# Fact Or Fiction?



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

I was told that if you turn both propane tanks on and flip the control value to one that the value can auto-detect when the tank is empty and it will flip the control value over to the full tank.

I called BS on this, but wanted to get my Outbacker.com friends input as well.


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

Yep...works just like that.

Now if you are dry camping and the one tank you are drawing from is getting low, the water heater and furnace may not fire up and work properly. When you get that low in one tank you will need to manually switch to the other tank.

If dry camping does not apply to you, you'll know when you have "switched over" when the pressure floaty reads red but you still have gas flowing.

Randy


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

Oregon_Camper said:


> I was told that if you turn both propane tanks on and flip the control value to one that the value can auto-detect when the tank is empty and it will flip the control value over to the full tank.
> 
> I called BS on this, but wanted to get my Outbacker.com friends input as well.


 That is what I was told too and if the lever was pointing to the empty tank it would read red but still has gas if the other was full. Turn it to the full tank then it would read green. I recently had an empty tank but did not see if this was true. Maybe someone else has.


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

It works just as they said with both tanks open. I tested it by pointing the lever to the "primary" tank and running the outdoor stove. I shut the propane tank, the stove kept burning, and the indicator turned to red. If it were empty, point the valve to the other tank (which now becomes the primary one) and refill the empty one.


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## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

OutbackPM said:


> I was told that if you turn both propane tanks on and flip the control value to one that the value can auto-detect when the tank is empty and it will flip the control value over to the full tank.
> 
> I called BS on this, but wanted to get my Outbacker.com friends input as well.


 That is what I was told too and if the lever was pointing to the empty tank it would read red but still has gas if the other was full. Turn it to the full tank then it would read green. I recently had an empty tank but did not see if this was true. Maybe someone else has.
[/quote]

All true, it does auto switch - if you have turned the valves on both tanks on. I purposely only turn on one valve. That way I know when I'm out of gas in a tank. I can then switch to the other and know to refill the empty one when I get back home. Much better than running out of gas in both tanks while your camping.
Regards, Glenn


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Works fine, and just like that. When I see the primary tank go red I pull it and refill. Then leave the opposite tank as the primary to use up the older gas.


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## snsgraham (May 18, 2004)

I'm with you Glenn! I only have one tank at a time on also. I don't want to be boondocking, run out of gas and THEN remember that I already had one empty tank...

Scott


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Jim,

These guys are correct, it does work.








But... just to be clear... The valve DOES NOT switch the lever over to the other side. It will start drawing from the good tank, but the gauge will show red until you manually flip the lever. This is it's way of telling you what is going on.









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Man...I love this site.

I'm going to open both tanks from now on....YEA!!


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## Markh1 (Sep 11, 2005)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Man...I love this site.
> 
> I'm going to open both tanks from now on....YEA!!


Good to know.

Last year, out at the ranch with temp in the teen's. Ran out of gas in the middle of the night. Man, can that trailer get cold in a hurry! Woke up freezing, had to go out and manually switch over tanks. Heater never really caught up again until mid-morning.

For you northern folks, the "teens" is very cold  for us Texas flatlanders.

Going to open both tanks from now on. Thanks for the tip.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

I believe if you only have one tank open, the indicator shows half green / half red. When both tanks are open, the indicator is full green.....??


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## Doxie-Doglover (Apr 19, 2006)

PDX_Doug said:


> Jim,
> 
> These guys are correct, it does work.
> 
> ...


I need to add my .02 worth! I learned 2-3 things in the propane industry after 13 years besides that it smell bad and respect it








there are regular single stage regulators like you would have on your bbq tank. On the rv's there are 2 types availabel.One is the manual switch over, you run out of gas, say a bad word, go out and flip the switch and get things going again. You can unhook the other and go have it filled while the other is running. The other type is the auto-change over. This will have the little glass doo hickie on top. When the tank being drawn from gets low, the regulator auto-matically switches over the to the other tank and the switch goes from one to the other. This way, you never run out of gas by surprise unless of course you forget to have both tanks full to start with. When the switch flips over, disconnect the empty, get it filled and hook it back it up and you're good to go. I have the auto on mine but on my previous tt it was the manual and I bought the auto. I have left my tt at my dad's dry camp and came back to Kennewick and while gone, the regulator performed flawlessly and switched over! if you have hard time distinguishing what tank you started with, tie a string to the tank or put a magnet on tank, you know , like people do on the front of dishwashers saying clean or dirty. I saw people use their own little systems.
ok, for once I actually knew something!







that feels good!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Seems I'm not the only one that learned something new about their Outback today...Sweet!


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

That's great information, Tawnya! Thanks!









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> I was told that if you turn both propane tanks on and flip the control value to one that the value can auto-detect when the tank is empty and it will flip the control value over to the full tank.
> 
> I called BS on this, but wanted to get my Outbacker.com friends input as well.


Yes it does works like that it has happened to me a couple of times

Don


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Turn on both tanks...and let the OUTBACK do it's work.


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## Doxie-Doglover (Apr 19, 2006)

PDX_Doug said:


> That's great information, Tawnya! Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## jt-mt-21rs (Jun 17, 2006)

Great post.








I learned something new today too. I do a lot of dry camping and was more concerned with the refrigerator shutting off if I ran out of gas. Both tanks on for me from now on.


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## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

Markh1 said:


> For you northern folks, the "teens" is very cold  for us Texas flatlanders.


For us Floridians, the "teens" mean those ruckous kids down the street!

"20's" is plenty cold for us!

Dan


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## Doxie-Doglover (Apr 19, 2006)

3LEES said:


> For you northern folks, the "teens" is very cold  for us Texas flatlanders.


For us Floridians, the "teens" mean those ruckous kids down the street!

"20's" is plenty cold for us!

Dan








[/quote]
you weenies! I love to run to my outdoor hot tub in the teens and lower and hop into the 102 water! HEAVEN! getting out? well, I have that down to a science and usually don't have icicles on me by the time I get in the house! invigorating!


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

Doxie-Doglover said:


> if you have hard time distinguishing what tank you started with, tie a string to the tank or put a magnet on tank, you know ,


Thats a good tip. My requlator's "change over switch", the black lever that you must turn to the other tank when the auto regulator changes over, has a pointer that points towards the full (or the "main tank"). The tank that the black lever is not pointing at would be the empty tank.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Insomniak said:


> I believe if you only have one tank open, the indicator shows half green / half red. When both tanks are open, the indicator is full green.....??


It should be either green or red no matter how you have the tanks opened. If it is half green and half red then it is just changing from one color to the other (most likely from green to red).

You can also buy a remote indicator so you won't need to take the propane cover off to see if it is red or green.


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