OK, don't judge me. Don't make fun of me. Well, go ahead I deserve it. :)Here's the deal. My propane tank leaks sometimes. It seems to be temperature and altitude related. At sea level there is no soap bubble leak test failure. At my campground, in warm weather there is no soap bubble leak test failure. At my campground with lower daytime temperatures there is an audible leak. That's a really long unnecessary intro to the problem.I bought a hose for the tank to trailer connection. The large knobby end at the tank seems ok and the small thready end that goes to the trailer connection seems ok. However, I wasn't able to switch the hose because the nut at the trailer connection end is too big for the wrench I had (slightly larger than the nut on the replacement hose).Is the thread connector at the trailer connection end universal or is the larger nut telling me that the thread connectors are actually different sizes? I hope I didn't make this too technical. If it's just a different nut size and the threads are the same I'll just bring up a bigger wrench to remove the original hose.

Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

There are some fittings that are slightly different but I don't think that is your problem. Did you wrap the threads with Teflon tape before putting everything together?

Huntindog wrote:LaunchnRetrieve wrote:OK, don't judge me. Don't make fun of me. Well, go ahead I deserve it. :)Here's the deal. My propane tank leaks sometimes. It seems to be temperature and altitude related. At sea level there is no soap bubble leak test failure. At my campground, in warm weather there is no soap bubble leak test failure. At my campground with lower daytime temperatures there is an audible leak. That's a really long unnecessary intro to the problem.I bought a hose for the tank to trailer connection. The large knobby end at the tank seems ok and the small thready end that goes to the trailer connection seems ok. However, I wasn't able to switch the hose because the nut at the trailer connection end is too big for the wrench I had (slightly larger than the nut on the replacement hose).Is the thread connector at the trailer connection end universal or is the larger nut telling me that the thread connectors are actually different sizes? I hope I didn't make this too technical. If it's just a different nut size and the threads are the same I'll just bring up a bigger wrench to remove the original hose.You need some help from someone that knows what they are doing. There are some different fittings that can be used. Some require the special propne sealant, and others should not have any sealant applied... Hard to describe, and without looking it up, I probably would not use the proper terms anyways. This is not a hard job at all, but you need to know your way around the fittings that you have. If you can post some pics, that would help us help you a lot.

Hard to tell without pictures. I suspect that your propane regulator failed - it does that. I don't recall any unusually big nut there, - so big that your wrench couldn't do.The rubber hose with one "knobby end" and brass fitting on the other end goes into propane regulator - not to some trailer pipes. There is often a brass adapter that goes into the regulator first, and then you screw the end of the rubber hose with brass fitting in there. Now, you should know the difference between regular threads and threads with flare fitting. You should use a propane dope or Teflon tape on regular threads, but not on flare fittings.

Propane Leak: Hose Replacement | Good Sam Community

Almot
Explorer III
Dec 06, 2015
Brass fittings on the regulator end are all different because regulators are different.

You don't need to have a changeover regulator. Get a single-tank regulator if it's cheaper - and if it's regulator that failed, not the hose.

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:

While playing with the hose we noticed the regulator doesn't fully seal off the other side when the lever is flipped to one side or the other.
No problem, I only open one tank at a time.
I want to know when one of them has run out of gas, not be surprised when both run out and I don't have a back up.

Yes, you can open one tank at a time. Don't need a changeover regulator for that. Flip the hose from one tank to another.

Yes, when hooking up one tank at a time, you WILL know when one tank is empty :)... Then you flip the hose to another tank, takes all 2 minutes, and refill the empty one at your earliest convenience.
LaunchnRetrieve
Explorer
Dec 06, 2015
OK, the hose is replaced.
The one I bought was wrong size at the regulator end, too small (3/8).
Why aren't these things universal fits on RV's.
Went to six places who were sure they had the right hose.
Sixth place finally sold me an adapter, took 2 guys 15 minutes to find it in their stock to upsize the 3/8 hose to 1/2.
While playing with the hose we noticed the regulator doesn't fully seal off the other side when the lever is flipped to one side or the other.
No problem, I only open one tank at a time. I want to know when one of them has run out of gas, not be surprised when both run out and I don't have a back up.
LaunchnRetrieve
Explorer
Nov 27, 2015
Yeah, learning the hard way. I just assumed all this stuff was universal.
Here's the pig tail that's on the trailer and the replacement I have looks the same.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/mr-heater-12-propane-acme-flexible-pigtail-hose/24033
The only visual difference between the replacement and the original still on the trailer appears to be the size of the brass nut at the threads is larger, barely, on the trailer. The replacement is 1/2 inch and the original is probably 9/16.
Here is the auto changeover regulator that is on the trailer: http://tinyurl.com/j256uv8
The intermittent leak is only on the right side.
So I might not be looking at a hose replacement? I might be looking at a regulator replacement? Do I figure out which by trial and error? Switch the hose and watch for intermittent leak to persist?
RJsfishin
Explorer
Nov 27, 2015
Quote:
I bought a hose for the tank to trailer connection.
-----------------------------------------------
You learning the hard way. Next time I bet you take the old one w/ you.
haddy1
Explorer
Nov 26, 2015
Three different connection systems are common and can be mixed on the same RV. NPT, flare, and reverse flair may be used in any combination.

If you don't know for sure what you have, you need to find out before trying to connect anything.
Almot
Explorer III
Nov 26, 2015
Hard to tell without pictures. I suspect that your propane regulator failed - it does that.

I don't recall any unusually big nut there, - so big that your wrench couldn't do.

The rubber hose with one "knobby end" and brass fitting on the other end goes into propane regulator - not to some trailer pipes. There is often a brass adapter that goes into the regulator first, and then you screw the end of the rubber hose with brass fitting in there.

Now, you should know the difference between regular threads and threads with flare fitting. You should use a propane dope or Teflon tape on regular threads, but not on flare fittings.
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
DP
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
Huntindog wrote:
LaunchnRetrieve wrote:
OK, don't judge me. Don't make fun of me. Well, go ahead I deserve it. :)

Here's the deal. My propane tank leaks sometimes. It seems to be temperature and altitude related. At sea level there is no soap bubble leak test failure. At my campground, in warm weather there is no soap bubble leak test failure. At my campground with lower daytime temperatures there is an audible leak. That's a really long unnecessary intro to the problem.

I bought a hose for the tank to trailer connection. The large knobby end at the tank seems ok and the small thready end that goes to the trailer connection seems ok. However, I wasn't able to switch the hose because the nut at the trailer connection end is too big for the wrench I had (slightly larger than the nut on the replacement hose).

Is the thread connector at the trailer connection end universal or is the larger nut telling me that the thread connectors are actually different sizes? I hope I didn't make this too technical. If it's just a different nut size and the threads are the same I'll just bring up a bigger wrench to remove the original hose.
You need some help from someone that knows what they are doing. There are some different fittings that can be used. Some require the special propne sealant, and others should not have any sealant applied... Hard to describe, and without looking it up, I probably would not use the proper terms anyways. This is not a hard job at all, but you need to know your way around the fittings that you have. If you can post some pics, that would help us help you a lot.
TubaPete
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
There are some fittings that are slightly different but I don't think that is your problem. Did you wrap the threads with Teflon tape before putting everything together?
BarneyS
Explorer III
Nov 25, 2015
Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

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