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Rbertalotto's avatar
Rbertalotto
Explorer
Aug 10, 2016

"Mirror Mirror on the Tank..."

"Who's the fullest of them All?"

I wanted a way to check on the cross over gas valve on my propane tanks without removing the cover everytime.

I was going to cut a hole in the cover right in front of the valve but my electric tongue jack was in the way to view the tank indicator.

I decided to use a small "Bulls Eye" parabolic mirror that you can buy in an auto parts store for a dollar or two.



A bit of double sided tape secures it to the inside of the tank cover



once installed it is very easy to see the indicator without removing the tank cover





Lots more "farkles" on my web page... www.rvbprecision.com
  • After having an automatic fail a long time ago, I never since opened more than one bottle.
  • Good idea Dutch! I carry a third tank so I'm never out. I wouldn't want a tank to run out while I was away and the refrigerator and freezer stop working. I mostly boondock so my food stays cold with propane.
  • I also have the automatic switch over valve and it also faced to the back. I finally just turned the entire regulator around so the indicator red-green was now facing the front. I had to turn the tanks around too, but it worked. My cover has the lift up lid, so it's very easy to see the indicator now.

    However, I never leave both tanks open at the same time. I always have the tank not in use turned off. When when tank runs empty, I know it's empty because things stop working. I know it's time to switch over and get the empty tank filled. The risk of running out both tanks and then you don't have any propane at all is a risk I don't like to take. In the Summer, it's not very critical. But when we winter camp, the propane gets used much faster heating the camper, and both tanks can get used up much faster than expected. Waking up in the middle of the night to a cold camper is not so bad when you can get up, go outside in the cold (and snow), flip over the valve, turn on the tank, and get the furnace running again. However, if both tanks run out.... you're gonna be freezing until the stores open up. So one tank is always off and when one goes empty, it's re-filled immediately.