Propane not getting to my appliances in a ACE 29.4 class A

[fhoghvn]

Hi,

For some reason propane is not getting to my stove, heater, and refrigerator.  I have a 2016 Thor ACE 29.4.

I arrived in Savannah, GA after leaving Knoxville, TN.  The morning I left Knoxville it was 18 degrees and snowing.  I have not used the RV since last August, so the propane tank was off during this time.

Any suggestions as to what the issue might be.  I have checked that there is propane in the tank. Could the regulator be bad, if so how to I determine it is?
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Rene T]

Shut the tank off then open one of the burners on your stove. Let it sit that way for a while. Then shut off the burner then open the tank valve slowly. There?s a safety device built into your tank which senses a large surge of propane similar to a line rupturing. When you opened your tank the last time, it may have thought a line ruptured and shut off the gas flow.

 

[fhoghvn]

Thanks.  I will try that in the morning and update this post once I have done so.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[fhoghvn]

Well, I tried your suggestions twice this morning with no results, same issues.

I guess I'm going to have a rv service company come and look into this.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[Rene T]

Let us know the results

 

[Isaac-1]

Propane regulators can go bad, in fact it is a good idea to replace them every 8 to 10 years due to aging components.  Also moisture in the propane can cause the regulators to freeze up, though this is less common.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A regulator can go bad, but it's not a high probability failure for a 4 year-old RV. The output of the regulator is only 0.5 psi, so you can safely crack open the fitting on the output side of the regulator to see if gas is flowing through it.  If it is flowing at all, odds are it is ok. Just don't smoke a cigarette while checking!

Another handyman trick is to open windows inside and turn on the stove burners, waiting a few minutes to see if you begin to get gas to light. Yeah, it's risky if you get distracted or wait too long and gas accumulates (that's why the windows are opened), but sometimes it just takes awhile for gas to reach the ends of the line when it hasn't flowed in a long time. Purging thru the stove burners can be done if you are cautious. If in doubt, don't try it.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Shut the tank off then open one of the burners on your stove. Let it sit that way for a while. Then shut off the burner then open the tank valve slowly. There?s a safety device built into your tank which senses a large surge of propane similar to a line rupturing. When you opened your tank the last time, it may have thought a line ruptured and shut off the gas flow.

De-pressurizing the lines creates a worst-case scenario to trip the excess flow device inside the tank when you turn it back on.  A better method is to make sure all of your propane appliance are off so pressure stays in the line, then turn off the propane at the tank and wait a few minutes for the pressure to equalize across the shutoff device.  Then just crack open the valve like you would to let water dribble out of a faucet and open it all the way after 10 seconds or so.  If you hear a click when you open the valve, the device has tripped again.

Another handyman trick is to open windows inside and turn on the stove burners, waiting a few minutes to see if you begin to get gas to light. Yeah, it's risky if you get distracted or wait too long and gas accumulates (that's why the windows are opened), but sometimes it just takes awhile for gas to reach the ends of the line when it hasn't flowed in a long time. Purging thru the stove burners can be done if you are cautious. If in doubt, don't try it.

I just turn on a single stove burner and hold a lit BBQ lighter next to it.  If the regulator is pushing propane into a line that's full of air the burner will try to blow out the BBQ lighter's flame.  If the regulator isn't pushing propane into the line there won't be anything coming out of the burner. 

If you're getting airflow move the lighter just far enough away so the air is blowing across the flame but doesn't blow it out.  It won't take more than a minute and when propane arrives the line is purged and the burner will light.

 

[Rene T]

Another handyman trick is to open windows inside and turn on the stove burners, waiting a few minutes to see if you begin to get gas to light. Yeah, it's risky if you get distracted or wait too long and gas accumulates (that's why the windows are opened), but sometimes it just takes awhile for gas to reach the ends of the line when it hasn't flowed in a long time. Purging thru the stove burners can be done if you are cautious. If in doubt, don't try it.

In addition, when you hold a match up to the burner, the flame of the match should flicker indicating that it?s probably air and needs to be purged out. Keep holding the match or a striker until it lites.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Good tips, Lou & Rene.

 

[fhoghvn]

All,

It was discovered that there was a small crack at the quick connect where a grill could be connected.  Once this was repaired all appliances was able to received propane.

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.

Fred

 

[Rene T]

That?s awesome. Thanks for getting back to us

 

[Lee Ann]

A regulator can go bad, but it's not a high probability failure for a 4 year-old RV. The output of the regulator is only 0.5 psi, so you can safely crack open the fitting on the output side of the regulator to see if gas is flowing through it. If it is flowing at all, odds are it is ok. Just don't smoke a cigarette while checking!

Another handyman trick is to open windows inside and turn on the stove burners, waiting a few minutes to see if you begin to get gas to light. Yeah, it's risky if you get distracted or wait too long and gas accumulates (that's why the windows are opened), but sometimes it just takes awhile for gas to reach the ends of the line when it hasn't flowed in a long time. Purging thru the stove burners can be done if you are cautious. If in doubt, don't try it.

Gary, I'm pretty sure I have a bad regulator as its 2005. I removed all gas lines from my RV and I want to hook up my Atwood stove/oven outside directly to propane tank. Do I need a special regulator for RV appliances or will any regulator work?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

RV appliances use LP industry standard gas pressure, which is defined as 11" of Water Column (WC). That's just under 0.5 psi. Same as a BBQ grill or residential LP gas system. Only a very few gas gadgets have unique regulator requirements, e.g. some gas campfires.

 

[_Rusty_]

I discovered this thread trying to resolve my "no propane anywhere after tank fill". Nothing will light on it's own, and I'm using the cooktop to confirm operation. (Burner on, lighter at burner, no indication of flow (air or gas). I hoped one of the suggestions above got me reset, but no joy. I turned tank off, bled at cooktop, then let it sit overnight. This AM I cracked valve at tank then checked the cooktop, still no flow of any kind. Am checking local camper shop for replacement regulator now.