Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire RV Propane ssues?

Both my furnace and my refrigerator in my 5th wheel refuse to light after several hours of not running.
The fridge displays "no lp" and the furnace blows cold air for a cycle.
Both appliances have to be manually reset or power cycled to work again.
I am not smelling propane. and it doesn't seem to matter which tank is active.
Does this sound like a regulator issue, or potentially a gas leak between the regulator and the appliances?
Help.

I know it would take a LONG damned time for the propane to run through the lines to the ignition point when changing the bottles.

Longer than you would think.

I alway start by firing up the stove, then I know when it finally lights that there is gas in the line.

But I have heard with newer tanks if you open them too quick it activates a safety as it senses too high a flow initially.

This is an issue whenever the appliances are not running for a couple hours, regardless of tank level, and is independent of changing tanks,

This is what I do. Once I have flame at all four stove burners, then I worry about the other stuff, like the fridge.

This, plus both of my flexible supply lines that lead from the bottle to the regulator were defective on my trailer. One went bad after less than a year. The other followed a year or two later. They would not let propane flow. They are cheap and easy to replace.

Yes you guys beat me to this, the stove is the key troubleshooting device! get that fuel flowing to all the burners and then you know that part ( tanks and lines) is correct. From there you can do the hot water because that's also a powerful flame.

My fridge is quite finicky as well but once everything else has gas it usually decides to cooperate with me!

Yes - good advice on running the range burners first.

If you do not smell any mercaptan at the pilot flame outlet, you are not getting fuel to the appliance. If possible, slightly crack open a fitting on the small feed line near the burner. It the line is air-locked, that will let the fuel begin to flow. When you get a whiff, stop, close the fitting firmly - WAIT a few minutes. then fire it up.

if your tank setup has some new fangled auto-shut-off arrangement, can't help you there.

Same thing I do. Hastens the process.

Jim

You guys aren't addressing the op's situation. There was gas in the line and the appliances were working until he shut them off and let them sit a couple hours. There should be gas in the line but isn't. There has to be a slow leak in the line or regulator.

If you can get at all the connections, soap them and look for bubbles. Do the same with the regulator. Obviously, get them pressurized first.
If you can't find it from that, you might have to take it to a dealer who should have a sniffer.

Did you close the tank valve when you shut things off? If it was open, the gas in the tank should keep the lines pressurized until the tank's empty. In that case, the regulator is likely the problem.

It will cost you but a little time and money, but I would take it to your nearest RV repair facility and have it checked for leaks. A really simple and relatively quick process with something like a block tester. They should also be able to tell you if your regulator is functioning correctly.

if the stove lights, is there a leak?
or is there 2 leaks -one for the fridg and one for the heater?

make up a spray bottle of dawn and water and spray the lines. a one gallon garden sprayer would work but needs a little more soap,

if you shut off the propane at the bottle and let it sit for an hour will the stove still light for a few seconds? if so probably no leak.

It appears that the gas is escaping from the line. If the tank valve is closed,a leak in the line will prevent the escaped gas from being replaced. If the valve is open, the gas in the line will stay pressurized as long as the tank has gas in it. With the tank valve open, the regulator has to be preventing the gas from getting to the line.

Without knowing if the valve was open or closed, we're just shooting in the dark.

A proper leak check will also test the "100 percent safety shutoffs" on you appliances. The type of leak that may not be readily noticeable.