Propane Baffled???

Ruffus · 10-31-2012, 05:05 AM

Okay guys, I've read through all of the old post's and still can not figure this out. Got up this morning, 34 degrees out and turned on the furnace and no heat. Both bottles are full and the manual switch over valve on the tank closest to the door registers green. I lite the stove and it worked fine until the furnace tried to relite. I switched tanks and got a red bar and no gas to the stove. I went back out for flipped the switch over valve back and forth, opened and closed the tank valves and like the true idiot that opens the hood of his car when it quits running and wiggles the hoses and cables, I tapped on the red regulator on the other side of the fifthwheel. I came back in and lite the stove and turned on the furnace. The flame on the stove was fine until the furnace tried to lite then it got small and then large. This happened a couple times and then the furnace lite and all is working fine. Does this sound like a regulator with a little moisture in it or a regulator that is going bad? If it was the pig tails, wouldn't still not work???
Thanks for your input/
Jim (the dummy with his head under the hood)

Terrydactile · 10-31-2012, 05:40 AM

The logical thing to me is a malfunctioning regulator. To me, if the flow is being reduced by the attempted operation of more than one appliance then that would indicate a reduced flow or pressure. I have also seen bad hoses cause this. A small tear inside the hose allowed a little flap of rubber to hang down and block the opening. For this to cause your issue it would have to be a hose common to all appliances that are acting up.
I guess the excess flow valve could be malfunctioning. I have heard of fluid collecting in a low spot in the hose or piping that would block the flow.

Ruffus · 10-31-2012, 06:15 AM

Thanks Terrydactile, I'm of the same mind set, sounds like a regulator to me also.

geo · 10-31-2012, 06:54 AM

Jim -

It may or may not be the regulator, and it still might be the pigtails. On the Alpine, there were times I could start the propane generator, it would run for about 15 seconds and then die. I could walk over to the stove, and light it after about a 5 second wait. If I lit all three burners, then tried to start the furnace, all the burners would go out and the furnace wouldn't light.

What it was . . . the pigtails! There is the anti-surge valve in those pigtails that somehow gets damaged to the point that one can use low flow propane applications, but don't try anything else! I went through several Camco and Mr. Heat (from CW) pigtails, only to face the same thing in a few months! Talk about frustration! I finally got a couple of pigtails from a marine store (Jamestown Distributors) that would not have a messed up anti-surge after a couple of months. But they were very pricey pigtails! So the decision was - buy new CW Mr. Heat pigtails every three months or one set of marine-rated pigtails.

So, yes, it might be the regulator, but it could also be the pigtails. Cheaper to replace one pigtail and give it a go first.

But, that's just my thoughts.

Ron

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