Gas Issue

[Warboar]

This one has me stumped.

I've had an issue with my propane system for awhile and i've put off fixing it as i've had more important issues to contend with.  Now that life has slowed down I decided I wanted to fix the issue i'm having with my trailer.

Issue. 
My trailer is set up with two 7 gallon propane tanks(one on each side of the trailer).  The main tank is on the left side of the trailer and has the valve to switch between the two tanks.  When the main tank would run empty I would throw the switch to the reserve tank and nothing would happen.  The switch didn't feel like it was engaging anything so I thought the switch was bad.  I ordered a new one off of Amazon and installed it a few weeks ago.  The other morning when I woke up I noticed the furnace wasn't running and figured I had ran out of propane so I went out and switched to the reserve.  Went back in the trailer and no gas going to the trailer.  So I manually swapped the tanks and went about my business.  I went down to the store and picked up a new pressure regulator for the reserve tank side thinking that it may have froze shut.  I've had this happen to a gas grill I had years ago.  I went to the RV parts store and picked up the regulator and came back to the trailer and started taking everything apart.  The old regulator started leaking an oily stinky mess out of it.  I took it off and then went to the other side of the trailer and unhooked the line from the valve there and went back and blew the line out with my air compressor.  I did not see any oil or debris coming out of the line and I had good air flow so I went ahead and hooked everything up. 
When I turned on the gas at the reserve tank and switched to the reserve line I again had no gas going into the trailer.  I replaced the feed line from the tank to the regulator thinking maybe it was bad.  Still nothing. 
This has me scratching my head as I am not sure what could be going on. 

Anyone have any advice?  Am I doing something wrong? 

 

[Rene T]

Shut of both tanks and let them sit for a while. Then open them slowly. There is a valve inside that shuts off the flow of gas if it senses a large amount of gas moving. The thinking is a break in the line.
How old is your RV?.. The regulator you have should automatically switch to the 2nd full tank if the 1st one empties.  Does the regulator have a indicator flag? usually it's green when there's gas and changes to red when the tank is empty.

 

[donn]

So, ypur saying that you have two regulators?  There have been numerous posts concerning the two regulators issues.

 

[Warboar]

Shut of both tanks and let them sit for a while. Then open them slowly. There is a valve inside that shuts off the flow of gas if it senses a large amount of gas moving. The thinking is a break in the line.
How old is your RV?.. The regulator you have should automatically switch to the 2nd full tank if the 1st one empties.  Does the regulator have a indicator flag? usually it's green when there's gas and changes to red when the tank is empty.

The Trailer is a 2008 build but registered as a 2009.  I installed a valve that has three positions.  1.)All the way left is the reserve tank,
2.)in the middle is both tanks and automatically switches to reserve once main tank is empty,
3.)and all the way right is for the main tank.
The regulator does indeed have an indicator flag and when I switch it over to the reserve tank it throws the red flag even when it's full. 

 

[Warboar]

So, ypur saying that you have two regulators?  There have been numerous posts concerning the two regulators issues.

There is one regulator/switch at the main tank side and one regulator at the reserve tank.  Is there not supposed to be the second one? 

 

[donn]

If it were me I would redo my gas system.  Take stuff apart add a Tee and run a dedicsted line from each tank regulator to the tee.  Of course this would require you to manually go out and switch over when a tank ran low.

 

[grashley]

The gas only needs to pass through one regulator.  The more common setup is a line from each tank (high pressure) to the auto changeover valve to a regulator to the camper.  The other setup would be a regulator on each tank, feeding (low pressure) to the auto changeover valve, then to the camper.

If you have a hybrid where one tank feeds high pressure to the changeover valve and the other tank feeds low pressure to the changeover valve, the regulator after the changeover may not have enough pressure from the second tank to function.

 

[Rene T]

I don't believe you have a middle position on your auto change over regulator. The way it works is that you start with 2 full tanks. Position the regulator handle pointing to one of the tanks. You should have a green flag visible. When that tank empties, the flag will change to a red indicator and the regulator automatically internally changes over to the full tank. When you see that red flag, you manually rotate the handle over pointing to the other tank. The flag will then change to green.  Now you can shut off the empty tank, remove it and get it filled.  You do not per say have a reserve tank.
The reason the tank on the other side has it's own regulator is because the manufacturer felt it needed it in case the line running over to the other side breaks in two so the regulator would slow the flow rate. This may also be a DOT requirement. I've been told that this regulator is not needed for the system to function.

 

[mel s]

This one has me stumped.

I've had an issue with my propane system for awhile and i've put off fixing it as i've had more important issues to contend with.  Now that life has slowed down I decided I wanted to fix the issue i'm having with my trailer.

