Propane tank question - Montana Owners Club

Montana_1472 · 07-26-2004, 11:50 PM

I have an 2003 3655FL equipped with the (2) 30lb tanks. The regulator and switch over is located on the driver side of the unit. I noticed that the '04 is opposite. Question: Does the trailer draw first from the side with the regulator - then switch to the other tank, or the opposite, or from both? The issue is which tank should be checked for re-fueling first? Thanks again for this forum.

Broome101 · 07-27-2004, 01:00 AM

I beleve the one next to the regulator is used first. There should also be a lever on the regulator so you can use one or the other first before automatic switch takes place.

GordonR · 07-27-2004, 01:19 AM

Ron –

This question is more difficult to verbalize than demonstrate, but I'll take a shot. Look at the regulator and you should see the two hoses connected to the regulator, one leading to each of the tanks, a black lever which is pointing to one of the hoses, and a small indicator on top which should be showing either a green or red band on top of the regulator. (I don’t know what the real name for the indicator is, but it looks a bit like a thimble. The colored band is at the bottom of the thimble.) You’ll also have to identify which hose goes to which tank. Once you’ve identified these parts, the operation is pretty straight forward.

With both tanks turned on, the color of the band indicates the status of the tank connected to the side of the regulator where the lever is pointed. If the color band is green, the regulator is drawing from the tank connected to the hose on the side the lever is pointed to. When this tank empties, the regulator will automatically switch to begin drawing from the tank connected to the other side of the regulator and the band will turn red. When you notice this, you flip the lever to the other side and the band will turn green again. Then you simply close the valve on the empty cylinder, disconnect, refill and reconnect it. Turning the valve back on completes the process. When the color band switches to red again, repeat the process with the newly emptied cylinder.

Whew! That was wordy, but hopefully understandable and you’ll never wake up cold in the middle of the night. Happy camping.

Gordon

8.1al · 07-27-2004, 01:46 AM

That was great Gordon.

Montana_1472 · 07-27-2004, 01:53 AM

Thanks to all for these replies, and special thanks to Gordon. What you have described is the way I understood it, and helps to reinforce that. This is another example of how important this forum is to us.

Northstar · 07-27-2004, 12:09 PM

Thanks Gordon for that wonderful explanation. Another great example of how valuable this forum can be. Happy rving...

Trailer Trash 2 · 07-27-2004, 03:37 PM

While we are on this subject may I ask this about the tanks please. when one of my tanks are empty and I flip the switch to do the other tank as recomended, I noticed that when I disconect the empty tank I get a light flow of propane out of that hose. is this normal? it just puts out enugh to smell up the front area of the trailer. I do not want to have an explosion due to a leak. so do I have a bad regulator?

TT2

Merv · 07-27-2004, 05:29 PM

Hi,
it depends on if the flow is constant or if it is just until the disconnected line "bleeds" the existing propane out.
it will usually let a little out till the line is empty. especially the long hose that connects the farthest tank from the regulator.
but if it keeps leaking out, there may be a problem.
Merv

8.1al · 07-28-2004, 03:17 AM

Merv's right,
I too was a little concerned the first few times I disconnected my tanks and propane was coming out, then I realized that the one tank, being on the opposite side from the regulator. has a lot of line to bleed off.

OntMont · 07-29-2004, 02:28 PM

Be careful to open the tank valve very slowly, especially the one on the tank on the opposite side from the regulator. The sudden flow of gas filling the cross-over pipe can trigger the flow limiting safety device. If this happens, you will get a small flow of gas which is sufficient for a stove burner, but it won't support the furnace, you might find yourself without heat some cold night.

Trailer Trash 2 · 07-29-2004, 03:31 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Merv

Hi,
it depends on if the flow is constant or if it is just until the disconnected line "bleeds" the existing propane out.
it will usually let a little out till the line is empty. especially the long hose that connects the farthest tank from the regulator.
but if it keeps leaking out, there may be a problem.
Merv

Thanks Merv, I forgot that the line was under pressure, I'm used to the coleman setup it has a valve that pervents that on the smaller stoves and lamps,,.

