Fuel storage and fuel transfer

[ribs1]

Hello Everyone,
I have an mep-802a. Last summer I got the wires trenched with an inlet box and then a transfer switch inside my house. Everything is safe and working good. Had an electrician do some of the work and look everything over that I did.
Now it's time for me to get ready for any future serious outages and get some fuel storage together.
Right now I just have 2x 5 gallon jugs. I would like to get a 55 gallon drum and the bung adapter.
My question is this. How do you guys transfer fuel from the gas station to your drums? Do I need to get a truckbed fuel tank? Can I get another 55 gallon drum and put it in the bed of a truck?
Also, my local heating oil dealer will only deliver more than 150 gallons and they will not fill drums.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[maniatopoulosg]

Hello Everyone,
I have an mep-802a. Last summer I got the wires trenched with an inlet box and then a transfer switch inside my house. Everything is safe and working good. Had an electrician do some of the work and look everything over that I did.
Now it's time for me to get ready for any future serious outages and get some fuel storage together.
Right now I just have 2x 5 gallon jugs. I would like to get a 55 gallon drum and the bung adapter.
My question is this. How do you guys transfer fuel from the gas station to your drums? Do I need to get a truckbed fuel tank? Can I get another 55 gallon drum and put it in the bed of a truck?
Also, my local heating oil dealer will only deliver more than 150 gallons and they will not fill drums.
Thanks for any advice.

Honestly if I see a storm coming I have 4 5 gallon fuel cans and I slowly full 2 55 gallons barrels
I know it’s inconvenient but we here in South Florida only worry hurricane season i don’t know what your needs are and if you constantly need emergency fuel onsite


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[justacitizen]

check your state regulations. some states have very strict regs and require permits and placards etc. i have on farm bulk so no issues for me but i also have quite a few of the NATO gerry cans and they work great and the fuel keeps forever in them. i also have a 110 gallon rectangular fuel tank with a 12 volt transfer pump and filter. there are also hand operated pumps for less.

 

[Light in the Dark]

I strap a 55g drum to a pallet, put in my truck, and go to the local gas station and fill it up. No problems yet...

 

[Bmxenbrett]

Fuel storage is a personal/useage thing. No one else can tell you how much fuel you will need.
Things to figure all this out:
Expected outage duration
Fuel consumption
Hours a day the generator will run
Fuel useage for 3-4 years
Ehat else do you have that uses diesel.
All things need to be weighed. Personaly i wouldnt store fuel if im not going to use it in a few years, its a liability and usualy diesel is the last fuel to sell out at the pump. I have a 55gal drum and have yet to fill it. How ever i do have about 12 5gal jugs, empty and full.

My 802 running my house like nothing happened burns roughly 0.30gal/hr in 24hrs. Thats letting it run all night, bot something i plan on doing but i will plan for that fuel when we are going to get and event. I figured this out by running the house for 22-24hrs not durring an event. I burned 6.5gal of diesel in 22hrs. You should really do your own test and calculate how much fuel you think you may use in a few years, treat it and check it often.

Say each 5gal jug is roughly a day of run time. You have storage for 3 days including your generator tank. But after 3 days your totaly empty and can only get 2 days at a time or have to make two trips. Get more fuel cans. VP racing sells very nice fuel jugs with no EPA spouts for $94 for four 5gal cans.

I have a small diesel excavator that also used my fuel and still use 5gal drums. There easy to carry, fill and transport. Alot easier than my 55gal drum and transfer pump.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Oh, and I used said drum to fill other drums. That way once all are full, I pretty much just have (1) jockey drum that I rotate through. If I had a little bit more money when first starting it all up, I probably would have just bought a 275g home heating oil tank and been done with it.

 

[royalflush55]

DO NOT depend on the o rings on the caps to last very long if stored outside. Water will get in your fuel! 55 gallon barrels need to be under cover. The rim on the barrel will hold the water until it seeps into your fuel.

 

[csheath]

If you want to use 55 gallon drums call another diesel supplier to see what their minimum is and if they will pump into drums. You can fabricate a pickup tube. I made a large one for my transfer pump out of PVC. The big hole in a metal drum can use a 2" NPT and the vent hole is 3/4" NPT. I found some air compressor mufflers to screw in the vent hole. You can adapt up or down and use either hole to vent and pick up.

I don't actually use my bung adapter. I leave the transfer pump in one drum and my drums are close to the generator. I just go out every every so often to look over the unit and top up the tank with my transfer pump.

If you are tied to the 150 gallon, no drum supplier then you might as well shop around for a tank.

 

[porkysplace]

If you want to use 55 gallon drums call another diesel supplier to see what their minimum is and if they will pump into drums. You can fabricate a pickup tube. I made a large one for my transfer pump out of PVC. The big hole in a metal drum can use a 2" NPT and the vent hole is 3/4" NPT. I found some air compressor mufflers to screw in the vent hole. You can adapt up or down and use either hole to vent and pick up.

I don't actually use my bung adapter. I leave the transfer pump in one drum and my drums are close to the generator. I just go out every every so often to look over the unit and top up the tank with my transfer pump.

If you are tied to the 150 gallon, no drum supplier then you might as well shop around for a tank.

And since your in michigan you should look for a double walled tank , or plan on building a containment pit around your tank . The fines for spills are pretty steep .

