Propane Switching

[Montana_247]

This may have been covered before but I don't see it. I have a 2003 Montana 2880RL. The LP tanks are mounted on either side of the coach. When the tank on the door side goes dry I use the handy lever to switch over to the far side tank. The indicator turns green but then the line pressure drops off and it won't run the stove or the furnace. I turn everything off and the indicator SLOWLY becomes green again but once I try to use the gas the indicator turns red and the appliance dies. There are no apperant kinks in the gas hose. Suggestions? Thanks.

[lawrenceb42106]

By chance did you open the valve on the tank too fast? Sometimes if you do that the safety valve they now use it will close off and not provide enough gas.

[joe2speed]

If you leave both tanks open, when one tank goes dry the other tank will take over. The lever your talking about is only so the indacater will let you know the tank is empty. Switch the lever so it will now read the tank being used. I usually fill the empty tank right away so I won't be caught short.

[Dogman]

The system is designed to be operated with both tank valves open. The automatic changeover valve does exactly that, it automatically changes over from empty to full tank. I would suspect that if your running only one tank at a time with one being closed, when your online tank goes dry all your gas lines lose pressure. When you then open the other tank valve it takes a few minutes for the lines to repressurize before appliances will operate properly. You don't have to manually turn the lever your talking about in order for the tanks to switch over. It's all automatic. The lever can be switched anytime you notice that one tank is empty. Turning the lever will reset the indicator and allows you to know which tank is online and which is empty.

[stiles watson]

The reason you turn the lever toward the farside tank is so that you can disconnect, remove and refill the empty.

[lightningjack11]

Here is the way I operate my Propane.

I start with the regulator lever to the right.
Turn on both tanks very slowly
Indicator should be green
Turn off both tanks
Indicator should stay green for an hour or more(leak check)
Turn on both tanks
Indicator green
Run the first tank out
Indicator red
At my convience I turn the regulator lever to the left
Remove fill and replace first tank
Slowly turn first tank back on
Indicator goes red when the second tank is empty
At my convience I turn the regulator lever to the right
Remove fill and replace second tank
Slowly turn second tank back on

So you can see how the new tanks work with the new safety valves, try turning on the valve with the lines disconnected. If the safety valves work no gas will be released or very little.

Therefore as stated per above post if you open the valve too fast with empty lines you may get no gas out. Thats why most people operate with both tanks on so the switching will be automatic.

All of this goes out the window if the regulator is bad. I have had to replace mine once.

Thats all I can think of now.

[sreigle]

I assume the reason for no gas when opened rapidly with empty lines is because the safety valve thinks the sudden draw of propane must be a broken line and shuts off the gas flow. Right? I've heard that closing the valve again does not always reset that valve. Sometimes it needs to be shook up, tapped, or whatever. And sometimes it requires replacing. Any idea if that's correct? Thanks.

[lightningjack11]

Not sure Steve. When you screw the connector into to the tank the gas is suppossed to come out but I have found that does not always happen. It takes some coaxing. Now that you have questioned it I am not positive of which way it should work. All I know is sometimes the gas does not seem to flow when filling empty lines. Could be another reason. Maybe some experts can explain it better. Anyway the above method is the one I use. It could be because of air in the lines or something like that.

Could be old age setting in for the operator.

[sreigle]

I don't know either, and that's why I asked. It makes some sense since I know if you rupture a line in an accident that valve will shut off the flow. It has to sense the rate of escape of the gas, I would think. That's why I don't worry about running down the road with propane turned on. But I do wonder the proper way to reset the safety valve. Or maybe just closing the tank and re-opening it is enough. Anybody know?

[DrivesBGM]

The curbside tank's propane must fill a fairly long/large pipe before it reaches the regulator. I think that this is the reason that I've had trouble getting the curbside tank to work properly on several occasions. My solutuion has been to manually move the tanks from one side to the other when the roadside tank is almost empty. Not an elegant solution, but it works. I never have any problem getting gas out of the roadside tank.

As an aside. I also have a dickens of a time with my propane gas grill at home. I often have to turn the tank's valve on and off several times (and often have to tap on the valve) to get the gas flowing.

I like carrying "safe" propane tanks . But seems to me that there is a design defect. Would be nice if a manual override could have been provided that would allow you to get the propane flowing. Sort of like the one provided in gas water heaters and in our RV's propane fueled oven.

Craig

[harleyrider]

What I do thanks to Steve-he likes spending my money(laughing)I bought a propane monitor.It clips on the top of the regulator and the indicator is in the bathroom area.When one tank goes emtpy a flashing light tells you its time to refill.Steve even told me how to install and I followed his directions and it works great.Nice little gadget.Bought it at Campers chooice.

[sreigle]

Yes, I really like it. Today it proved it's worth to me. Last night during the night it started flashing. I've been expecting this 100 lb bottle to run out any time and it did. The 30 lb tank on the other side was open and took over the load. However, I can't get back to sleep knowing that red light is flashing so I through on a robe, went out in the 10 degree weather and flipped the switch. That shut off the light and I went back to sleep. But middle of the morning it started flashing again. So I went out and hooked up the new 100 pounder and flipped the switch again, then opened the other side locker and unstrapped the tank to see if it felt light enough to be really out of LP. Sure enough, it's out. I'm not sure if it was just very low when I switched originally to the 100 pounder or if I have a small leak. There was no LP odor. It's too cold to get out there and troubleshoot it but when it warms up I'll get out the sniffer and see what I can find. My point is that without that light I wouldn't have checked the indicator to see if it is red. I would have just hooked up the new hundred pounder, reached in and flipped the switch, then ran back inside where it's warm.