Propane regulator not draining both tanks - Montana Owners Club

Dean A Van Peursem · 03-31-2009, 06:03 PM

Had a strange thing happen here last night. About 11:00PM the furnace kicked in and tried to ignite. Couldn't get the job done. Shut the furnace off and told myself to look at in the morning. Not that cold here so not a big problem. I just assumed both tanks were empty but had both connected with valves open. Checked this morning and yes one tank was empty but the other was about 1/3 full. Moved the 1/3 full tank to the other side and immediately I was getting gas again. The lever is set to first drain the side I moved the partially full tank to.

Do I have regulator going bad or....?

bw2 · 03-31-2009, 06:22 PM

Check for any kinked hoses, as the tank empties, maybe the pressure is reduced and if there is a kinked hose, the gas does not flow as well? (Not an expert in this area). I had a kinked hose and Keystone indicated that could affect the flow of gas, Keystone replaced the hose.

SlickWillie · 04-01-2009, 03:05 AM

Dean, if you are having trouble with the bottle on the driver's side of the rig, check the red regulator on that side. You can actually operate without it. Ours quit working, and I found it full of pipe thread compound.

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-01-2009, 05:57 AM

The bottle that didn't empty properly was on the passenger side. Same bottle works on the drivers side.

ard103 · 04-01-2009, 12:29 PM

Mine is doing the same thing. When I look at the red/green indicator on the change-over regulator when switched to the passenger side bottle it is only showing half of the green level that shows when connected to the drivers side bottle, does not matter which tank is there. I plan on changing the regulator if it is not full of pipe dope like SlickWillie said he found.

wingerphil · 04-01-2009, 02:13 PM

ard103,

Mine is doing the same as your's, bought a new regulator and just need to get it installed to see if it fixes the problem. I got the regulator(Marshal mdl #c-6121) at a local dealer and will try to get it installed by this week end.

Phil

FLSTS03 · 04-01-2009, 04:14 PM

Had this happen to me in the storage yard while doing a routine generator start(would start then run out of propane quickly). Problem turned out to be the gaswatch lp monitor. Removed the monitors and wala gas. I have not reinstalled them but my guess is that after filling the tanks I did not have the monitor completly seated. Steve

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-01-2009, 08:08 PM

Haven't been able to do any more investigation but I just remembered I've had another problem with the passenger side tank. I have a adapater in that line so I can hook up our Weber gas grill occasionally on that side. Recently the grill wouldn't work unless I had a full tank on the passenger side. Wonder if that is an additional useful indicator things aren't working right. Or should point me to something. Is there another regulator on the passenger side? I don't think there is but....

Have used this setup for over two 1/2 years w/o a problem before so something has gone South or at least changed.

wingerphil · 04-02-2009, 04:05 AM

Dean,
Mine has a red colored regulator on the passenger side tank line. This is the one I'm changing out to see of it solves my issue. The regulator installed at the factory is a cheapo so I'm replacing it with a Marshal regulator.

awaywego · 04-02-2009, 10:25 AM

I just had the same problem and after changing the regulator and it did the same thing, here is what I found.
The tank has the valve that won't let the gas out unless the line is connected. The line was empty and when I opened the valve the valve sensed no pressure in the line and shut the gas to a very low flow.. Iopened the valve very slow and could hear the gas entering and when it stopped I opened it all the way.
Pressure in the line kept the valve open and all works fine. This is more of a problem on the drivers side because the line is longer and larger, so it takes a little longer to fill.

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-02-2009, 10:33 AM

wingerphil,

Thanks. Yep, we have the Red 18 psi regulator on the passenger side on our late 2006 3400RL too. Foprgot that it was even there. That regulator malfunctioning may be why both trouble symptoms have shown up. I may not get mine changed out for awhile since we will be on the road for several days heading back to NW WA. Keep us informed on the results of your changeover. This may be a simpler and less expensive problem to solve than I was expecting. Thanks again.

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-02-2009, 10:38 AM

awaywego,

Which regulator did you change out? During the past few months I have had to refill the tanks several times but haven't had this problem before. Will be a bit more observent when I change out tanks the next time and maybe open the valve slower. I'm not sure I understand this whole issue yet. Thanks for the tip.

wanderer1 · 04-03-2009, 04:58 AM

I had the problem of low or no lp pressure from the drivers side of our 2007 2599RL.

Tried a variety of things no luck.

Read the posts here. Hooked everything back up, turned on the tank VERY slowly! EUREKA!!!! It is working just fine!!!!

Thank you all!!

