# Problem With Propane Switching Regulator



## snsgraham

While camping for a week last week we ran out of propane on one tank. No problem because I always have a full one on the other side, right?

Well I pulled the cover off of the tanks, closed the empty tank, switched the flag over to the full tank and opened the valve on the full tank. The indicator on the valve went from red to green but when trying to run the oven there was insufficient gas to keep the burner going for more than 2-3 seconds and then it would slowly go out. I fiddled with the valve swiching it back and forth between the empty tank and the full but always with the same results. Finally I swapped the full and empty tanks flopped the valve over to the full tank and everything was back to normal on the burners.

Do you think I have a faulty valve? The regulator part is working normally so I believe it is that fancy valve for switching between the tanks.

What'cha 'tink mon?









Scott


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## tdvffjohn

Try putting the full tank on the side where the mt one was. if both tanks were open it should have switched over automatically.

Might be bad.


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## PDX_Doug

Scott,

If I am understanding you correctly, you ultimately moved the full tank into the position the empty tank was in, hooked up that hose and everything worked.

If that is the case, the problem has to be with the switching valve.

Up to that point, I would have suspected that you were not getting the line on the full tank fully purged, but...

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## hurricaneplumber

Might be some thread sealant stuck in the hose end blocking it off. Sloppy install will do that.

The problem I have with mine, if I switch to full tank and remove the empty tank to go fill it, propane comes out of the disconnected hose end. Which means I have to always have a tank connected to use the propane. Make sense??

Not sure if this is a faulty switch either









kevin


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## snsgraham

Yeah, I was kinda thinking that I need to pull the offending sides hose off and check for some kind of blockage.
Funny thing is there was some gas coming through the line, just not enough to light two burners at once.
I think I will check that hose tonight....

Scott


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## Castle Rock Outbackers

hurricaneplumber said:


> The problem I have with mine, if I switch to full tank and remove the empty tank to go fill it, propane comes out of the disconnected hose end. Which means I have to always have a tank connected to use the propane. Make sense??
> 
> Not sure if this is a faulty switch either
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> kevin
> [snapback]51192[/snapback]​


Kevin,

Mine does this, as well as my neighbor's (both tanks are required else gas exits the unconnected side). That would lead me to believe the switch is faulty. If not, then what is the point of the switch?

There was a time where I was pulling gas from only one tank. Over time, one tank became much lighter than the other (duh, gas is burning). During this time I kept the valve on the other tank closed.

For the past several trips I have been running with both tank valves open. Now they seem to have equalized. The propane tank that was empty now has gas in it (I hear the floaty knocking the tank walls), and the tanks now weigh the same.

Randy


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## camping479

I always have both tank valves open, when the ring in the glass turns from green to red, I switch over the supply switch to the other tank and get the empty one filled. I use the tank that was the reserve tank as the supply tank, the newly filled tank becomes the reserve. I also get gas leaking out of the disconnected line, so I close both tanks when I get one refilled.



> For the past several trips I have been running with both tank valves open. Now they seem to have equalized. The propane tank that was empty now has gas in it (I hear the floaty knocking the tank walls), and the tanks now weigh the same.


Haven't had that happen Randy. The supply tank empties and then automatically switches over to the full tank. When the glass is red I know the supply tank is empty and has switched over to the reserve tank.

Mike


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## Castle Rock Outbackers

You are right, Mike. That is how it is supposed to work. And that was working for the first tank of propane I used. Since then, the empty tank and the full tank are sharing gas, and they weigh the same.

Randy


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## CamperAndy

Well it sounds like mine is the only one that is working as it is designed. I get no leakage when I remove my empty tanks and the red green flag works. I always run but tanks open and never get any transfer.


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## snsgraham

Well, I removed both tanks last night and I did find the problem, the long of it is..
Our OB had been sitting for just about a year at the dealer before we bought it. Apparently it had been all of this time without hoses (or plastic caps) connected or covering the inputs to the regulator. It must have had the first brass adapter screwed into the regulator but not the hose because what I found when I removed the hose from the brass adapter was a perfectly filled hole in the brass adapter. Filled with hard dirt and an insect behind the dirt plug.
The bug was dead and must have been dead for awhile as we have had the OB over a year. But what is interesting is we had a similar problem in January when I thought I was completely out of propane but found one tank nearly full. That should have tipped me off but I figured I had screwed up the whole regulator switch process.
The short of it is I cleaned out the bug and the dirt, put the tanks in with the full one in the place of the empty one, opened the valves, and then lit all three burners on the stove. It works just fine now.

By the way when the regulator switch is pointing at a tank I can remove the other tank for filling without any propane leakage from the disconnected hose.










File this one away fella's, it is one for the "weird" records.....

Scott


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## HootBob

Scott
Glad to hear it was something simple
Don't you wish all problems were solved that easy

Don


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## mswalt

Scott,

Glad you figured out what was "bugging" you about the propane.

Mark


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