Honda EU7000is running on natural gas with US Carburetion Motor Snorkel tri-fuel conversion kit

Following the failure of the Genconnex conversion kit, here is my second video about the US Carburetion Motor Snorkel kit. Here are the other videos about this saga:
Genconnex 1: • GenConnex Honda EU7000...
Genconnex 2: • EU7000is Genconnex Pro...
Motor Snorkel 1: • US Carburetion Honda E...
Motor Snorkel 3: • Honda EU7000is US Carb...

[@practicalmetrology8599]

Thank you for this! VERY helpful video and especially the commentary. Two thumbs up, as they used to say!

[@MstrMark]

You're welcome - making this video and discussing it with everyone who commented has been a high point for me these last few years!

[@davidmessineo1354]

Wow, night and day difference! Thanks for posting this very informative video. It motivates me to finish installing the rest of my US carburetion components and de-commission my genconnex kit. It seems like the snorkel piece could be the big differentiator, maybe combined with a slightly differently tuned regulator. Nice work on the customizing, install looks great. I just got a GenTent for mine, another nice piece, but spent a lot of time fabricating new mounting brackets as I was not impressed with their one-size-fits-all ratchet strap approach. Works great now. Ready for hurricane season here in Houston!

[@browsedeweb8834]

I agree...this is a great video and the generator appears to be running much better on the US Carb kit. I like the idea of relocating the control module and keeping the battery compartment relatively uncrowded. Also drilling the hole for the tubing seems like a no brainer. I'm so glad it worked out for you @MrMark. I'll be using my generator with the 240V outlet powering both legs of my main house panel. Still waiting for an elbow to try the generator on my pool heater gas supply, so I'm curious if I will notice any difference in the generator performance at max load. Either way, I'm glad US Carb offered this kit. I haven't yet tried gasoline with the kit installed and the switch in the gasoline position, so that will probably be the final validation check.

[@MstrMark]

I just typed a nice longish reply and KZbin ate it. I'll try again when when my enthusiasm returns.

[@browsedeweb8834]

@@MstrMark FYI - I connected the generator to my larger 3/4" gas line feeding the pool heater and there was no difference in power output. Sweet spot for higher loads seemed to be around 4600 - 5200 watts, ECO mode or not. Since the portable gas hose I use is 1/2" ID, that could have been the common restricting element. But as you mentioned previously, the snorkel fitting orifice is so small that the gas supply line is likely not going to an issue with respect to maximum power output of the generator on natural gas. I'm OK with it...my typical house draw is in the 1500-3500 range during outages.

[@MstrMark]

Hi David, that's my plan as well - to peel all of the Genconnex stuff off and re-install the original fuel tank. At that point I'll have a true tri-fuel setup. It seems better to have as many fuel options as possible during a disaster. Personally, I believe the Snorkel injector is a choke point. I'm pretty sure mine had more power with the Genconnex injector than it does with the Snorkel injector. I have to say too that the Snorkel seems awfully fragile. Maybe it's tougher than it looks, but I was concerned that I might tear it before I got it tightened down. On the plus side, the Snorkel adds very little thickness to the gasket between the throttle body and the air box, and just FYI, after less than a year, I discovered that the hose connecting my air box to the filter box had pulled loose, because the Genconnex injector plate is quite thick - it was just too far out of alignment for the hose to stay on over time. Obviously there are a whole stack of trade-offs, but the engine is running a lot better at light load than it did before, and that's more important to me than any advantages that the Genconnex kit might have. Congratulations on the GenTent. Have you had a chance to actually use it yet? And if so, how do you like it? I have enough cover to where I don't feel like I need one, but I have a friend who actually resorted to running his generator in the garage during the winter storm in Houston. He took some precautions, but even so, it seems like the GenTent would be intrinsically safer.

[@MstrMark]

@@browsedeweb8834 Well, that's disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. I've done pressure testing at both ends of my half-inch hose and couldn't see much difference. It is admittedly more difficult to measure than I had hoped, because the pressure changes at the same frequency as the engine RPM, so one is always trying to read the center of the needle swing. Still, if the center of the swing is about the same at both ends of the hose, I take that to be a good indication that there isn't any significant loss in the hose. FWIW, since I made this video, I added a 3/4" street elbow and a quick connector. Immediately following that, I plugged my house into it and ran on generator power for a few hours. I ran a small window A/C unit, heated up a snack in the microwave, washed a load of clothes, worked at my server and my computer, ran lights and fans...basically just did what I would normally do, with the exception of running the central A/C. Honestly, it was easy to forget that I was running on generator power. I stopped the test only in consideration of my neighbors, since it was getting to be 8:30 PM. Not that it's loud, as generators go, but still... I think I can run my central A/C unit, but I would want to get a soft starter for it first. I think the EasyStart from Micro-Air might be the best choice, but they are expensive: www.microair.net/collections/easystart-soft-starters If I was more famous, perhaps they would give me one in exchange for a demo video Meanwhile, I'm good for the short term with 30 amps of 120 Volt loads, and I also have a big DC inverter window unit that I can run with a purpose-made extension cord connected directly to the generator. There is also the issue that the way that I'm currently feeding the house doesn't support 240 volt loads, so I'd need to get that sorted out too. I tried to hire an electrician to install a whole-house generator transfer switch for me, but apparently they have been in short supply since the winter storm. And being as nobody has any stock, I've also had a really hard time determining which one can work with the generator of my choice, as opposed to a single brand. Generac in particular was completely useless, referring me to a generator installer rather than just telling me if they have products that work will with all brands of generators. And sadly, my electrician doesn't know either, or it's just not worth his time to try to figure it out.. I might try running on Propane too, just to see if it acts any different. I'd like to confirm that all fuels actually do work anyway, so it would be a nice little experiment that would take the natural gas supply completely out of the equation. Of course then I'll have to wonder if I'm meeting US Carb's seemingly impossible requirement of using a cylinder that has already been refilled multiple times, but if it just happened to work better, that would be interesting. I'm not really all that concerned with getting a full 5500 watts continuous, but I don't like the way mine surges and hunts at times. I feel like that might be related to gas supply. Have you noticed that happening with yours under similar conditions? It might be as simple as the engine having less low-end torque on natural gas than it does on gasoline, so when the GCU allows the RPM to fall below a certain threshold, the engine just can't make enough power to maintain the RPM. As the RPM drops, the power output of the generator suffers, thus reducing the load on the engine, at which point it revs up again, but then the GCU once again attempts to reduce the engine RPM until it runs out of torque again, thus starting the surging cycle over again. Maybe we need yet another black box that will make it so that the GCU more aggressively increases engine RPM with load, basically causing the engine to run fast enough to avoid bogging under load. Lots of conjecture on my part, but that's how it feels.

[@zulubravo9434]

Good job, that is clean work.

[@MstrMark]

Thank you!

[@michaeldavis1265]

Hi MrMark, you have been very helpful, I'm sure you are saving a lot of people a lot of trouble watching your video before attempting to install this Honda snorkel EU7000is device. I was wondering if.... !) You would create a video with the measurements of size and placement of the perfected holes drilled in relation to the overall bar measurements. But if I could make a wish, 2) I would purchase from you a templet pdf of the attachment bar you perfected so I could take it to a local shop and have it fabricated. or better yet 3) Pay to have you fabricate a copy of your perfected mounting bar and ship it to me and I would compensate you for labor parts and shipping, as I do not have access to the equipment to modify the bar. You never know you could start a nice little side business with all of the needy ones like me that watch your videos. Thank you again for sharing all of your ingenuity!

