# Has anyone rigged larger tanks to trash pumps for longer run time



## Greekangler

looking @ gas Honda, about 500GPM- if anyone has diagram on how to do it- maybe some type of hose rig? Thanks- this pump has auto shut off low oil so should be fine to double or triple run time


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## Timber Hole

At 500 gpm, is that a 4" pump? I run a 3" on a 12 gallon tank and it will run the pump about 30 hours. I built a table with steel legs that I can stick down in the mud. Makes the table secure and it is easy to level the table. I put an inline filter in the line and a shutoff valve. The shutoff is important as you may need to tear down the setup with gas in the tank. It also makes it easy to bleed the air out of the line.


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## rdj.olympia

Not the diagram you are looking for but saw this and going to do this for trash pump and also ice eater in the event of ice next year. Look forward to help on the info on fuel lines. Thanks


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## Timber Hole

Not sure what you have going on with your table but I think you have the generator and the fuel tank at the same level. The tank needs to be higher so it will gravity feed. I would set the bottom of the tank level with the top of the generator. Do you have a outlet on the bottom of your fuel tank?


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## Greekangler

Love to see diagram. Think if you gravity feed and get her started a tank above the OEM tank (like 1.8 gallons I think) with proper feeding should work w gravity alone. No shut off needed. Thoughts? Like run tanks in parallel.


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## rdj.olympia

Timber Hole said:


> Not sure what you have going on with your table but I think you have the generator and the fuel tank at the same level. The tank needs to be higher so it will gravity feed. I would set the bottom of the tank level with the top of the generator. Do you have a outlet on the bottom of your fuel tank?



Not my design but pulled the picture off of Google as an example of what someone did. Would be nice to get more pictures or examples of what has worked for others. Thanks


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## Neckband4

We rigged one up with an air hose with foster fittings. You just need to make sure that The gas cap on the tank on the pump is not vented, otherwise the gas runs out the vent. Of course your upper tank that is gravity feeding the pump tank would need to be vented. Probably other ways to do it, like bypassing the tank on the pump but we just rigged this up quick one day.


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## Neckband4

In the upper picture the line is not yet connected to the fitting on the bottom of the tank.


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## Neckband4

Greekangler said:


> Love to see diagram. Think if you gravity feed and get her started a tank above the OEM tank (like 1.8 gallons I think) with proper feeding should work w gravity alone. No shut off needed. Thoughts? Like run tanks in parallel.


Yes it will gravity feed. You just need top make sure the gas cap on the pump gas tank is NOT vented. Otherwise all the gravity fed gas will just run out the vent. Once you solve that problem, just make sure the higher tank that is gravity feeding the pump tank is vented. Works like a charm


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## Timber Hole

That setup looks too complicated to me. Just get a gravity feed tank, elevate it above the carburetor, disconnect the fuel line on your existing tank, hook up your new tank and fire it up. The only issue I have had is bleeding the air out of the longer fuel line. a shutoff near the end of the line (close to the carb) will let you bleed the line just before or as you hook it up.

My only concern when I do this is not having a leak or losing any significant fuel at the duck lake. I put disconnects in my lines so if anything leaks I can turn it off and get it away from the lake.

Edit: The biggest problem I see with the setup pictured is if the seal on the fuel cap leaks you loose a bunch of fuel.


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## Greekangler

Neckband that's money. So you can use all kinds of connection taps, I imagine- ones that run all the way thru cap and tank w rubber washers would be the best. Giving me all kinds of ideas. I like how you drilled t)e cap or got another one and modified it. That's the design I was looking for. Any siphon type hose would work. A valve to bleed it out would be good but not necessary if traveling relatively short distance. 

Appreciate it. Will probably get non OEM gas cap and rig one up. Don't want to void warranty

Agree w seaL issue potential. But that's pretty common with these applications. If you leave it running in good shape will probably be ok when return. Your not talking huge pressure or volume here. Just make sure everything is screwed in strait and seals are good and tight


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## mrmallerd

I use marine fittings on my generator. Makes connecting & disconnecting easier.


