Propane 101 - an excellent article for laymen & Rvers

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great article, I feel better about leaving my propane appliances running now. I always thought daddy was crazy to leave them on I guess I was wrong.
reply to Cymro, I have not used them I have seen them for sale and wondered about the safety aspect. I found a small 5lb (? I think) tank at the Habitat store and purchased it for my grill it has a flat bottom so it sets on the ground or picnic table very well.
 
New to forum and learning a lot. Just ran across this one and had a question. Some where I thought I read that tanks have to be inspected/certified every so many years. Is that true and if so how often and by who? Thanks!
 
    Hi Marty, welcome to the forum.  I'm sure those who know the exact rules will chime in, but it is only the smaller tanks that need to be refreshed every 10 years, I think it has something to do with the connection on the top of the tank, which is very different from the fill and use connections on a Motor Home.

Ed
 
Thank you. I have done all levels of camping and traveled many ways. Even rented RV's a couple of times. Now I am aiming for full timing now that I can. Learning all I can. Thanks again.
 
The portable DOT cylinders used on most travel trailers require periodic recertification. The ASME permanently installed tanks typically used on motorhomes do not require recertification in the US. I seem to recall that Canada does require some sort of periodic inspection for those, but I could be mistaken.
 
DOT cylinders in Canada follow similar rules (7 years, I think) but I have yet to find a place to re-certify an already owned cylinder. All the propane suppliers around here want to sell a 'new' one (which may end up being a re-certified unit although it looks new and is completely re-painted). I do know of one  'wholesaler' that supposedly does the re-furbishing but I have not used him myself.

I don't know for sure about ASME certified tanks but I have never heard of an inspection being required here.
 
Great article, thanks. As a newbie, I'm curious as to best way to transport a 40 lbbcylinder to use for grilling?

Thanks

Bestyett
2015 36' Holiday Rambler Vacationer
 
You already asked that question in another topic, so let's keep all the answers in one place.

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,88990.0/topicseen.html
 
Sorry, another newbie here.  That's quite a bit of reading and I appreciate the article - I will read it through when I've some more time.  Quick question if it's okay to inquire here.  Is it safe to connect an extension hose to the RV tank fill valve to feed a Magellan two-head outdoor propane heater?  I'd like to use my big tank to fuel it during these cooler months while I sit outside under the awning.  I realize this is probably a silly question but some quality feedback to ease my mind about it would be appreciated.  Thanks so much!
 
There are both high and low pressure LP hoses. If the extension is after the regulator, then the gas pressure is very low and no problem. If you run a hose from tank to a remote regulator, you need either gas pipe or high pressure hose because the line is basically operating at tank pressure. I've used low pressure extensions as long as 20 ft.

If you are talking about a fixed LP tank in a motorhome (as opposed to DOT portable LP bottles), you cannot connect anything to the "RV tank fill valve" (fill port). There is a separate outlet port of an fixed (ASME) LP tank to make connections. Normally that outlet is piped to a regulator and any further connections are made after the regulator.

Sorry I could not give a simple answer, but I did not want to risk a simple yes or no when the question is somewhat vague.
 
The fill valve on the large tanks should only let the gas go one direction. Now I know there's only one valve on the 25, 30, 100# tanks, but the larger ones, strapped to the frame(s) of MHs, atleast all the ones I've seen, basically have a check valve in the fill "hole".
 
I used to work at a store here in Canada that did propane cylinder exchanges, and we could not accept a cylinder that was 10 years or older, unless it was re certified.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
There are both high and low pressure LP hoses. If the extension is after the regulator, then the gas pressure is very low and no problem. If you run a hose from tank to a remote regulator, you need either gas pipe or high pressure hose because the line is basically operating at tank pressure. I've used low pressure extensions as long as 20 ft.

If you are talking about a fixed LP tank in a motorhome (as opposed to DOT portable LP bottles), you cannot connect anything to the "RV tank fill valve" (fill port). There is a separate outlet port of an fixed (ASME) LP tank to make connections. Normally that outlet is piped to a regulator and any further connections are made after the regulator.

Sorry I could not give a simple answer, but I did not want to risk a simple yes or no when the question is somewhat vague.

Our old RV had an exterior propane valve for hooking up a gas grill.  We never used it as we have a Baby Webber charcoal BBQ.  We were confused as to what you can actually hook up to the connection which I understand is regulated.  Some grills have built in regulators and some don't?  Hooking up an already regulated grill would result in too low of pressure to operate?

Our new RV (MH) also has the outdoor port.  We intend to still use the Webber BBQ, but wondering if a propane camp stove that operates off a disposable cylinder can be connected to it with a quick connect hose, or does the camp stove have its own regulator?  It is confusing.

Here is the stove we have: http://www.sears.com/texsport-propane-stove-super-high-output/p-00644413000P?sid=IDx01192011x000001&gclid=CjwKEAjwsYW6BRCTzvu5y8DPhi0SJABnGLlHIkSR0S0MNBp5HgtPNH8_tiqpLTyLIE8ajCXecDZLsxoCgpHw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


 
Thank you for the article! I am new at the RV life and I have been very uncomfortable at using the gas but this makes me feel a little better.
 
Anyone know why my frig works fine on 110/generator but not on propane?(it gets. 'Behind' in hot weather....had cleaned 3 separate times/places
 
Mine is the other way around... Suspects include the burner orifice (Clogged) burner adjustment (Clean blue flame, no red or yellow please, no smoke) Clogged flu, bird's nest upper end, mud daubbers, et-al.  Beyond that all i can suggest is the addition of fans both outside and in.. Fans inside tend to reduce ice build up on the fins and circulate cold better

Fans outside help with the cooling.. I have 2 of each.  All are standard computer type fans (like the power supply fan on your desktop)
 
OK thnx..... but shouldn t cleaning have uncovered this? I paid them about $70 ....3 times....shouldn t it have been covered? 
 
NomadDonna said:
OK thnx..... but shouldn t cleaning have uncovered this? I paid them about $70 ....3 times....shouldn t it have been covered?

It depends. You mentioned that the fridge lacks in cooling during hot weather. How hot are we talking? Descriptions of temperature can be described in a variety of relative terms. That all depends on where you are and what you're accustom to.

My suggestion...
Put a fridge thermometer inside for a few days on 110v/genny and record the temps. under normal use. Then switch over to LP and do the same. That should give you a good average interior temp using both power sources.
Post your findings.

Lets find out just what the temp difference is between the two and go from there.
 
Items....I keep a thermometer in fridge now and because I LIVE in my RV, I m able to monitor constantly: here s some notes: I live in Southern cal, during the winter, it's fine but when the temp climbs to 80 ish is when I watch food; when it gets to 90+, I ve been moving a couple items to the freezer(the temp climbs to 70 in-- i m careful to keep all meat frozen)..... I did check while plugged in (rare) and the temp went up 20 degrees in 3 hours....... So pretty sure I m on track there. I ordered an orifice from Dometic now, will have that replaced next..... What do you think will come of that?
 
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