[@MstrMark]

1) I could probably do that. I just need to get out from under many less enjoyable things. 2) I'm not sure how much that would help. I just used the bracket that came with the kit, but I have no affiliation with US Carburetion, so I don't even know if the kit has been changed/improved since I bought mine. I so show some pretty good photos of the modification here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aH_dmnd4r9Z8Y7s Granted, there are no measurements, but the relationships are clear enough, and the exact positioning is not all that critical. If I were you, I would start by trying to find a muffler clamp similar to the one I used. There are a lot of similar styles, but they are just different enough that it would be best to have the actual clamp before drilling holes in the bracket for it. 3) I'm not opposed, but what would be a fair price? It was kind of a labor of love thing for me, because I'm not a fabricator by trade. Could I charge enough to make it worth my while?

[@TOURMANBOB]

I have been considering this kit to convert to natural gas for some time for my Honda EU6500 and after watching this video, I think I am going to pass on this conversion. I really don't use it enough for home backup (through a Reliance 10 circuit backup kit) to really justify doing this, especially with all the fiddling and potential problems upon doing so. I need RELIABLE power when I need it, and since I keep lots of treated gasoline on hand for my other small engines, gas supply isn't a problem (at least given the short term use I have experienced to date). The generator MUST work when it's needed, and since I already paid way too much to get the best machine I could, I think I will just leave it as Honda designed it. So thank you for the video and it's assistance in making my decision....

[@MstrMark]

You're welcome. I respect your thought process. I think NG is hard to beat, but the kit certainly isn't for everyone. If I had a way to safely and economically store a hundred gallons of gasoline, I'm sure that might very well be my fuel of choice. But what I'm NOT willing to do is to go foraging for gasoline in the middle of a disaster like the power outage that recently afflicted Texas.

[@robertcampbell2389]

@@MstrMark Yes, the situation you describe is far more dire than any I could face. The power infrastructure here is solid and the whole act of backup power here in the city of Ottawa is really just a bit of an excessive move on my part. The last major power outage here was back in 1998 when a drastic ice storm destroyed power lines all over the area. Even then, we were out of power for only three hours. So if I faced what you face, I would likely do the same thing....

[@MstrMark]

@@robertcampbell2389 I hear ya. The trouble is that ice storms in south Texas are unprecedented...until we had one. Then EVERYONE was caught flat-footed, with most of the state without power for days. It was crazy. I was one of the lucky ones...only out for a few hours, but I have many friends who suffered for days and even weeks. Road conditions were all but impossible. Authorities actually closed major highways. One couldn't drive is search of gasoline, and most gas stations had no power to pump gas anyway. It was, as they say, the perfect storm. I wound up loaning my EU3000is to a friend who was out of power for days after the storm. It's also tri-fuel, so he was able to rob propane tanks from friends and family in exchange for charging privileges and hot coffee...preferable to sitting in the dark on a cold and very dark night. When the whole city (or even state) is down, it gets REALLY dark. Yeah, any kind of "prepping" is really hard to justify in the absence of SHTF. Hurricane shutters are a expensive nuisance when there's no 150 MPH wind. Generators cost a lot and take up space when the grid is up and running. And nobody worries about living in the 100-year floodplain until we have a 1000-year flood. And it certainly does seem to me that things that "never happened" in the past are now happening all the time. Out local news is full of stories about people with bewildered faces talking about how they've lived in X location for 50 years and never saw anything like X before. I myself had never seen a multi-day power outage until Hurricane Ike. But we were out for three days. Friends and family were out for weeks. I had never faced a mandatory evacuation until Hurricane Harvey, but then I did. It was epic, many homes inundated, families made into refugees, but my own home was spared. And likewise, I had never seen any storm take out power in the entire state until this year, but then I did. It's enough to make one want to do more prepping, eh?

[@Mark.Schneider]

@@liffy8333 Right with you. I just can't practically store enough gasoline to make it though a multi-day event. As you say, Propane would be hard to come by during an actual event, but has the advantage of indefinite storage duration, so if one plans ahead, it can be a good option. One could bury a tank big enough to last a month or more. Diesel stores better than gasoline, and is also less volatile, but even diesel can't be stored as long as propane. And has the disadvantage of not being something that one can rotate through vehicles...unless one has diesel vehicles. Natural gas seems like the obvious choice to me. It could potentially fail, as actually happened in Texas during the epic winter storm, but even then, the gas supply at my house never failed. I guess that if one wanted to be doubly sure, one would have propane as a backup. But as I was discussing with @Robert Campbell, prepping always seems silly until the event actually occurs. Still, with a tri-fuel conversion, one has options...like trolling for grill propane...I myself have two tanks - one on my grill and one spare. My son next door has another two. And there's always siphoning gasoline....hopefully one could find one of the three fuels.

[@Luis-2124]

seria interesante que ver si ajustando el tornillo del regulador se mejora la estabilidad y ver si hay mas potencia disponible por que en mi generador hice los mismos test de carga hasta que logre sacar los 4400 w de este generador a 3600 rpm con una manguera 1/2" y 30 metros de largo, este regulador soporta hasta 20kw de potencia It would be interesting to see if adjusting the regulator screw improves stability and see if there is more power available because in my generator I did the same load tests until I managed to get the 4400 w of this generator at 3600 rpm with a hose 1 / 2 "and 30 meters long, this regulator supports up to 20kw of power

[@MstrMark]

FWIW, I show it running at 5500 watts starting around here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aH_dmnd4r9Z8Y7s Backing out the load screw any father has no positive effect on maximum load, but it does hurt the performance with lighter loads. I feel like the "Snorkel" injector becomes the limiting factor at maximum load, but that's at the heart of this particular kit, so there's not much I can do about it. Maybe if I had more line pressure it would act different, but it's already within the recommended range. It will do 7000 watts for short intervals on gasoline, but I don' think there's any way to get much more than 5500 watts out of it on natural gas. In my mind, a more worthwhile improvement would be a mod to prevent the engine rpm from dropping below its torque curve while running eco throttle on natural gas. I think maybe US Carburetion could do it with their black box module, but haven't had much luck getting them to talk to me about it. Anyone have any inside connections? It would be fun to be involved in perfecting this kit.

[@browsedeweb8834]

Have you considered changing the spark plug gap for running on natural gas? I've been doing some reading and it looks like quite a few people who have converted generators to run on NG instead of gasoline have replaced their spark plugs with iridium plugs with smaller gaps. I just purchased the NGK BPR6EIX and will try this to see if there is any difference at higher loads with the gap set to .022 instead of .030.

[@MstrMark]

I did change the plug and the gap, but haven't tried iridium. I was under the impression that the main value of irridium is longer life...(?) I hope you'll let me know if you can tell any difference.

[@browsedeweb8834]

@@MstrMark Very good. I just received my Micro-Air EasyStart 368 soft starter today and will be installing that on my 4-ton condenser sometime this week, replacing a hard start kit that's on the unit now. LRA is 129 amps and the lights were dimming when it kicked on. Once it's installed, I think I'm going to try to start the AC with the Honda running on gasoline (for maximum output) to see if it will work, but I don't intend on using the main AC in the event of an outage. I bought the soft starter to hopefully prolong the life of the condenser as it's getting long in the tooth (~15 years old). I'll keep the 5-2-1- hard start kit around and reinstall it when we sell the house, taking the soft starter with us.

