??

 

Seeing as the eu2000 is a pull start only generator.....no. Unless they make a remote arm that is.

Martin