Water in propane lines

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rsnyder1976

Active member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Posts
27
Location
Rougemont NC
I have a toyhauler and here lately when I get to me destination I have to disconnect the line from the regulator and inside the toyhauler and blow the line out, water comes out of the line where I disconnected it at. Is this normal or is something wrong? I think it is condensation but I am not sure.
 
There should never be water in the propane lines.

Assuming you purge the air out of the line by lighting a burner on your stove, How is the moisture going to get in there to condense out. I mean line is full of PROPANE not AIR.  Thus there should be no moist air in the line and no way for water to enter

However there is oil that sometimes gets mixed with propane, and there are chemicals intentionally added to propane to make it stinky.

How water woudl get in that line, however, i don't know

If you suspect water in the line, have a professional propane service (not a filling station but the kind of place that sends the truck out to re-fill the filling station) inspect the tank, and you might want them to go over the rest of the system too.
 
No, it is definitely not normal. Nor should there be any condensation in a gas line, under any circumstances. In all probability you have water in your propane tank and need to have it purged by a professional, as John suggests.
 
I am surprised you have water in a propane line as propane will not absorb or carry water out of a tank, the normal way of removing water from a propane tank in to add ethanol alcohol which will absorb moisture and carry it out with propane usage.
 
If he is getting so much water that he has to blow out the lines, I wonder how much alcohol would be needed?  I don't have a clue - never heard of a water problem like this. Usually it is a mic of oil & water that makes a gooey blob that clogs things up. Doesn't take much oil or water to produce it and nobody would ever call the resulting blob "water"
 
I am going to take the tank and have it purged tomorrow at a local propane dealer. I am going to ask them what else I should do if the problem keeps happening.
 
If you bring that rig up north you'll have a propane popsicle. We have that problem occasionally when we exchange tanks for the barbecue. I think it has to do with the purging process the first time the tank is filled.
 
Gary this is the formula for water to alcohol ratio, If you get half a cup of water out of line , add 4 ice cubes and two shots of alcohol ( scotch for me)! ;D As for a propane tank I do not think purging a tank with propane will remove the water, If the tank is empty you could purge the tank with dry air then add a pint of alcohol for every 30 to 50 gallon capacity then purge with propane for a very short time to get the air out then filler up. As the propane is used the alcohol will dry out the lines.
 
A good propane professional will know how to fix it

What else should you do.... Take the entire rig to the propane pro's shop and let him go over it

NOTE that the problem might be something other than water

And I just figured out one way water can indeed get in the line one time (Another thread here told me) but that would be a "one time only" event.. and he's had to do this more than once.

Still, a professional propane tech can fix it
 
The normal "purge" at a propane filling site is to simply put in some propane and vent it. The purpose is to displace air from an empty tank (and one of the reasons for doing that is to eliminate humid air that would condense when the ultra cold propane is added).I doubt if that process will remove water once it has already condensed in the tank. The suggestion to add alcohol sounds promising, but that's a more complex process than a standard purge.
 
I bought a new tank today and had it purged and filled, now my lines are frozen. I am going to pull the lines a part defrost and blow them out with my air comp. Is there any thing else I should do?
 
I took the lines apart at the lowest point, defrosted them, and blew them out with the air compressor. All is operating properly at this time. I hope this fixes it. Thank ya ll for all the help on this matter.
 
So far so good, it got down to 16 degrees last night, went out to toyhauler and all the propane appliances lit right up. I hope that I got it fixed.  ;)
 
I was up in PA this weekend camping and the lines froze again, I think I am going to inject some rubbing alcohol in the lines and let it sit for a while, blow it out with dry air and hopefully it will take care of it for good. Any other ideas before I take it to a propane supplier for a check up?
 

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