LP problems

[Paddler]

I'm having some LP gas problems and wonder if anyone else has seen this. We've had our unit for almost 4 months now with no LP issues until last weekend. Brought the trailer home, turned on the gas to light the fridge, everything seemed to go as normal. We loaded up our stuff and the next morning BH went out to load the fridge and it's not cold. Fridge front display is flashing no LP. She be upset... We packed all the food in ice chests and went camping anyway, fridge worked fine on electricity.

That Saturday, I did a little troubleshooting and it appeared that both tanks were empty according to the pressure guage on the regulator. I removed both tanks, nope, one seemed to be at least 3/4 full and the primary tank seemed like it was at least half full. So I located a RV dealer nearby and picked up a new automatic switch/regulator, installed it and had the same indication, empty tanks, none of the gas appliances will light.

This weekend, I changed the pig tail hose that goes from the primary tank to the regulator. That seems to have fixed that tank's problem, regulator shows pressure in that tank and appliances work. So I purchased another pig tail hose for the secondary tank... still no gas getting to the regulator from that side. On the secondary side there is an in-line 30PSI regulator, I'll be changing that next.

I'm assuming there is some form of contamination that is plugging up the orifices, but I don't know if it is from the LP tanks or crud in the pipes and hoses from the manufacturing process. Has anyone else had any similar issues?

[hankpage]

Any "crud" in the pipes will not travel back to the regulator. You may be having problems with the OPD valves in the tanks themselves. You can try opening the tanks slowly so you don't trip the free flow part of the valve. Use the pigtail you removed to see if the OPD is allowing any gas out of the tank. That is where I would start before replacing any other parts. JM2¢,Hank

[Jim W]

Steve, Do you have a split tank system? IE. One tank on the curb side and the other tank is on the street side.
If you do than you need to read the instructions from Keystone on how to operate the tanks if there is any issues.

Split-Bottle Systems – (Primarily on Fifth-Wheels)
Some Keystone fifth wheels use a split-bottle system where there is one propane bottle located on each side of the unit. There are some instances where this system may inadvertently activate the “excess flow device” located in the propane pigtail.
The “excess flow device” is a safety feature that is designed to detect a large leak in the propane system such as a broken gas line and reduce the flow of propane from the bottle. It also activates when the propane bottle service valve is turned on and the propane system is not completely closed such as when the range burner is left on. The device is not designed to completely stop the flow of propane, but to reduce it to approximately 20,000 BTUs/hr.
When activated, one appliance at a time may operate normally, however, when a large demand is placed on the system such as turning on several appliances or the furnace, they will not receive sufficient propane pressure to operate properly. Follow the procedure below to avoid inadvertently activating the “excess flow device” and to operate the split bottle propane system.
Follow this procedure for the following conditions: After refilling either or both bottles; After any part of the propane system has been disconnected; Appliance burners are not operating correctly; Low operating pressure exists downstream from the regulator when operating heavy demand appliances such as the furnace.
1. Verify both propane bottles contain sufficient propane. Refill if necessary.
2. Close both propane bottle service valves.
3.Attach the propane pigtails to the service valve.
4. Close manually operated gas valves on the range or water heater.
5. Turn the indicator on the regulator to the bottle closest to it.
6. Slowly open the service valve on the bottle closest to the regulator. This is typically the bottle on the entry door side. Open the valve all the way.
7. Slowly open the service valve on the bottle that is furthest from the regulator until you can hear gas start to flow through. Do not open the valve all the way. Wait 1 minute.
8. Re-close the service valve and then slowly re-open it all the way. The system is now ready to operate.
This happen to me earlier this year and I followed these instructions and have had no issues since.
Jim W.

[Paddler]

Jim W. thanks for the reply. I suspect you are correct and the pigtail EFD was my problem. Looks like I have a couple spares.

Hankpage, there is about 6 ft of pipe and 2 hose connections between my secondary tank and the automatic switchover/regulator device. So, yes "crud" could have worked it's way downstream to the regulator.