TT2

OntMont · 07-30-2004, 02:57 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Trailer Trash 2

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Merv

Hi,
it depends on if the flow is constant or if it is just until the disconnected line "bleeds" the existing propane out.
it will usually let a little out till the line is empty. especially the long hose that connects the farthest tank from the regulator.
but if it keeps leaking out, there may be a problem.
Merv

In talking to the Marshall Gas Regulator Company about the propane set up on Montanas (and other trailers), their customer service rep. suggested that a better set-up would be to have another single stage regulator on the far tank so that there was less gas stored in the cross over pipe. As it is, the cross-over pipe is filled with propane at tank pressure. Eight feet of half inch pipe is a fair volume of gas. The existing regulator was intended for use in set-ups where the two propane tanks are side-by-side, with the regulator in the middle connected by two short pig-tails. Try calling Marshall if you want to pursue this further.

Thanks Merv, I forgot that the line was under pressure, I'm used to the coleman setup it has a valve that pervents that on the smaller stoves and lamps,,.

TT2

DrivesBGM · 07-30-2004, 05:05 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by OntMont
... As it is, the cross-over pipe is filled with propane at tank pressure. Eight feet of half inch pipe is a fair volume of gas. ...

Thanks for the info! This explains a mystery that I've had since day one of owning my Monty!

I've always had a heck of a time getting the curbside tank to come online. The rush of propane that trys to fill the pipe at high pressure is causing the tanks valve to shut off! Generally I just give up and then manually switch the tanks so the crub side tank becomes the driver's side tank and is attached directly to the regulator.

Quote:

quote:In talking to the Marshall Gas Regulator Company about the propane set up on Montanas (and other trailers), their customer service rep. suggested that a better set-up would be to have another single stage regulator on the far tank so that there was less gas stored in the cross over pipe.

I don't know much about propane systems but I don't think that this would work as you'd be feeding low pressure gas into the high pressure side of the existing dual tank automatic switch. Am I wrong about this?

It would be nice to come up with a way to have my curb side tank come online automatically when the driver's side runs low!

Craig

OntMont · 08-02-2004, 05:15 PM

[quote]quote:Originally posted by DrivesBGM

Quote:

Originally posted by OntMont
I don't think that this would work as you'd be feeding low pressure gas into the high pressure side of the existing dual tank automatic switch. Am I wrong about this?

I probably did not word that the best. It would be a lower or "intermediate" pressure in the cross-over. Like I said, Marshall Gas Regulator people can supply the correct technical explanation and the appropriate regulator, but the main thing to know is that there is a potential problem if you open the far side tank too quickly. Switching tanks from side to side is the quick and dirty answer, but not the most convenient when you run out of heat in the middle of a cold night.

DrivesBGM · 08-02-2004, 10:38 PM

I think I have a work around. I fooled around with turning up the propane tanks and think the following will work.

Make sure all gas appliances are off (or are on electric).
Turn on the far side tank.
Check to see if I can get gas and light a stove top burner. (This usually takes a while as all the air needs to be forced out of the lines.)
If not getting gas. Turn off stove. Then close and reopen the far side tank. (Do this as many times as it takes to get gas to the stove.)
Turn off the stove.
Open near side tank and turn tank selector to the nearside tank.
Relight the stove to make sure I'm getting gas from the near side tank.
Turn off the stove.
At this point the crossover tube is full. The near side tank is currently selected to be online. And the far side tank should come online when the near side tank runs low on propane.

Now that the problem has been identified. I think the above procedure will allow me to use both tanks without physically switching them from one side to the other.

Guess I'm not particually interested in adding more hardware to the current propane distribution system. I don't have any leaks and hope to keep it that way.

Craig

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