OP lives in Europe. Petrol is 2X price vs US. That is not the question though. OP wonders if using LPG will allow him to extend oil change interval.
It all comes from the same tank and pump.
I didnât say it wasnât the same stuffâŠbut you canât just have a huge LPG tank and start selling it to vehicles. It needs to be approved (fed and state level) and you need to have a special nozzle for vehicles.
And I was wrongâŠthere actually are a few authorized LPG stations in NH. A total of 17âŠbut nothing even close to where I live.
LPG burns VERY clean in a properly designed and operating system and extended drain intervals are indeed possibleâŠLooking at the color of the oil on the dipstick is as good a gauge as anyâŠ
Since we converted to propane for the house generator, maintenance compared to gasoline has been a breeze. Obviously you canât compare the economy of a generator to that of gasoline car motor, but cost per hour of operation has been less even with higher demand. It isnât like we donât use or need the generator. This past year it had 75 hours of use and the year before, even more. The absolute advantages are storage, economy and ease of start up in cold weather. No carb or injectorsâŠjust a regulator as the gas is under pressure. Conversion in cars is an obvious no brainerâŠif you have the supporting infrastructure. I would do it in a heart beat if there were. The fuel delivery system is simplified, the fuel is cleaner and the cost is less with greater availability, especially Nat gas. in the U.S. 10k oil change intervalsâŠabsolutely and without synthetic ? I would have no fear.
IMHO though, as soon as the infrastructure was brought up to meet the demand for cars converted to propane for example, the price would go through the roof to support it. Just my humble take as gasoline will reign supreme for a long time as money talks. StillâŠa propane powered car is my second choice behind electricity.
The absolute advantages are storage, economy and ease of start up in cold weather. No carb or injectors....just a regulator as the gas is under pressure.
Not to mention you have to drive to a working gas station during a major power shortage every other day. We were out of power for almost a week a few years ago. The closest gas station which had power we an hour away.
âYou should follow the manufactures recommended change schedule.â
âReally? On what planet are you living?â
I donât understand this response. Are you saying there is no need to follow the manufacturerâs recommended oil change schedule?
Like ok4450 and Joe Guy, I am both puzzled and disturbed by the OPâs response regarding the idea of following the mfrâs maintenance schedule.
I think that the OP should be aware that this is NOT how we roll in this forum.
i have learned not to be absolutely certain of much, but i m pretty sure everyone here lives on earth
âThe closest gas station which had power we had an hour awayâ
This is a huge advantage for generators using propane and for cars with natural gas at home. The storage time is indefinite, and for all practical purposes, no degrading. We have a one hundred lbs tank which lasts us for a couple of weeks if we are careful and take it off automatic and cycle it manually.
If we had a propane powered car, I would have an underground tank as large as allowed (500 I believe) and draw off that for my car and just have deliveries made to my home for lower rates then gasoline per miles of use. I would be limited and there has got to be something I am not considering but I would do it for local driving for sure. Nat gas is unavailable to us.
We who live in the âwoodsâ are used to going without power as it happens regularly. I feel sorry for those who live in town or developments who by their nature with outings happening so infrequently, it doesnât pay to have generators. My daughter and son in law were in that predicament you were in NH. With kids, it scared them enough to get a standby generator. I convinced him to sell me his gasoline generator I would use for work and he bought a propane powered generator that could be hooked . BBQ tanks and never have to worry about starting and storageâŠeven after years of sitting. He does start it a couple times a year just to âexerciseâ it so it doesnât forget itâs a generator.
I had to hook an electric motor to his old gasoline gen after I got it home. It had sat so long I had to spin it backwards just to energize it.
âI had to hook an electric motor to his old gasoline gen after I got it home. It had sat so long I had to spin it backwards just to energize it.â
@dagosa - In laymenâs terms can you please explain the basics of:
- Why a generator that sits unused too long loses its magnetism?
- Why does spinning it backwards re-establish its magnetic field?
- Does such occur with the electrical system of a car that sits far too long unused?
1) Why a generator that sits unused too long loses its magnetism?
Not all generators work that way. Their called self excited generators. Only more modern generators work like that. The field coils are charged and maintain a charge to produce electricity. If they loose their chargeâŠno matter how good the motor is running it wonât produce any electricity.
Why does spinning it backwards re-establish its magnetic field?
You donât spin the generator motor backwards. You plug in a motor and spin it backwards. This sends a charge back to the field coil and recharges it. One trick I learned when it happened to my generator was to plug in a drill and spin it backwards by hand. That was enough to recharge the coils.
Does such occur with the electrical system of a car that sits far too long unused?
No. Cars have alternators, not generators.
Thanks @MikeInNh for the excellent explanation. There are other approaches and concoctions you can make, but this is the easiest and most available. Just be careful when the motor starts spinning in the right direction to take your hand awayâŠquickly. I have had to do it a couple of times on two different generators and both worked instantly. An electric drill works best for me too as the Chuck is small enough not to cause a problem when it spins on itâs ownâŠwear a heavy glove. You can take it to a repair shopâŠbut try this first. It could save a big bill.
Generators and oil? What was point of thead?
learn something new every day. I still don t understand thoâŠ
Do you decide to brush your teeth in the morning based upon how they look in the mirror?
You can probably get more knowledgeable answers on an LPG specific forum, especially if you restrict your research to forums run by technical organizations, but Iâm inclined to suggest that since the goal of changing oil is to keep the engine running well youâd be best to change the oil based upon the vehicle manufacturerâs recommendations.
LPG runs âcleanerâ in the sense that it produces fewer unburned hydrocarbons and carbon, leaving the oil looking clean, but much of what causes oil to lose its ability to properly maintain pressure sufficient to suspend the crankshaft and rod bearing on a pressurized fluid barrier is dilution by contaminants that you cannot see. Lack of visible contaminants in the oil does not mean it still has the viscosity or lubricating ability necessary to keep the wear surfaces properly protected. Remember that burning LPG does not reduce the amount of blowby in the engine. It only changes the blowbyâs composition.
It also does not mean that the viscosity modifiers, which are microscopic coiled polymer chains that uncoil with heat to compensate for heat-induced loss of viscosity in the base oil, haven been damaged through sheer forces just as much as if the oil were discolored.
In short, I recommend changing the oil in accordance with the vehicle manufacturerâs recommendations. It may even be prudent to have a few analysis done on used oil to determine if in fact the different composition of the blowby is actually reducing the ability of the oil to do its job faster than regular gasoline would. Just to be on the safe side.
The thread is about LPG and its effects if any on oil change schedules.
Where the heck did the generator subject get introduced? A totally unrelated question like that should have been posted in a separate thread. It will only serve to totally confuse anyone trying to participate in discussion of the original subject. I recommend we ignore it.
Iâm the guilty party that asked follow up questions about generator magnetic fields in response to some comments. My apologies; you are quite correct I should have done so in a separate thread. Mea culpa.
I respect any man who owns up to his mea culpas.
For the record, it sound like an interesting discussion subject. I look forward to the thread.
mountain, really?
a new member of the topic police?
I m not going to bother researching, but I feel safe in saying that you have wandered from the topics original posts as much as anyone else here.
âI respect any man who owns up to his mea culpas.â
+1âŠeven thoughâŠin this caseâŠthe mea culpa was uttered by a womanâŠ
;-))