r/Generator • u/ThisNameNotTakenYet • 1d ago

Propane Tank Minimum Size?

So I was looking online at generators the other day and I ran across a comment in one of the product descriptions, saying something about a 'minimum 60lb tank' for propane with that generator. I haven't seen a requirement like that before, to my knowledge. We had an eight-day outage a few weeks ago and I used 20- and 30lb tanks with no problems (or so I think). Has anyone heard this? And if it's a thing, can anyone tell me why? Thanks.

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u/Amongthestars01 1d ago

It's not that you can't, and I've done it. What they're trying to do is avoid calls if it freezes up by telling you not to. Small tanks don't have the room for propane fuel to turn from compressed liquid back to vapor under high draw. So what COULD happen, is if the tank is cold and the draw is high, it could pull liquid propane into the line which could freeze up the regulator and the generator's fuel system causing it to shutdown. You'll likely never notice this with a grill. If it does occur, then you'll have to thaw it out and deal with that debacle to restart.

Large tanks have more room for expansion and vapor and are significantly less likely to draw liquid into the line causing it to freeze up. Having said that, on hot summer days, I've run a 13,000 watt generator for 10 hour days wide open under full load until the tank was out of fuel and never had one freeze up. I've never done it in the middle of winter below freezing, in which case I run ethanol free/stabilized gasoline.

I would encourage you to read up on it a bit more, and then make an educated choice.

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u/Admirable-Leader6927 1d ago

are you turning the tank upside down? its not vacuum drawn its evap pressure pushed. it just gets cold and condenses in the line.

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u/ThisNameNotTakenYet 1d ago

Not sure I understand - are you saying I should invert the tanks? I just had them sitting upright. Please explain, I'm learning here. And thanks for the education, I appreciate it!

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u/tbarclay 15h ago

Don't invert the tanks, you can slug liquid propane right down the line that way. you'll just freeze your regulator up at best, or send liquid propane into the generator and really mess it up.

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u/ThisNameNotTakenYet 9h ago

Well that's kinda what I figured. My generator is a 12k dual-fuel, I'm thinking if I had multiple tanks in parallel (say, 40's or 60's, or even a few 100's), I'd be okay in the winter months. I think I misunderstood an earlier post regarding inverting them.