[@MstrMark]

​@@browsedeweb8834 That's a lot of amps. Your idea about trying on gasoline makes sense to me because I can tell you from personal experience that while my EU7000is can start the old 2-ton window A/C unit in my garage while running on gasoline, it can't start it on natural gas. I think the EER on that unit is only 8.0 and it has no hard start or soft start kit...it's actually a lot harder to both start and run than my central unit. Sometimes it even trips the 20-amp breaker. It's so bad that I thought the start cap must have degraded, but it checks out fine. It's just a 28-year-old thing that wasn't very efficient even when it was brand new. Heck, I paid less for it than an EasyStart, and it still works, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Naturally I'll be very interested to learn how the Micro-Air gadget works for you.

[@dahveedl3133]

Im in the process of converting my EU6500is in much the same fashion that you have done with your gen. The snorkel install went well with a bit of modification as per the instructions that came with my kit. I especially like your solution to running your propane line thru the firewall. You mention that you "punched" a whole. Did you use a hole saw and drill or another method? Im not seeing an easy method to get that done on my unit. It very tight from the front and a bit of an angle from inside. Thank you for posting your project.

[@MstrMark]

Hi - I used a tool known as a "chassis punch", aka "knockout punch". The brand I used is Greenlee and that is probably the premier brand. These can be expensive, but you don't need the hydraulic version for a job like this, so that will reduce the cost considerably. If you decide to buy one, just be aware that they are often sold by "trade size", as opposed to actual size. For example, in the electrician trade, a 3/4" conduit fitting does not actually measure 3/4". Punches for other trades are sold by actual hole size, so just be aware. Basically, one starts by drilling a smaller hole, like 3/8", then inserts the punch through that hole and tightens it down with a wrench until it punches through. It is way easier to get accurate positioning than trying to do it with a big twist drill bit or step bit, and It makes a nice clean hole. I didn't have any trouble drilling a 3/8" hole, but I did have the battery and instrument panel removed when I did it. I posted a video here that may give you some insight: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJTdkqWIraaopKs By the way, removing the control panel may seem intimidating, but it only took me a few minutes. I used bungee cords to support the panel while I was working, in order to prevent strain on the wiring. I didn't remove any of the factory wiring, except for the one plug that facilitates the installation of the new module.

[@dahveedl3133]

@@MstrMark Thanks for the quick reply. I am familiar with Greenlee products and I will have a look at what they have to offer. I may yet follow your lead on the routing of the vapor line but Im also considering punching a hole in the floor of the unit as there is ample room. The hose would have to route underneath and out the front for a bit longer run but It seems an easy option. For now, waiting on some parts next week. Best wishes to you and yours and again thanks for the posting.

[@MstrMark]

@@dahveedl3133 I would be interested to know what you come up with.

[@TOURMANBOB]

@@MstrMark In thinking about how I am going to route the gas hose out of the EU6500 generator, I am going to look into simply running it through the oil drain hole in the bottom pan of the generator, then under the genny up to the front mounted regulator. This would mean I have to remove the hose only when I need to change the oil, but this doesn't seem much like a bad inconvenience versus drilling permanent holes in the body of genny. We'll see......

[@MstrMark]

@@TOURMANBOB Up to you of course, but FWIW, I have found my gas hose to be almost impossible to remove from the regulator fitting without damaging the hose.

[@danieldickson5264]

I have an EU700is and am contemplating this conversion, so thanks in advance for producing this video. I also saw that PNG Technologies produces a kit as well for this generator. Can you please explain why you chose this particular kit over PNG? To me, it looks like the PNG kit is a cleaner install, but I don't recall them having a separate computer module to replace the Honda module.

[@MstrMark]

Hi Daniel, I settled on the US Carburetion kit because, to my knowledge, it is the only kit that includes the "black box" control module. I have another video that shows the module: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJTdkqWIraaopKs I believe that this module is the single most important factor in making the EU7000is run properly on natural gas (or propane). I proved this to myself by adding the module to my previous Genconnex kit (which ran just awful without the module). With no other changes, it made the generator run infinitely better, with no other changes to the Genconnex kit. There are multiple schools of thought on what makes a conversion work well. The Genconnex idea was to keep the gas supply line as short as possible, and they achieved that by replacing the original fuel tank with a new shell that positioned the regulator inside the covers, resulting in less than a foot of hose. But in my experience, that was not the "secret sauce". It ran terrible. It backfired and sometimes even died with a light load, and lacked power under heavy load. It made the generator all but useless for my purposes. Here is an example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5CvioyZms53nNE FWIW, in my experience, moving the regulator out side of the covers, with something like three times the hose length made no difference, except that it looks less "clean, but it gave me tri-fuel operation.

[@danieldickson5264]

@@MstrMark Excellent reply MrMark! Thank you..

[@adventuremanintheclouds8968]

Do you still have this installed and are you satisfied with it? I'm looking for a conversion kit.

[@MstrMark]

Yes, I do. And I think I'm as satisfied as I am ever likely to be with any conversion kit. If I had it all to do over again, today, I would have to consider brands other than Honda. At the high price that I paid for my generator, I feel like it should have included tri-fuel operation right out of the box, but Honda seems content to keep charging three times as much as brands that come with multi-fuel operation built right in.

[@unitedcountryarkansasprope3029]

Any testing with inductive loads rather than just resistive loads? Perhaps get 3000 watts load on and plug in a 15amp air compressor

[@MstrMark]

I have, although I didn't make a video...but that might be fun and informative. FWIW, the EU700is handles transient and inductive loads better than other generators with similar ratings, but motors are still the greatest challenge. That is why it works better to run several small window A/C units than one big one. Also the reason that when I replaced my refrigerator, I chose one with DC inverter technology, because that essentially eliminates the inrush issue. I also have a 22,000 BTU window unit that uses inverter technology, and the EU7000is handles it very easily, barely even changing tone as the compressor gently ramps up to speed. On the other hand the ancient 24,000 BTU conventional window unit in my garage takes all she's got. Same with my natural gas central heater - it has an ECM blower motor that is essentially unnoticeable when it starts. If one needs to start conventional motors with any generator in this wattage class, one will need to be careful and selective. For example, I have a 6000 BTU window until that starts fine, but it pulls 2400 watts inrush, so it is noticeable when it starts, and that is a model that is known to start more easily than most. I have a 5000 BTU unit that is worse. But I've had some years to sort out my emergency readiness, so I no longer have any conventional motors that have to be started while on generator power. I can start my 5 HP air compressor if I really need to, but I have to turn everything else off. Still, if I just HAD to run the air compressor, it would be possible. All of the other motors are now either DC inverter technology or small enough that they don't present a major challenge to the generator. I think an air compressor is probably the most difficult load that most people would have. Even an air conditioner (with the same size compressor motor) is easier to start than an air compressor.

[@chadwickparker9705]

Micro air easy start 364 to put on any ac is a miracle, it will make a huge difference

[@MstrMark]

That's what I hear, but pretty expensive just for the sake of testing. If they were to send me one, I would certainly make a video showing it in action!

[@chadwickparker9705]

I have used them its crazy how well they work

[@MstrMark]

@@chadwickparker9705 That would make a fun comparison video!

[@percyfaith11]

Do you have to run any high loads, like a well pump?

