# Natural Gas Generator



## Shin (Mar 25, 2014)

Anyone here have a natural gas generator? I'm curious as to folks experience with them.


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

Generator, as in Bio-Reactor to produce methane or a Genset that uses Natural Gas/Methane as a fuel?

I have ZERO experience with a Bio-Reactor.

Natural Gas generators are pretty common.
I've built several natural gas/propane fuel engines, what exactly do you need to know...

Natural Gas (Methane) and Liquefied Petroleum are both VERY corrosive, so engines designed to run on them have some changes most times.
They have stuff like stainless steel valves/seats, stainless steel rings, and often have an oil filter with corrosive trapping/neutralizing agents in the filter.
Stainless steel resists corrosion, and doesn't require the lubrication that carbon steel or iron does.

Since Gas doesn't lubricate valve seats, if you are switching over/converting to run a Gasoline or Diesel engine on CNG, then consider a lubrication 'Mister' that will help keep valve seats lubricated. Your engine will last longer...

If the engine was designed from the ground up to use CNG/LP, then this isn't an issue since the manufacturer would have used the appropriate hardware inside the engine.

One tip here,
Even if the oil 'Looks' clean when the Maintenance Schedule Interval says to change it, then change it... (Manual says 'X' amount of hours on the genset, then change the oil & filter at that interval)
While CNG/LP doesn't produce the soot/solids that often make oil 'Black', 
CNG/LP does impart a lot of corrosives into the oil, which regular oil changes will take care of, along with the correct oil filter.

If this is a 'DIY' project to convert one over to Gas, then I STRONGLY RECOMMED an 'Gas Safety Solenoid' to shut off the gas to the generator in the event the engine isn't running.
These things come with a vacuum operated canister that METERS the gas the engine gets,
But those canisters rely on a diaphragm/springs that CAN fail over time.
The line shut off keeps your gas from flowing if that canister fails, or the plumbing between canister and engine intake fails and the engine quits running.
This way, you don't get gas leaking from the engine while it's NOT running...
Purely a safety issue.

All the factory built and aftermarket kits I've seen for CNG/LP have at least two 'Safeties', and usually three, depending on the size of the engine and/or who make the conversion kit.


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## GeneratorPower (Dec 19, 2015)

Shin said:


> Anyone here have a natural gas generator? I'm curious as to folks experience with them.


Shin, if you're talking about an electric generator that runs on natural gas fuel, I can help you out. I have been installing these for 12 years and it is my primary business. Overall it's a great technology but there are lots of considerations.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Shin said:


> Anyone here have a natural gas generator? I'm curious as to folks experience with them.


The big question might be can your gas supply support it? Some gensets take a lot of gas to run. Can you afford to run it? How much does it cost to run for whatever extended time you need it to run for. Also keep in mind that many generators need filters/oil changed every 40-80 hours. Thats just a few days if your running it continously. KNow how to matain your generator.


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