Issue. 
My trailer is set up with two 7 gallon propane tanks(one on each side of the trailer).  The main tank is on the left side of the trailer and has the valve to switch between the two tanks.  When the main tank would run empty I would throw the switch to the reserve tank and nothing would happen.  The switch didn't feel like it was engaging anything so I thought the switch was bad.  I ordered a new one off of Amazon and installed it a few weeks ago.  The other morning when I woke up I noticed the furnace wasn't running and figured I had ran out of propane so I went out and switched to the reserve.  Went back in the trailer and no gas going to the trailer.  So I manually swapped the tanks and went about my business.  I went down to the store and picked up a new pressure regulator for the reserve tank side thinking that it may have froze shut.  I've had this happen to a gas grill I had years ago.  I went to the RV parts store and picked up the regulator and came back to the trailer and started taking everything apart.  The old regulator started leaking an oily stinky mess out of it.  I took it off and then went to the other side of the trailer and unhooked the line from the valve there and went back and blew the line out with my air compressor.  I did not see any oil or debris coming out of the line and I had good air flow so I went ahead and hooked everything up. 
When I turned on the gas at the reserve tank and switched to the reserve line I again had no gas going into the trailer.  I replaced the feed line from the tank to the regulator thinking maybe it was bad.  Still nothing. 
This has me scratching my head as I am not sure what could be going on. 

Anyone have any advice?  Am I doing something wrong?

Have you read the "operating instructions" for your "automatic switching propane regulators"?

 

[Back2PA]

I have found that the "can't have two regulators" axiom isn't always true - my rig came from the factory with two and I believe a lot of fifth wheels have two as a result of the typical 'saddle tank' arrangement with a tank on each side. What I found is the "primary" one (the one closest to the main propane distribution line) is hooked directly to the main regulator/transfer valve which reduces tank pressure to the 1/2 psi line pressure. The tank on the far side of the rig has a small "primary" regulator which reduces tank pressure to something around 30 psi (might be wrong about this number, could be lower). That lower pressure gas crosses over to the main regulator/auto changeover valve through the crossover line and is then further reduced to the 1/2 psi system pressure. From what I've read, the reason for this setup is safety so there are no lines (except of course the short tank to regulator ones) that are charged with full tank pressure.

 

[Warboar]

I have found that the "can't have two regulators" axiom isn't always true - my rig came from the factory with two and I believe a lot of fifth wheels have two as a result of the typical 'saddle tank' arrangement with a tank on each side. What I found is the "primary" one (the one closest to the main propane distribution line) is hooked directly to the main regulator/transfer valve which reduces tank pressure to the 1/2 psi line pressure. The tank on the far side of the rig has a small "primary" regulator which reduces tank pressure to something around 30 psi (might be wrong about this number, could be lower). That lower pressure gas crosses over to the main regulator/auto changeover valve through the crossover line and is then further reduced to the 1/2 psi system pressure. From what I've read, the reason for this setup is safety so there are no lines (except of course the short tank to regulator ones) that are charged with full tank pressure.

I believe this is how my set up is. 

If I do away with the second regulator then I will have to have a special hose made up because non of the hoses will will fit the female fitting for the hose that goes across the trailer to the main regulator.  Monday when I go back down to the trailer I will take the parts to Praxair and have them make me up a hose.  Either that or i'll have to find a higher pressure regulator perhaps? 

 

[grashley]

I have found that the "can't have two regulators" axiom isn't always true - my rig came from the factory with two and I believe a lot of fifth wheels have two as a result of the typical 'saddle tank' arrangement with a tank on each side. What I found is the "primary" one (the one closest to the main propane distribution line) is hooked directly to the main regulator/transfer valve which reduces tank pressure to the 1/2 psi line pressure. The tank on the far side of the rig has a small "primary" regulator which reduces tank pressure to something around 30 psi (might be wrong about this number, could be lower). That lower pressure gas crosses over to the main regulator/auto changeover valve through the crossover line and is then further reduced to the 1/2 psi system pressure. From what I've read, the reason for this setup is safety so there are no lines (except of course the short tank to regulator ones) that are charged with full tank pressure.

With this said, if you replace the secondary regulator with a normal ? psi output, it can be a problem.

 

[Warboar]

Have you read the "operating instructions" for your "automatic switching propane regulators"?

The paper it came with stated turned to the left it operated off of the left tank.  In the middle it would run off of the main tank and then automatically switch.  Turned to the right it would operate the right tank.  I suggested manually operating the tanks as there would be no warning when the auto function ran out of fuel other than throwing the red flag. 

 

[Warboar]

Well I think it I have it fixed(kinda).  I eliminated the 2nd low pressure regulator and just hooked up straight to the main pressure regulator.  It seems to work at this point.