[@MstrMark]

I don't have a well pump, but I'm sure it would depend upon the inrush load during startup, because I can't imagine a big enough residential well pump to give it any trouble once it was actually running. On natural gas, my EU7000is can start a "Haier ESAQ406T Serenity Series 6,000 BTU 115V Window Air Conditioner" without any problem. And keep in mind that being a split-phase unit, the generator has only one inverter to work with. It will also start the ancient 240 Volt 2-ton window A/C in my garage, although that's very close to its limit. That unit had trouble starting even when it was brand new, so it now has a hard start kit on it, but I think it's fair to say that its still hard to start. 1/2 HP drill press is no challenge. 1/2 HP garage door opener also presents no major challenge. The secret to running a whole house with a small generator is to get rid of (or manage) the loads that present large transients and/or high inrush during startup. For example, the EU7000is can run my 24,000 BTU mini-split without any problem at all because it has essentially no inrush requirements, but to run my 24,000 BTU central unit (with conventional compressor) requires that I first turn off every other load in the house and also disable Eco throttle. It's not practical, so I just don't do it. I also have a 22,000 BTU LG "Dual Inverter" window unit that is real easy on the generator, so I can selectively cool certain areas without significantly impacting the generator. At the end of the day, the EU7000is is good for around 4400 watts continuous while running on natural gas, so one has to pick and choose. I can use a few burners on my induction cooktop, but not while using my (2000 watt) microwave oven. Heck, I can bake a pizza, but not while running two A/C units at the same time. As long as I stay within my power budget, it can run everything in my house, although the central A/C is not practical. And the fewer the transient and high start-current loads, the easier that is to do. For example, I have an 1800 watt heat gun that maintains the set temperature by cycling the heating element off and on around twice per second. It's a terrible load for a generator, so I bought a cheap "emergency" heat gun that doesn't cycle at all. It's not as fast, and not nearly as well temperature-regulated, but it doesn't give the generator fits. All the UPSes in my house used to beep when my refrigerator would start (four times per hour), so when it came time to replace the fridge, I chose a refrigerator with inverter technology. Now, the generator is essentially unaffected. I think that if I had a 30,000 watt generator, I could probably carry on pretty much as I would on grid power, but that's a whole other level of expense, both initial and ongoing. And I say 30k because that's about where 1800 RPM water-cooked generators start, and all 3600 RPM air-cooled standby generators are way louder than the EU7000is. In my own experience, the never-ending noise of a generator really does wear on me during an extended outage...to the point that I actually turned it off a few times, in spite of the dark and the heat. I think it would take that big of a jump to get something that would please me more than what I already have. Actually, I wouldn't mind having both, but that's yet another whole level. And then why not solar with battery backup? At that point, the only need for a generator would be in cases where the sun doesn't shine for a long time, just to recharge the batteries. That would be way better, in my mind. But circling back around to your original concern, if you find that your well pump is too hard to start, you might look into the practically of using something like the Micro-Air Easystart, but it would depend upon whether there is a way to to get access to the start windings. Probably not an option for a submersible pump. There are easy-to-start pumps that are designed for off-grid use, but unless you have some other reason to replace your pump, you probably don't want to start all over.

[@Atekcs]

If you can never get it to run rich then it’s probably not getting enough NG supply. It’s best to connect at the NG meter if you can. Also consider upgrading to 3/4” hose.

[@MstrMark]

I can understand why you might say that, because I originally had similar thoughts, but over time, I have been able to rule that out. Fortunately, it is not necessary to speculate about fuel supply adequacy, because that is one factor that can be relatively easily be determined empirically. I have measured the supply pressure while in operation, so I can confirm that it never falls below the ideal range. 3/4" hose may make sense for someone, but speaking for myself, it's just too expensive, and also too heavy/bulky to work with and store. If I ran it all the way to my meter, the hose would have to be over 100 feet long, and for a significant portion of that run, it would be replacing 1-1/2 black pipe with 3/4" hose. Even the smallest pipe in the run is 1/2" schedule 40, which has an actual ID of almost 5/8", so considering the entire run, I believe that 3/4" would actually be a down-grade. Anyway, I'm just not willing to drag out 100-plus feet of hose in a storm and/or the dark/cold of night, so if that was the only way that I could make this generator work, I think I'd have to do something completely different. But again, considering the fact that the generator can produce its full gasoline-rated output on natural gas, I'm not sure what more one could hope for. By all rights, it should do no better than 80 percent, so it is exceeding my expectations. It might not be obvious from the video, but I believe the weak point in the NG supply to be the "Snorkel" injector itself. It does a nice job of keeping the injection plate thin, but that thinness is by virtue of a very small tube, so that is the most obvious point of weakness. I feel like I may have mentioned this elsewhere in these comments, but my goal was to get a little more power than my trusty old Honda EU3000is could provide. The best it could do on natural gas was just over 2400 watts, tweaked and tuned to the nth degree. By direct comparison, this machine provide twice that amount of power very easily and calmly. And it can provide considerably more than that, if one pays just a bit more attention. It may not be intuitive while watching the video, but I'm really putting the screws to the thing! I'm overloading the 30-amp circuit during most of the video - the most that circuit should ever see is 3600 watts, and it should be no more than 80 percent of that (2880 watts) on a sustained basis. The EU7000is is a beast! It is only because of its civilized nature and my own master-of-understatement narration that one might get the impression that it's not kicking some serious ass in this video.

[@percyfaith11]

Can the generator be run on gasoline with this kit installed? What is the purpose of the module and switch?

[@MstrMark]

Yes it can - "tri-fuel" includes gasoline, natural gas, and propane.

[@homeinspectionportland]

Were you able to fix the surging issue? I have the exact same set up and am experiencing the surging as well. I suspect it is because of the small propane hose, so I'm working on getting a much larger one set up. Any hints on what you did to fix the problem would be greatly appreciated!

[@MstrMark]

Hi Charles, To be honest, I believe it's about as good as its going to get, so I haven't made any changes since the video I've used the generator several times during actual outages and it worked well for me. Maybe it's because I came from an EU3000is (also running on natural gas), but this eu7000is seems very powerful and trouble-free by comparison. It can do everything the eu3000is could could do (while totally maxed out) at idle speeds. And it can do twice as much without even breaking a sweat. It would be cool to be able to be able to squeeze a few more watts out of it, but I think someone would have to reverse-engineer the engine computer in order to make that happen. There are just certain ranges near the maximum potential of the machine where the engine lacks the torque it needs to run at speeds as low as Eco Throttle tries to run it. I wish they would do that, but it may just be beyond what small conversion kit companies can hack together. Heck, USC can't even make it fit right mechanically, so it's a near miracle that they managed to make it run as well as they did. They certainly did beat every other conversion kit company by a mile in that respect. And practically speaking, if I ever dd experience any surging while in actual use, defeating Eco Throttle would be a viable work-around. But so far, it just hasn't been a problem. On the bigger hose idea, at this point I have gone so far as to connect the generator directly to my gas meter, thus eliminating 60 feet or so of 1/2" pipe. FWIW, I couldn't tell that it made any difference at all, so I'm sticking to my theory that the problem is with the Eco Throttle RPM parameters not being compatible with the engine's power curve while running on natural gas. But hey, if you find that a bigger hose helps in your case, I hope you'll let me know. Make a video of it running flawlessly and I'll be on a quest for a new hose. But I just don't think so. I started out with a 3/8" hose, which I then upgraded to 1/2", thinking that it might help. I don't think it helped. The obvious solution would be for Honda to get with the program and make their flagship models tri-fuel capable. Failing that, perhaps someone like USC can figure out how to spoof the GCU into thinking it has more load than it actually does...it just needs to ramp up the engine speed aggressively enough to prevent bogging. Similar to how it does when the two inverters are not bonded together, and the load on one inverter is twice what it would be if the two were bonded together. It is that signal that makes it run at a high enough RPM to prevent bogging. As of today, what you see in this video stands as the best-performing natural gas conversion that I have personally seen on any generator. One might say that's a shame, particularly considering Honda's high entry cost, but the best is still the best. If anyone has video of any conversion running better, I would very much like to see it! And then (naturally) I would want to know how they did it...

