Propane system question/regulator

He said he replaced the REGULATOR.. Did he replace the CHANGEOVER valve.


Part 2:
Some of those valves have 3 positions
One side
Other side
BOTH SIDES


The change over valve is a "pre-Regulator" of sorts. IN that when the selected tank is empty the un-selected tank is supposed to deliver gas, but at a reduced pressure.. This causes the gauge (By the way that too could be bad) to read in the red.... Till you "Flip" the valve.

If the pressure reducer is not working (They do fail with age) or if the gauge is reading wrong.. You won't see red till you run out of gas.

From Marshall Excelsior web page for their auto changeover regulator valve;

Place one of the two cylinders in “primary” by
switching the black changeover lever in the direction of the
selected cylinder. The arrow on the lever will denote the “primary” side. Open both cylinder valves slowly. The indicator on the top of the regulator will turn green. The “primary” side of the regulator will continue to supply gas as long as sufficient gas is present in the “primary” cylinder. When pressure in the cylinder drops below a designated pressure, the “reserve” side will open and continue to
primary gas to the regulator. At the time that the “primary” cylinder
becomes exhausted, the indicator on the changeover lever will turn red indicating a cylinder change can be made.

The "indicator" section of the regulator is the 1st stage of a two stage system. It takes tank pressure and reduces it to 10 psi for the second regulator. If the inlet pressure drops below 10 psi it will/should switch to reserve tank and switch indicator which tells you the tank the knob is pointing at is "empty". Switch the knob and you can remove the empty tank without loss of product or service.

dougrainer wrote:
The purpose of the Auto change over Red/Green is to give a visual indication when the primary tank runs out of LP. You POINT the lever at the tank you want to use FIRST. Leave BOTH tank valves OPEN. When the FIRST tank runs out of LP, the system auto changes to the 2nd tank. Then that green goes to red. That lets you know the primary tank is empty and you are running on the 2nd tank. You then flip the lever to the 2nd tank, remove the primary tank to get refilled. A BIG misconception is to put the lever midway which defeats the purpose of the Auto change over design/

The "misconception" is that the indicator lever will "automatically" switch over from one tank that has emptied to a second tank that is full. The problem is exacerbated because most tanks these days wear a cover, either hard plastic or vinyl, but which in either case hides the indicator unless the cover is removed. That's a PITA so some will DIY a viewing window in the cover so they can easily see at a glance just what that indicator is telling them and therefore know when to manually move that lever to the in-use tank. I've chosen to not bother and instead run my tanks sequentially, then there's no need to see the indicator and I always in effect have a spare full tank when the first empties. What it seems is being missed is that just because one may choose to run the tanks with both valves open that doesn't mean the indicator will follow one tank until it's empty and then automatically switch to the second full tank ... it doesn't, the lever has to be manually switched over to point to the full tank, at which point it will turn green again.

The purpose of the Auto change over Red/Green is to give a visual indication when the primary tank runs out of LP. You POINT the lever at the tank you want to use FIRST. Leave BOTH tank valves OPEN. When the FIRST tank runs out of LP, the system auto changes to the 2nd tank. Then that green goes to red. That lets you know the primary tank is empty and you are running on the 2nd tank. You then flip the lever to the 2nd tank, remove the primary tank to get refilled. A BIG misconception is to put the lever midway which defeats the purpose of the Auto change over design. Doug

Tvov wrote:
That's interesting, because I was told a little differently (but kinda the same?). Point the indicator lever towards one tank - it will use that tank until it is empty, the indicator thingy will go to red, and the inside valve will automatically switch to the second tank... without a person having to move that lever. That way you still have propane, but you know you have to fill up one of the tanks.

It would seem you and others are not understanding how an automatic changeover gas regulator is designed to work. First, that indicator lever you set yourself according to which one of the two tanks you're using at the time. If you want to use the tanks sequentially you would only open the valve on the in-use tank, not both tanks, and point the lever to this tank as a reminder that that's the tank you're currently using. If on the other hand you prefer to use both tanks you would open both valves which in turn will allow the auto changeover regulator to automatically switch over from the first tank once it empties to the full second tank. The obvious disadvantage is that both tanks will eventually empty and and if you don't keep an eye on the indicator you'll end up with no gas at all. That's why my own personal preference is to open just one tank valve at a time and run the tanks sequentially, as once my in-use tank empties I can then manually switch over to the spare tank, making it the new in-use tank. That process reminds me to refill the original but now empty in-use tank and once reinstalled on the trailer it becomes the new spare tank. I've even marked my two tanks "Curb" and "Street" as a reminder where each tank normally lives.

Edited for clarity ... shouldn't write this stuff when I'm in a hurry! :W

SoundGuy wrote:

path1 wrote:
When one bottle of propane is empty the indicator gauge does NOT flip to red, until both tanks are empty. Then flips to red.

If you have both tank valves open and are therefore using the tanks simultaneously with the inidcator lever set mid way between the tanks then of course that indicator will only show red once both tanks are empty. The alternative is to open the valve on just one tank and use them sequentially, setting the lever to point towards the in use tank ... once it empties the indicator will turn red and you'll know to close it's valve, open the second tank valve, and move the indicator lever to new in use tank, at which point the indicator will once again turn green. Surely your dealer must have explained the difference between using your tanks simultaneously or sequentially.

That's interesting, because I was told a little differently (but kinda the same?). Point the indicator lever towards one tank - it will use that tank until it is empty, the indicator thingy will go to red, and the inside valve will automatically switch to the second tank... without a person having to move that lever. That way you still have propane, but you know you have to fill up one of the tanks.

This may be path1's issue? The indicator should be turning red, while the valve should be automatically switching to the second propane tank? But his valve is emptying both tanks without giving him a warning?

As jerseyjim asked: path1, is the indicator valve pointing at one or the other tank, or is it in the middle?

I have never actually ran a propane tank empty, so I have no idea if what I am doing is correct! lol!

Try this. :h

Get both tanks filled and hook them up with the valves closed.

Only turn one tank on. Go inside and turn on a stove burner to make sure you got flow. Stove back off.

Go outside and make sure the indicator control is slid or rotated to point to the tank that has the valve open. indicator should turn green.

Now slowly open the other tank and let her rip tader chip.

When the indicator turns red that should mean that the tank is empty that the indicator has been pointing to.

Slide or flip the indicator to the other (full) tank and the sight glass should turn green.

Remove the empty tank and get it refilled and put it back in and slowly open the valve. When the indicator turns red repeat the above procedure.

That procedure should get you down the road for the duration.

Last thing i would do is have an auto switch over valve and only run one tank at a time manually.

path1 wrote:
When one bottle of propane is empty the indicator gauge does NOT flip to red, until both tanks are empty. Then flips to red.

If you have both tank valves open and are therefore using the tanks simultaneously with the inidcator lever set mid way between the tanks then of course that indicator will only show red once both tanks are empty. The alternative is to open the valve on just one tank and use them sequentially, setting the lever to point towards the in use tank ... once it empties the indicator will turn red and you'll know to close it's valve, open the second tank valve, and move the indicator lever to new in use tank, at which point the indicator will once again turn green. Surely your dealer must have explained the difference between using your tanks simultaneously or sequentially.

Stupid question: on the regulator...is the ARROW pointing to one tank or the other?


g'luck!