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## mister gadwall

ice eater /generator prolonged run time is an issue as well... as an aside, a year ago some non vented rubber line gas caps for second tank gravity feed tank to use on honda generators (not trash pumps )were sold on eBay. not cheap


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## lowlandhnter

Does anyone have experience or suggestion as to how to add a gravity fed gas tank to a Yamaha EF2000 is generator


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## Happy First Timer

I have messed with this type set up for years. We used a 30 gallon fuel tank out of a truck. Drilled and tapped the bottom of the tank and installed a shut off and barb fitting. Used a 3/8 fuel line from the tank to a in line fuel filter, then reduced down to 1/4 inch fuel line that fit the carborator. Works like a champ as long as the bottom of the fuel tank is close to equal to the carborator. If it is much above the carborator, there is to.much head pressure from the fuel tank and it will over load the floats in the carborator and flood out the engine with fuel thus causing it to stop running. That was the biggest issue we dealt with. We could run for 96 hours on 30 gallons. We would still have to check on it because we always seemed to end up with a bunch of crap on the water intake strainer.


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## mrmallerd

Is the Yamaha a gravity or vacuum feed. The reason I ask is that the Honda 2000 is vacuum while the 3000 is gravity. 

For the Honda 3000, I put a t connector on the fuel line inbetween the carb & the shut off for the internal tank. I connect an external line to the T, which suppies gas when the internal tank is turned off. The external line is connected to a male marine fitting. The female fitting is connected to additional line with a shutoff between the fitting & a 6 gallon marine tank which has been drilled & tapped as described by First Timer. 

For my honda 2000, IO use a similar set up, except the external hose is connected to a barbed fitting which connects thru the vent on the Honda gas cap.


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## Timber Hole

Happy First Timer said:


> I have messed with this type set up for years. We used a 30 gallon fuel tank out of a truck. Drilled and tapped the bottom of the tank and installed a shut off and barb fitting. Used a 3/8 fuel line from the tank to a in line fuel filter, then reduced down to 1/4 inch fuel line that fit the carborator. Works like a champ as long as the bottom of the fuel tank is close to equal to the carborator. If it is much above the carborator, there is to.much head pressure from the fuel tank and it will over load the floats in the carborator and flood out the engine with fuel thus causing it to stop running. That was the biggest issue we dealt with. We could run for 96 hours on 30 gallons. We would still have to check on it because we always seemed to end up with a bunch of crap on the water intake strainer.



This is exactly how I have mine set up. What size pump are you running. I'm using a 13 gallon tank out of an airplane. With a 3" pump I get 30 hours of run time. I place the bottom of the tank about level with the top of the pump. I haven't had any problem with too much head pressure but had wondered about that. I also always seem to have crap in my tank. I committed this year to doing a better job of protecting my tank from contaminants during the off season.


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## Happy First Timer

Timber Hole said:


> This is exactly how I have mine set up. What size pump are you running. I'm using a 13 gallon tank out of an airplane. With a 3" pump I get 30 hours of run time. I place the bottom of the tank about level with the top of the pump. I haven't had any problem with too much head pressure but had wondered about that. I also always seem to have crap in my tank. I committed this year to doing a better job of protecting my tank from contaminants during the off season.


We were running a 3 inch Wacker pump. It worked well for us, but we finally bit the bullet and buried 575 feet of wire from the pit to the river bank. Now we are running a 220 volt 3 inch zoller semi submersible pump. It has a small pontoon and floats on the surface. It floats up and down with the changing river levels. It does not flow as much gpm as the wacker, but we don't have to fool with gas or worry about it freezing. Only problem we have now is drift piling up against the pontoon. Getting the electric zoller is one thing I haven't regretted for a second. The electricity is 1/4 the cost of gas.


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