[@homeinspectionportland]

@@MstrMark Thanks for your help! Yes, I will try the larger hose and see if that makes any difference since the parts are already on the way. I'll also compare using natural gas with a 3/4 inch hose as well. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks again. Charles

[@MstrMark]

@@homeinspectionportland I do love real-world testing!

[@homeinspectionportland]

Just a quick update -- I connected 3/4 inch hose and 3/4 inch fittings on the low pressure side of the propane regulator and it worked perfectly. I didn't experience any surging at all. I also tried the 3/4 inch hose connected to the home's natural gas supply and it worked flawlessly as well. I think my 3/8 inch hose from the propane regulator was seriously restricting flow and causing the generator to surge up and down. Having the bigger hose definitely solved my surging issue and it works awesome now with both natural gas and propane. Thanks for posting and for helping me figure out this surging issue!

[@homeinspectionportland]

P.S. I had to get a much larger regulator with a 3/4 inch output, but it wasn't very expensive at my local propane supply store.

[@TOURMANBOB]

After a four day outage here in Ottawa, Canada, I have ordered a Generlink kit to replace my 10 circuit Reliance transfer switch, and also I do plan now to go ahead with natural gas conversion. The Honda IE6500 cost me about 1 litre of fuel per hour ($2) which is not bad, but not like using the natural gas in the home. I have a question. Based on your experience with pretty much the same generator, will the 3/8 inch outlet I currently use for the barbeque provide enough gas to power the Honda or should I buy all 1/2 inch fittings and have a gas fitter change the lines inside the house. Your opinion ?

[@TOURMANBOB]

Just an add on to my previous comment. It only takes one major power outage to change one's opinion on backup power. I now look upon all this backup equipment like I do when I buy insurance. You pay for something that you hope you will never have to use. At least with the Generlink plus natural gas conversion steps you DO get something besides "insurance". After watching my neighbours struggle with lack of power, and running 100 foot extension cords to keep their sump pumps and freezer working, I now have new respect for backup power. And frankly, I don't give a damn how much it costs me to get set up much better, I'm going ahead with it...including natural gas conversion. My son and one of my employees are currently using my two Champion 2000 watt generators to assist untold people in preventing their food from spoiling. It looks like another week before this disaster will be over with everyone back on utility power. This real disaster will not be easy for forget, even though my home was powered by the big Honda for some 60 hours total.

[@MstrMark]

I have to admit that I don't know about the "IE6500" model, but the rest of what you're saying seems familiar to me. I think that most everyone who has ever converted a larger generator to natural gas has wondered in (fill in the black size) is big enough. I used to wonder that same thing with my EU3000is conversion. I can tell you this: I have 1/2" black pipe feeding my hook-up. Considering all of the turns, I think it calculates out to about 60 feet equivalent. There is around 50 feet of larger pipe before it reduces down to 1/2", but I feel like that is probably insignificant, as long as there is no other gas consumption in the house. I used 1 3/8 valve, quick-connect, and flex hose with the EU3000is - literally a gas grill hose. It always doubted that it was enough, so when I got the EU7000is, I bought a 1/2" full-port valve, along with 1/2" quick-connectors and hose. That's what was in use during the video. By experimentation, I have determined that turning on the gas clothes dryer the is connected just on the other side of the wall has no effect on the capacity of the generator. The dryer specs say that it needs 18,000 BTUs, so that suggests that my 1/2" line has at least 18,000 BTUs more capacity than actually it needs. Or at least some amount more than it needs. Here's another story - during the most massive power failure in Texas history, it was also one of the coldest nights in Texas history. During that outage, I ran my generator. I used it to power my gas furnace that is connected to the larger piping before the 1/2" reduction. The furnace is rated at 65,000 BTUs input, so it's the biggest gas user in the house, and yet it had no apparent effect on the generator. Granted, I wasn't maxing out the generator during that time, but my take-away is that the gas supply is more than enough for the generator. Keeping in mind that 1/2" schedule 40 black pipe has an actual ID of around 0.622 inch. The full-port valve measures exactly 1/2-inch. The quick connectors are essentially impossible to measure in a meaningful way, but they are visually larger than 3/8" connectors. I also can't get at the actual hose ID without cutting it in half, but it too is visually larger than 3/8" hose. These real-world observations would seem to be in conflict with the charts and guides that one can find online, which suggest that larger (or much shorter pipe) is needed for a generator this size. And yet, it it is quite obvious that the pipe is delivering more than enough gas. Maybe they were using the nominal pipe size as the actual size...(?) So if you're asking me, I would say that 60 feet of pipe like mine is just fine, and I also think there is some room to go beyond 60 feet at that same size. This assumes that one is working with the same gas pressure that I am. Get yourself a gauge and you won't have to guess. I feel that anything smaller might be too small, although I have no real-world experience to support that feeling. But based upon that feeling, I would want a hose bigger than 3/8". I don't know how they do things in Canada, but around here, 1/2" is the smallest piping that is commonly used inside of houses. Even with 1/2" PE gas pipe, the actual ID is still larger than 1/2". So hopefully you don't need to change any piping inside your house. Unless it's a really long run. I've seen people use really long flex hoses to their gas meter rather than re-plumbing their house. Although a 12-foot house is a lot easier to store and work with than a 100-foot hose.

[@TOURMANBOB]

@@MstrMark Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. Please know that I do truly appreciate it, especially as there is so little information available for use in making any kind of decision like this. I read your answer very many times to get the full understanding of what you were saying. My gas supply in the home is the normal black steel gas pipe 1/2 inch or larger to feed the gas furnace and gas water heater. About 10 feet away from the furnace, there is a connection with a shutoff to the barbeque outside, and from that turn off switch, they have reduced the piping down to 3/8 copper tubing. This runs all the way out through the wall and connects to the barbeque quick connect. Now when I connect to the outside gas quick connect, I am going to use 1/2 inch flexible hose all the way to the generator about 15 feet away from the outside quick connect. What this will mean is there is only a short run of copper tubing which is 3/8 inch, and which I can replace if the current gas supply turns out to be insufficient to power the generator. But I'll try it first and see how it all works on the current piping... I also checked the tubing currently in use with the gas barbeque and it does appear to be the smaller 3/8 tubing. But a barbeque is NOT a generator which I imagine will draw far more gas supply ! FYI, the EU6500 only differs from the EU7000 in the fact that the 7000 has fuel injection rather than carburetion. Plus the nameplate would indicate a surge ability up to 7000 watts while my EU6500 has a surge maximum of 6500 watts. However, both versions of the generator put out the same amount of continuous running power....5500 watts. So when they came out with fuel injection, I kind of think their marketing guys had a hand in renaming the new model as much as anything they actually did vis a vis output levels. Honda is well known for underrating their generator products. Frankly, it's easier and cheaper to convert the EU6500 as it's only carburetion I have to worry about with nothing needed in the way of an "add on module" needed with the 7000 because of the fuel injection. US Carburetion has the kit for my generator for $187 US and I can pretty easily do the mods needed (I have a full machine shop in my basement). My electrician this morning applied for my Ottawa Hydro permit ($315), and once I have paid for that, he says he can install the Generlink within 10 days. Once that is all working, I will test out the gas dryer, electic washing machine and my AC to see what will actually run on the generator on gasoline and what won't. From there I can make a decision to proceed or not... If I do go natural gas, I have to remember that the generator will lose 20% of its output capacity running on natural gas, so at that point , I will make decisions on how much further I can go...ie:continue to pay the $2 an hour to run the generator (plus all the very real hassles of getting gas when the stations are all down)...or...buy the kit and install it, test it to see if the current gas supply is sufficient, and if it isn't then call a gas fitter to upgrade that short limiting loop of 3/8th piping (which would be the limiting factor since everything else is 1/2 other than that) In any event, thank you again for your thoughts and comments.

