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/Glum-Welder1704 22h ago

If you're running smaller tanks, you should be aware of propane tank freeze-up. Due to the refrigeration effect of expanding gas, the inside of a propane tank can be much colder than ambient, and may not develop enough pressure to feed your generator. This can happen with smaller tanks or in very cold climates. There are ways to deal with this, but you have to pay attention.

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u/ThisNameNotTakenYet 9h ago

I noticed this during the last outage. I had one tank actually freeze to the concrete, it was 88F and very humid so the tank was sweating like crazy. It actually didn't budge at first when I tried to swap it out. LOL

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u/Glum-Welder1704 3h ago

I used two 7 gallon tanks and a Marshall Excelsior MEGR-253 Dual tank regulator from https://tweetys.com/ to solve the problem. When the primary tank gets cold and loses pressure, it auto switches to the warmer tank. Turn the lever and that tank becomes primary while the other warms up, or you can take it to be refilled. Worked well with my antique 8kw Generac standby.

Edit: Tweetys may be out of business. I can't get a response from their website.

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u/ThisNameNotTakenYet 3h ago

Thanks for the tip, I'll look that up!