 

[justacitizen]

i love my MEP sets but i can see where in some places a NG or propane system would have an advantage. i would look for an older Onan spark ignition set and plumb it to either NG or propane. depending on the situation. storing diesel for long periods and letting it go bad because you have no other need for it can be expensive and dirty. i am lucky because i have multiple pieces of diesel equipment to keep my stored diesel rolling through.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

Expensive? Have you priced out a 1000gal propane tank to buy vs two 55gal drums? Most all of the propane generators dont sip fuel they guzzle it. Your also still relying on a propane truck to deliver fuel. Diesel you can pump and transfer your self.
NG has its own problems.

 

[Light in the Dark]

My 500g underground propane tank was $1700 if memory serves, without trenching and all other work. A home heating oil tank with legs is about $800, and can be readily filled by any oil supplier with #2, so while a little bit more expensive than drums with secondary containment, it makes refueling easier... but if you dont have other diesel equipment, probably not the best scenario. Drums are portable though... so whatever way you want to look at it.

 

[justacitizen]

in my area propane is 1.25 gallon and NG is even cheaper. propane stores for longer with less hassle. why use a 1000 gallon tank? in my area a 250 gallon above ground propane tank cost about 250 dollars. what is wrong with having it delivered? NG would be my choice though because you can just hook it to the pipeline. i would make sure the gen was a 1800 rpm model with a 4 pole head.

 

[Guyfang]

Fuel storage is a personal/useage thing. No one else can tell you how much fuel you will need.
Things to figure all this out:
Expected outage duration
Fuel consumption
Hours a day the generator will run
Fuel useage for 3-4 years
Ehat else do you have that uses diesel.
All things need to be weighed. Personaly i wouldnt store fuel if im not going to use it in a few years, its a liability and usualy diesel is the last fuel to sell out at the pump. I have a 55gal drum and have yet to fill it. How ever i do have about 12 5gal jugs, empty and full.

My 802 running my house like nothing happened burns roughly 0.30gal/hr in 24hrs. Thats letting it run all night, bot something i plan on doing but i will plan for that fuel when we are going to get and event. I figured this out by running the house for 22-24hrs not durring an event. I burned 6.5gal of diesel in 22hrs. You should really do your own test and calculate how much fuel you think you may use in a few years, treat it and check it often.

Say each 5gal jug is roughly a day of run time. You have storage for 3 days including your generator tank. But after 3 days your totaly empty and can only get 2 days at a time or have to make two trips. Get more fuel cans. VP racing sells very nice fuel jugs with no EPA spouts for $94 for four 5gal cans.

I have a small diesel excavator that also used my fuel and still use 5gal drums. There easy to carry, fill and transport. Alot easier than my 55gal drum and transfer pump.

Thats because you never kept eight 60 KW MEP-115A gen sets running for 14 days 24/7 operation, alone, using only 5 gal cans. Easy, it wasn't.

 

[justacitizen]

Thats because you never kept eight 60 KW MEP-115A gen sets running for 14 days 24/7 operation, alone, using only 5 gal cans. Easy, it wasn't.

sounds about right! how many PFC does it take to keep one of those in fuel? Ha Ha

i am glad my little 5K sets are fuel sippers. i can keep four running pretty easy using the on set fuel tanks and about four gerry cans. i do have about 8000 gallon on the farm though to keep everything topped off and i seldom run 24-7

 

[Bmxenbrett]

in my area propane is 1.25 gallon and NG is even cheaper. propane stores for longer with less hassle. why use a 1000 gallon tank? in my area a 250 gallon above ground propane tank cost about 250 dollars. what is wrong with having it delivered? NG would be my choice though because you can just hook it to the pipeline. i would make sure the gen was a 1800 rpm model with a 4 pole head.

Thats what you will think....the delivery will always come and the NG pipe line is always flowing.

Highly doubt your paying $250 for a 250gal propane tank.

 

[justacitizen]

i actually paid less than 100 dollars for mine. the 500 gal tank i pay 1 dollar per year rent if they remember to charge me,but i do buy all my propane from the dealer who rents me my tank.
'Highly doubt your paying $250 for a 250gal propane tank.' i really don't give a **** about your doubts.

 

[porkysplace]

in my area propane is 1.25 gallon and NG is even cheaper. propane stores for longer with less hassle. why use a 1000 gallon tank? in my area a 250 gallon above ground propane tank cost about 250 dollars. what is wrong with having it delivered? NG would be my choice though because you can just hook it to the pipeline. i would make sure the gen was a 1800 rpm model with a 4 pole head.

If the guy that the OP sold this genset to is that far from electric , you can about guarantee there is no NG any closer

 

[ribs1]

And since your in michigan you should look for a double walled tank , or plan on building a containment pit around your tank . The fines for spills are pretty steep .

Anyone have more information on this? I was also thinking about buying a 150 gallon tank and putting it outside.

 

[ribs1]

My 500g underground propane tank was $1700 if memory serves, without trenching and all other work. A home heating oil tank with legs is about $800, and can be readily filled by any oil supplier with #2, so while a little bit more expensive than drums with secondary containment, it makes refueling easier... but if you dont have other diesel equipment, probably not the best scenario. Drums are portable though... so whatever way you want to look at it.

I do have other diesel equipment. I have a small John Deere 455 diesel with front end loader. I probably only use 15-20 gallons of fuel per year if that. I also have a gasoline commercial zero turn. I have been on the lookout for a diesel zero turn which would make it easier to turn over fuel.