[@MstrMark]

@@TOURMANBOB 3/8" copper...that's kind of unexpected. Around here, the code no longer allows copper for natural gas. And AFAIK, it never did allow copper buried within the construction. I think I would be inclined to replace it on that basis alone. The EU7000is needs somewhere in the neighborhood of 24,000 BTUs. That's just a little more than the average clothes dryer, which seems to be around 22,000 BTUs. There are some big gas grills that use over 300,000, but of course it depends on the grill. I know the EU6500...but you wrote "EI6500" . I would say that carburetor vs injected is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the EU6500 is less sophisticated, so one can fiddle with the mixture any way one wants and it will keep on running. But the EU7000is knows when the fuel mixture is off and it will shut itself down if it doesn't like it, which is bad news for a bad conversion kits. On the other hand, the EU7000is has variable ignition timing, which is way batter for natural gas, assuming that the conversion kit is good enough to tell the computer to crank up the advance. Most don't but the US Carburetion kit apparently does, which is kind of the whole point of this particular video. This kit succeeds where the others failed. You certainly will lose surge power, although you may not lose the rated continuous running power, because as you say, Honda is rather conservative in their ratings. What is likely, however, is that you will not find any setting of the load block valve that results in the machine running perfectly at both light and heavy loads. I lived with that reality with my EU3000is conversion for many years. It "works", but it certainly isn't ideal. If I adjust for good results at 800 watts, which is kind of what my house uses without air conditioning, then it won't run at all at 2400 watts. If I adjust for 2400 watts, then it's super-rich at 800 watts,,,, stumbling and backfiring and generally being obnoxious. I think you'll see something similar with any engine that has fixed timing. I'll be very interested to know how it works out for you. For me, it was all about having enough fuel for an extended outage. I would consider 48 hours to be a bare minimum, and I'd like to have much more. When the power is down in a small area, it's not as much of a problem...just go to a gas station down the road. But when most of the entire state goes down, as we recently experienced here, that's a whole other thing. So that means that one needs to already have what one needs before the event occurs. And with gasoline, that would require a lot of storage. Around here, it is a violation of some rule to store more than 25 gallons of gasoline in the same building, so with the EU7000is that breaks down to a maximum run time of about 3.5 days at 1/4 load. But most of our outages happen on the hottest days, which means that one wants to run some A/C, and the machine burns closer to a gallon per hour under heavy load. That's just not enough time in my mind. And trying to get (5) 5-gallon cans refilled every day is not something I want to face during a disaster. Not to mention the fact that gasoline likes to blow up. And even with fuel stabilizer, it likes to go bad pretty fast. So that adds the additional hassle of trying to figure out how to safely rotate the fuel supply somehow so that it doesn't go bad. Some people do enough driving to where it would be possible to keep the fuel fresh, but just don't burn enough fuel to make that idea practical. For me, propane and natural gas are the only viable alternatives. Propane can be safely stored in great quantities, and it essentially never goes bad. Natural gas is not so easy to store, but it's "on tap", so to speak. There were some supply failures during the recent big blackout, but not here. I have never personally seen natural gas fail. I could always switch propane if it came right down to it..bartering power for propane cylinders off of all the grills on the block.

[@MstrMark]

@@TOURMANBOB Oh, so you're still doing it - that's awesome! Yeah nothing like a good disaster to alter one's perspective. That's how it is with any kind of "prepping" - silly waste of time and money until it's desperately needed. Following the Texas blackout, I was ready to buy a legitimate water-cooled standby generator. But fortunately(?) they were impossible to buy in the wake of that event. I did go ahead and install a new breaker panel with a manual whole-house interlock, though. I still don't have it finished...8/3 copper wire is so absurdly expensive right now...kind of takes the fun out of it.

[@percyfaith11]

Why is the voltage dropping to 109-115?

[@MstrMark]

Where did you see that happening? The only time I saw that happen is while I was technically overloading the generator. At over 5500 watts, it would have been beyond its rated maximum continuous output, even if it was running on gasoline. But it was running on natural gas, which theoretically yields only 80 percent of that rating, which would be only 4400 watts, so the fact that it was managing to deliver over 5500 watts seems pretty amazing to me.

[@BS-rn8gq]

Huge difference with this kit comparing to the Genconnex. My only wish is that the US carburetion had an option for professional installation. Do you know anyone who would install it for me on Honda EU7000is?

[@MstrMark]

The trouble is that the kit, as supplied, doesn't actually fit the machine, so anyone who installed it would have to re-imagine some things...or it wouldn't be all that "professional". I would offer my services, but you'd have a way to get it to me.

[@BS-rn8gq]

@@MstrMark how many clips are on the fuel injector cover? 2 or 4? You mention these are hard to remove. Do you have a video of you installing that snorkel kit?

[@MstrMark]

@@BS-rn8gq If you mean the so-called "silencer cover", there are four clips. I linked two videos above. They are not detailed how-to videos, but I do show some of the challenges and offer some of my own solutions.

[@BS-rn8gq]

@@MstrMark Please pardon my lack of terminology, but I meant the plastic cover that needs to be removed to install the motor snorkel

[@MstrMark]

@@BS-rn8gq I'm referring to the clips on the cover that are shown at this time index: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aH_dmnd4r9Z8Y7s

[@percyfaith11]

The US Carb kit with module is now $440 on their website.

[@MstrMark]

That's great news (I paid $477 for my kit) !

[@magnumpi28]

Peice of crap.

[@anonymous.369]

Which kit that worked for you?

[@MstrMark]

This whole video is about the one that worked best for me. Even now, my generator has been running on natural gas for the last 18 hours, since most of the entire Houston metropolitan area lost power as a result of Hurricane Beryl.

[@anonymous.369]

@@MstrMark looking for the brand name n model to narrow down my search

[@MstrMark]

@@anonymous.369 I am not aware of any brand name or model other than what you see in the title of this video. I am not willing to link it here because I believe that the kit has many shortcomings. If US Carburetion wants to talk to me about it, I am certainly willing, but I'm not going to link it anywhere until I get some long-awaited answers. You could search for "US Carburetion Motor Snorkel tri-fuel conversion kit", but in case you didn't watch my videos about this, I have to reiterate that it requires some engineering to make it work. You're going to have to be willing to watch my videos, at the very least. If that seems like too much trouble, you're not going to get very far with this kit. 'Still the best one I've tried, and in fact, I have now been running on generator power since early Monday morning, so it is serving me and my family well, but that's doesn't mean it's "easy".

[@anonymous.369]

@MstrMark thank you for the detail reply. Appreciate your response. Thx.

[@meinempanadas]

The reason your generator's engine is surging is because you cut that opening in the battery compartment door. The manual specifically says that the door should be installed and completely closed, otherwise the engine will not run correctly. Why did you install it this way?

