oil in Lp system

[buschet1]

Hello all,
Has anyone found an oil type liquid in their LP gas lines? We just returned from a trip to Rapid City South Dakota. Before leaving on the trip I tested all the equipment and found my right side Lp tank was not working and we could smell Lp leaking. I found that my high pressure regulator was leaking out a weep hole in the valve. It also had what looked like oil coming out of it. Replacing the valve fixed the leak and the Lp system was working fine.
Because I have to store the rig at a storage lot, I always take the Lp tanks out and store them at home. This time when I disconnected the hose from the right side tank I got drops of what looks and feels like clear oil out of the hose.
Has anyone else seen this oil before? And how could it have gotten into the Lp system?
Thanks for your help.

[Art-n-Marge]

I have not heard of that - but then again, I have only done quick visual checks and not noticed anything obvious. And I haven't had any problems to need to check closer.

How long have you had your rig? Where do you get the bottles refilled? I am sure it was nothing you've done but it sounds like there is a residue left behind either when the unit was manufactured like when testing for a leak, and there was a leak and the solution got inside and while the leak got repaired, was the solution cleaned out thoroughly?

Have you done a leak test and this could have happened? Could this solution combined with propane turn into an oily consistency?

Is it possible that the places your refill have done something like that? Or that the propance refillers have contaminated tanks that caused this?

Maybe someone else can comment on the impurities or treatment of propane characteristics and handling. You might get in touch with the propane provided, maybe they have an explanation. When you find the cause, it would be nice to post so we become aware of it.

btw - I like your map!

[HamRad]

buschet1,

The oil in the propane is natural. There usually is not very much but it can gum up the works if there is too much. I believe I read about this issue on the Escapees Forum.

You may need to have your tank purged to get the gunk out of it.

I've personally never had that problem. We've had the same two tanks for about 5 years. It would not surprise me to fine some fluid in our tanks. But until I have the problem I'll just let it ride.

Good luck and let know what you find out. If it were me I'd take the tank(s) to a propane dealer. One that does just propane. Not your CW or WM type places.

HamRad

[Rondo]

Tom-- I just read about this problem somewhere else and the reason for the oil is because the LP tank/s were filled to full. They are not suppose to be filled to the max weight or gallonage. As HamRad said it is natural for the oil to be in the propane since it is actually liquified natural gas which turns into a gas when it goes through the regulator (I think that's the process)and there is always oil in it! The natural gas is processed and the oil is taken out of it when it is taken from the ground but they can't get ALL of the oil out and there is still some oil vapor in the LP. If I find the article I will forward it on to you and/or PM you so you can read it yourself. I'll also post the site for other MOCrs to read!

[Rondo]

OK Tom, just did a check of a site I subscribe to RV.net Blogs and this was one of the problems one of the susribers had. Check out this site: http://blog.rv.net/2009/05/rv-doctor-propane-lines/
Hope it helps! I've learned a lot on MOC and also off of the RV.Net blogs. The blogs come through daily and have a weekly summary every Friday also.
Ron

[buschet1]

Thanks to all. Rondo, the article you sent is very interesting. I would have never guessed that propane could cause this problem. Now the problem will be finding someone to clean my Lp tanks. Thanks again to all.
Tom

[Rondo]

No problem Tom! It's funny, I had to have one of my 20lb tanks filled yesterday and I told the service station guy about it and he wouldn't believe me. He said they can't do that and that there is no oil in the LP gas. I just laughed and told him I'd bring in the article for him. Maybe then he'll believe me! Anyway, good luck on getting those tanks cleared. I have no idea how they would do that unless they do the same thing like hydrostating the dive tanks we used while I was in the service! That was done by taking the valve off the top of the tank. Let us know if you find out how to get them checked and purged!

[hazmic]

The oil that you are describing you said is or the right side or both?. This has been discussed here before there is a possibly that it is cutting oil when they threaded the pipe going from one side to the other. They never clean the excess oil from the inside of the pipe.

[Desert RVer]

I too found oil in the right side regulator of our 2006 3400RL. In working with the Marshall Gas Controls company personnel, I was informed that oil can come from two different places that they are aware of:

1.) High pressure propane in a plastic based hose will slowly break down the plastic and turn it into oil. Lower pressure LPG does not cause the problem nearly as fast. That is one of the reasons they recommend keeping hoses from tanks to regulators as short as possible.
2.) They have determined that some manufacturers were not storing their black pipes properly after cutting threads on the ends. These black pipes are used to pipe the gas from one side to the other on a two tank system. If stored horizontally the cutting oil got into the pipes and eventually caused regulator failure.

I have also read elswhere that overfilling of the tank can cause oil to occur but have not verified that.

We had a auto switchover regulator failure in our 2006 Montana and Marshall wants to look at our regulator to see if oil caused an "O" ring to swell.

[buschet1]

Update on the oil in Lp system. I call my dealer to see what they say about the situation. They said they never heard of that problem and they did not purge Lp tanks. So I got out the yellow pages and started calling local Lp Gas Companies. As soon as I described my problem I got “we don’t deal with small tanks” or “we only do refills”. Finally I called Amerigas in Chambersburg Pa. The manager there was very interested in the problem. He said he had heard of the problem but was usually accompanied with moisture and dirt. And usually the tanks were very old. He said they normally don’t purge small tanks but he would help me out. Long story short, he purged the tanks while I watched. No oil, no dirty, no moisture. The tanks were about half full. So if there was some foreign material in there it would have been blown out. After some conversation we agreed that the oil must have been laying the line somewhere from manufacturing. So, I have 2 options. 1) Take apart the piping and try to clean it or replace it. 2) Do nothing and just wait and see what happens. If more oil appears then do the cleaning thing. I think I’ll do the wait and see. If it is cutting oil there can’t be much in there. I guess I’ll find out.