Propane OPD Valves

[dieselguy]

Alot of talk has been popping up about not getting any flow from your propane tanks in the last few years. This will not the be the cure for a faulty regulator or switchover valve, but I think it will help in the majority of no flow situations. The OPD valves are VERY sensitive when it comes to opening the tank supply valve no matter which side you're feeding from. If you listen just right, you can hear a muffled "click" from the tank when you open the supply valve too fast ... then you'll have no flow until you close the supply valve on the tank which resets the OPD. As the years pass, your ears (mine also) may not pick up on the "click" as well as they used to. I bought one of those inline gauges that supposedly show how much propane is in the tank. (Wally World has them pretty cheap now) Perhaps they are not the most accurate in determining how much propane you have left, but you can sure watch the dial swing into the green as you slowly open the supply valve. If you open the supply valve too fast, the needle will never go into the green indicating the OPD has tripped. Just close the valve and start over more slowly.

[nosticks]

Another device to save us from ourselves. Next we will need to be certified to even open the valve. Let's see, a six week course would be about right.

[DQDick]

It's a constant problem with BBQ grills. My grill even came with a warning about it. Apparently they got tired of folks saying the regulator was bad when it was just the tank being opened too fast.

[1retired06]

roger that!

[Rondo]

Hey Dave, you going to teach that class in Sunny Florida next winter? If you are, sign us up!
It's not just a complete shut down some times either by the "valve". It can partially open too and then you can't figure why you don't have the pressure you should at the stove and etc! You can look and look and never find the problem-- don't ask me how I know! Then you go back and shut the tank down, give it a minute to settle in again and then SLOWLY open the tank valve again. Hurrah, pressure is correct and you can cook on the stove and use the water heater on gas again!

[DarMar]

Sounds like a good plan. For us the problem seems to rear it's head almost always when switching to the tank on the curb side. Since so much time has passed we are now much better at recognizing/dealing with it. Oh. and did I also mention that slowly means sloooooowly!