[@MstrMark]

As you say, the manual does warn against operation without the maintenance cover in place, but the door itself is louvered, so it's as much hole as it is solid - the amount of extra leakage around my hose would be completely insignificant. It actually makes no sense that they would say that, since the door itself has a knock-out in that location, which is intended for remote start wiring, so I don't know why they say that. But FWIW, I've spent a lot of time with the generator and as far as I can tell, it runs exactly the same with no door at all. Also worth mentioning that there is no surging when running on gasoline, regardless of whether the door is open or closed. And to be fair, even none of the above were true, the instructions that came with the conversion kit told me to use the knock-out in the battery door, and since this is as much a review of the kit as it is of the generator itself, the kit instructions are as important factor. But honestly, if you saw the door in person, I think you would agree that the extra hole can't possibly make any difference. The entire generator design requires air to be drawn in through the battery door and the rest of the front panel, so it would be way worse to block it off than to open it up. I have a feeling that might be a mistake in the manual. The side maintenance covers actually are sealed, so it actually might make a difference if they were open. Maybe that note was intended for the side covers. Although even that doesn't make complete sense, because the only way to rope start the generator is by opening the right side maintenance cover. FWIW, I think it's more about airflow for cooling the inverter than it is about how well the engine runs.

[@meinempanadas]

@@MstrMark I have the 6500is model, same as the 7000 in virtually all respects. Take the door out and it surges exactly as in your video. Put the door back in and no surge. Honda doesn't make mistakes like that in their manuals. Third party companies do.

[@MstrMark]

@@meinempanadas If you say that's what happens with your battery cover, then I believe you, but that's not the case with mine. And again, mine doesn't surge at all when running on gasoline, even with all the doors and covers open. The idea that Honda doesn't make mistakes is a relative concept...as a professional mechanic, I've seen a lot of things that Honda did that seemed like mistakes to me. I think they make a good generator, which is why I was willing to pay so very much for the EU-7000is, but it's not perfect. Also fair to say that the conversion kit is far from perfect, but it now runs on natural gas, which is one of the things that makes Honda's design less than perfect, IMHO. I think it's a fair trade-off.

[@meinempanadas]

@@MstrMark Mark, your generator began surging at 4:37 in the video the moment you switched it from 240v to 120v. I can hear it quite clearly. Honda doesn't make NG or LPG generators because of liability issues. From one pro mechanic (Marine Corps-trained) to another.

[@MstrMark]

@@meinempanadas I agree with everything you just said, but don't see a solution in there, other than to only run it on gasoline, which never surges, and generally runs like a dream. But gasoline is a very impractical fuel for a seldom-used machine. It's difficult to store safely, has a lousy shelf life, and it's hard to replenish in the middle of a state-wide blackout, like the one that happened here in Texas last February. Given the choice, I'll live with natural gas. The surging only happens within a very particular range of loads, and only in the 120 volts (only) mode, and only with Eco-throttle engaged, so it is easily manageable. I'd be curious to know your thoughts on why Honda is more concerned about liability issues than an arguably lesser company like Champion...as you probably know, they have multiple models that are dual fuel right out of the box. Also, I know you think it's because of the battery door, but I don't think that's actually true. I think it's because the engine doesn't make as much power on fuels other than gasoline, and Honda's throttle management (GCU programming) incorrectly assumes that the engine has more power at a given RPM than it actually has. I think it's a case of the engine falling off the power curve. If the engine computer would ramp up the RPM more aggressively, it wouldn't surge, as demonstrated by running it in 240 volt mode with the exact same load. It seems that Honda uses the load on either of the two inverters as criteria for increasing the engine speed. It's not based on total power - it's based upon load per inverter. When switched to 120 volts only, the two inverters are bridged, so each inverter sees only half of the load. Honda apparently takes that as a signal to throttle the engine down, which then, unfortunately, allows the engine to fall off of its torque curve. At that point, the engine slows down enough that the generator can no longer meet that demands of the inverters, which then results in a reduction of output voltage. At that point, with a purely resistivity load (like I was testing with) the wattage falls off, which then allows the engine to recover RPM again...and then the same sequence of events happens over and over again. I think that's why it surges. It may be that Honda increases the engine speed in order to ensure adequate cooling airflow over the inverters more than to maintain engine power output. That airflow is directly influenced by engine speed. There is no electric fan - it's purely mechanical, driven by the engine...completely dependent upon engine RPM.. This correlates with my experience with an EU3000is that I've had for many years. During Hurricane Ike, I was using that generator to run a portable A/C unit. It didn't have any trouble running the unit, so it was in Eco-throttle mode and seemed fine until it unexpectedly shut itself down. After a few shutdowns I started to understand that the inverter was overheating. It was very hot outside and my EU3000is is not nearly as sophisticated as my EU7000is, so it certainly wasn't smart enough to figure out that it needed to ramp up engine speed in order to keep the inverter cooler. It would just chug along until it overheated and shut down. Over and over again. And that was while running on gasoline, so we can't blame any factors beyond Honda's design intentions. They just failed to anticipate the need to speed up the engine in order to keep the inverter cool enough. Now, many years later, it seems that the EU7000is has a similar issue, if somewhat backwards. Perhaps it's not fair to blame Honda for failing to anticipate the need to increase the engine RPM more aggressively, because after all, they didn't intend for the machine to be running on alternate fuels. But then on the other hand, I suspect that essentially that same thing would happen while running on gasoline at high altitude, so one might reasonably argue that they should have given it more thought. Or one might also rightly argue that the maker of the conversion kit needs to find a way to reverse engineer Honda's GCU so that it will tell the engine to increase RPM more aggressively. Or if I'm right about the inverter load being the criteria for engine RPM, then perhaps some way to spoof the GCU into thinking that the inverter load is higher than it really is. But something tells me that US Carburetion is not likely to do that, since they don't even care if the kit fits right from a purely mechanical perspective. "Hey, it's a kit" - they're kind of famous for that attitude. If Honda generators were anything like turbocharged "tuner cars", then multiple spark-heads would have already cracked the engine computer and it would be just as easy to chip-tune a Honda generator as it is to chip-tune a Honda Civic Type R. But alas, that kind of enthusiasm for generators doesn't seem to exist. If Honda stays on their present course, I believe that they will lose a lot of market share to the likes of Champion. I suspect that they already have, because I personally know of half a dozen people who chose Champion over Honda in the last year alone, because (a) they run on propane right out of the box and (b) they cost so much less that one could buy several for the price of a single Honda, not to mention the extra expense and hassle of converting a Honda to run on a more practical fuel, nor the fact that all of the conversion kits that currently exist have significant "issues". Champion is paying attention to what people want from an emergency generator, while Honda is not. I want to love Honda, but Champion seems to be leading the market right now. I can buy (4) 4650 watt Champion dual fuel inverter generators and two parallel cable kits for less than I paid for my EU7000is which would give me over twice the power and/or quadruple redundancy, and still come out over $1500 ahead considering the conversion kit. And to say nothing of the massive expenditure of my time and trouble. It's crazy really. I don't know why anyone buys Honda generators, unless it's for the bragging rights.

[@ratandmonkey2982]

Yes, Honda makes a great gas generator, but at ~$6K is it worth all the trouble to run on NG or propane? There are much more powerful and cheaper generators to chose from. I currently have no generators and the EU7000iS was at the top of my list. However, I'm now considering a DUROMAX: 9,000-Watt/7,600-Watt Dual Fuel Remote Start Inverter Generator with Portable Digital Parallel 50-State compliant. The Honda can't even be sold in CA as it isn't CARB compliant. You could buy 2 for the price of one Honda.