Ed Laraway
Auburn, NY

wingerphil · 04-03-2009, 06:31 AM

I changed out the red regulator yesterday and no changes. I have checked all the lines that are in the tank compartments and none are kinked. Any ideas?

illapah · 04-03-2009, 10:33 AM

I found this useful:

Got a technical question about your RV? We have the expert and the answer
Bob Livingston
Good Sam Club Highways
March 2008
Propane-Tank Test
I have a 28-foot travel trailer, and one of the 30-pound propane containers won’t discharge gas when turned on. However, the other one does. I switched the containers to either side of the regulator, and the working one still works, while the other one won’t. I also took the failing container to a filling station, and it still would not work. The unit was purchased in 2003, so the containers are of the new style.

I’m at a loss. Because the good container worked on both sides of the regulator, it indicates that both pigtails and the regulator are good.
Rich Kuc, Wallingford, Pennsylvania

BOB: To determine Rich’s problem, we contacted him and asked that he follow a few test procedures at his RV while we were on the phone. The first thing we asked him to do was to describe the propane regulator, which was an auto-switchover model with the lever pointing to the left cylinder. The indicator was red. Then we had him open the left-cylinder service valve, which turned the red indicator to green. Then he opened the right-cylinder service valve while the other cylinder was still open. He then lit a stove burner to verify that he had gas (visual function test).

Here’s where the meat of the test starts. We had him close the left-cylinder valve, which simulates running out of gas in this cylinder. The indicator turned red. He then looked at the burner flame; it was still burning, which indicates that the regulator had switched to the right cylinder automatically. We then had Rich switch the lever to designate the right cylinder, which made the indicator go green. While these regulators are described as “automatic,” the owner still has to physically move the lever to the designated cylinder to make the indicator go green again. Once that indicator is green, it’s OK to remove the empty cylinder and have it refilled.

We then asked him to open the left-cylinder valve and close the right-cylinder valve, repeating the previous test, only switching cylinders. He experienced the same results and proper function.

After the tests, we had Rich open the stove burner while the cylinder valves were closed, bleeding off the propane and causing the indicator on the regulator to turn red. Rich carefully opened the service valve on the designated cylinder to slowly introduce enough gas to make the indicator go half green (you really have to be quick enough to do this). We wanted to show him that the red/green indicator is actually a pressure gauge and that it could also be used to perform a pressure-drop leak test—because there was enough pressure in the system to make the indicator show some green. As long as the system does not have a leak, it will continue to show green. If the red/green indicator does not drop to red after a few minutes, that indicates there is no substantial leak (theoretically nothing is absolutely leak free, and the standard for this test is a minimum of three minutes).

Then we asked Rich to open the stove burner for a few seconds to simulate a leak, and, sure enough, the indicator turned red.

These tests showed that gas did flow from each cylinder and the automatic-switchover regulator functioned as expected. The propane piping system also passed our leak test.

Many, if not most RVers don’t actually know how to use the automatic-switchover regulator to its maximum benefit. These regulators allow the owner to leak-test the system, provide continuous appliance service after the designated cylinder runs out of gas (as long as both cylinder valves are left open), and the system actually functions as a fuel-level gauge because it shows you when to refill the empty cylinder.

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-03-2009, 07:43 PM

The information provided may be the answer but I sure don't understand it.

richfaa · 04-04-2009, 01:05 PM

Check this out Check out www.shleggitt.com click on information page.I had a long post about the regulator and propane system back in Feb and learned more about Rv propane systems than I ever wanted to know. That red regulator is not the corrrect value according to the folks who designed the system... Do a search Marshall regulator last 60 days....richfaa for the full post.

MacDR50 · 04-05-2009, 08:02 AM

While the initial poster's problem sounds more like a regulator problem the following reminder bears repeating as it often cause people problems. The free flow limit valve in propane tanks will activate if you open a tank quickly to an empty system. Occasionally it will stick in the closed position. To reset, tap the side of the tank valve gently with a hammer handle or other non-marring tool. A light tap is all that is required. Open the tank slowly to allow the system to charge.

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-06-2009, 04:45 PM

Sounds possible but as soon as I moved the tank to the drivrs side it started providing gas. Maybe it came loose in the process.

Dean A Van Peursem · 04-10-2009, 09:56 PM

Our gas problems continue w/o really being able to fix anything as we are travelling from AZ to WA. Presently in OR and dry camped the first time since being on shore power for 5 months in AZ. Water heater won't fire on Gas. Then during the night the furnace was running excessively. Found the dual regulator on the passenger side where the full tank was had shut down to low pressure. Got that back to normal and now furnace, refrigerator and stove burners are back to normal.But still don't have a working gas water heater. The spark ignitor is working but no power is getting to the gas valve solenoids to allow gas to the water heater. Then my voltmeter quit and so I have no way of checking any electrical stuff any more. Will probably stay on shore power at night until we get back home to do some real diagnostics on the gas system and the water heater. 110V does work on the water heater so have hot water that way. I'm pretty sure the two problems are independant and not related right now. Any MOC members with some suggestions on what could be tried to remedy the water heater problem? Control module? Bad ground connection for the solenoids?

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