[@MstrMark]

Is it worth is? I guess that depends upon one's sensibilities and priorities. Certainly the EU7000is is expensive, and certainly there are less expensive generators out there. If one is a Honda fan, then that alone may be enough to justify it. It could be argued too that there is no quieter generator in the same power class. It may also be the most fuel-efficient, in spite of some claims to the contrary. Something else to consider is that there is no quiet inverter generator with native tri-fuel capability, so if one wants maximum preparedness, a conversion is currently the only option. Champion has some interesting dual-fuel inverter models, but last time I checked, none of them could supply 240 Volts. Also, think about how long you want to be able run it without going on a hunt for more gasoline or propane. In my experience, propane is virtually unobtainable in the wake of a disaster, so how much propane are you willing to store? It has an indefinite shelf life, but I have read that propane should never to stored in an attached garage. Other sources indicate that it should never be stored in any enclosed space. Do you want propane stored outside your home. I didn't. The only way I'd be willing to do that would be in a buried tank, and the cost for that is not insignificant. Gasoline is an even worse standby fuel in almost every way. It has a very limited shelf life, and it blows up pretty easily (and spectacularly), so you certainly don't want to store any significant quantity in an enclosed space, and yet it's not really practical to store it outside either. It is safer to limit storage to a few 5-gallon cans, but even then one would need to keep it fresh by rotating it through a vehicle every month or so. I did just that for many years, but it was a big hassle. I have a friend who spent a very cold and dark night (with treacherous driving conditions) trying to find gasoline when that winter storm plunged much of the entire state of Texas into darkness. The appeal of natural gas is obvious. It is clean, it is safe, it doesn't have to be stored, and in my lifetime, it has never failed anywhere that I have lived. Those simple truths led me to the decision to do my own conversion. And as it happened, the majority of all tri-fuel conversion kits available at that time were for Honda generators. And again, the EU7000is is the quietest generator in its power class. I live in a residential neighborhood, so noise was an important consideration for me. And anyone who has ever weathered an outage that lasted days and weeks can tell you that at some point, one is ready to live without power just to escape the never-ending noise of a loud generator. My first generator was a 3500 watt Craftsman, which I was forced to return because it just couldn't deliver anything close to its rating. The second was army MARS surplus. It was an incredibly robust 3000 watt generator that easily out-performed the Craftsman that it replaced. It never failed me, but MAN was it ever heavy and loud! My third was a Yamaha 3000 watt inverter generator, but it too was weak compared to the MARS machine, and while much lighter and quieter, it had a noise signature that I found irritating, so I eventually traded up to a Honda EU3000is. The Honda was (and still is) a fine machine, always over-delivering. It was quiet, completely reliable, and it made a lot more power than it's rating suggested. I liked it a lot. After the warranty expired, I did I tri-fuel conversion on it. It never ran as well as it did on gasoline, but the convenience of natural gas was enough to convince me to keep it for decades. In the early days of the pandemic, I bought the EU7000is, hoping to preserve the best qualities of the trusty EU3000is while also getting some additional power. It did that. On gasoline, it runs more like a car than a portable generator. The specs say that it's quiet, but dB's don't really tell the whole story, because the character of the noise is also important. It actually sounds a lot like a small car running just above idle. I remember remarking out loud, "Man, this thing is a machine!"!. Hopefully you understand that reference. It pleases me to own it. I then did the Genconnex conversion, which was a great disappointment. After fighting with that for months, I eventually bought the US Carburetion kit, which you see here. Still not quite up to the fine example set by native gasoline operation, but pretty close. And again, very convenient. And of course, even on NG, it still makes a lot more power than the EU3000is ever could, so I'm pretty happy with it. And to give the story a happy ending, I sold the EU3000is to my sister, who knew just how well it had served me (at times when she was in the dark at her house), so it's still in the family. If the EU7000is lasts as long, it could out-last me. So that was my journey/decision process. Other people will take different paths, leading to different decisions. I have a good friend who recently chose the cheapest (and noisiest) dual-fuel Champion open-frame inverter generator that he could find. He doesn't care about the noise personally, and he certainly doesn't care if it's too noisy for his neighbors. He did go with propane as his fuel choice, but then almost immediately lamented the storage concerns.😬

[@KuntalGhosh]

I hope u have disabled the fuel pump or it will die running dry.

[@MstrMark]

Well, to be clear, I didn't design the kit - I just installed it. I am guessing that the reason that it's possible to run the generator on natural gas while there is still gasoline in the tank is because the fuel pump and injector have been disabled, but I have not personally verified that to be true. If you're thinking about buying this same kit for yourself, I hope you'll ask that question and let us all know what you learn.

[@TOURMANBOB]

@@MstrMark This is another concern that I have just been made aware of on the Honda EU6500. I have checked everywhere including the expanded drawings and I don't see any kind of fuel pump being used on this generator - just gravity feed. Please anyone advise me if I am wrong because running it on natural gas with no gasoline in it, any kind of fuel pump would burn up in short order. If i can't find this out, I'll visit the local Honda generator dealer and ask him the question...thanks to any and all that respond. Ottawa Hydro came out today to inspect the Customer Layout and have billed me $388.91 for the work they will be doing. My ole daddy used to have a saying " if you're going to get screwed, bend over and enjoy it". Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better....

[@MstrMark]

@@TOURMANBOB The EU7000is has an electric fuel pump, but I don't know about the EU6500, but I suspect that it is gravity feed. The US Carburetion kit disables the fuel pump on mine. If it helps, my fuel pump in inside the gas tank.

[@TOURMANBOB]

@@MstrMark I'm going to double check with the local Honda dealer to make sure about this point. If no fuel pump on the EU6500 as I very much suspect, then my order is going in straightaway to US Carburetion for the Type C kit. Mods won't be difficult, only routing the hose to the externally mounted regulator will be a bit of a challenge. Then I will simply hook it up using 1/2 natural gas hose and see if it will run properly at heavy loads. If not, then change out the short length of 3/8 piping put in for the barbeque to 1/2 inch and all should be well (fingers crossed....)

[@MstrMark]

@@TOURMANBOB Good luck!

[@magnumpi28]

The tech support never called me back, piece of crap customer service, i dont recommend the crap motor snorkel.

[@MstrMark]

If I may ask, were you trying to get support for a kit that you already own, or were you hoping for pre-sales information? I never was able to get the kind of support that I was hoping for, but with that said, they have the only conversion kit (that I've found) that actually makes the machine run even close to the way that it does on gasoline, so unless/until we find something better, this remains the only viable option for EU7000is conversions. Obviously, a much better option would be for Honda to just do it themselves, since it would be very easy for them to do, and I have no doubt that they could do it very well. But say what you will about Honda, it seems obvious that they don't care that customers want/need tri-fuel operation. Meanwhile, Champion HAS been paying attention, so they now offer a dual fuel 8500 watt quiet inverter generator that sells for less than half the price of the EU7000is, not to mention the expense, hassle, and clunky appearance associated with converting the EU7000is. It's still not natural gas, but when it comes to storage, propane is a WAY better fuel than gasoline! If there was any money in making videos like this one, I'm sure I would buy one to review and enjoy. (and watch out Champion, because here comes GENMAX with their new tri-fuel 10,500 watt machine. I'd really like to review that one as well. And if Honda doesn't start paying attention...well, their competition is already passing them by.

[@jlb7741]

Terrible video!

[@MstrMark]

I have a lot to learn, but can you show me one that you did better?