Should I smell propane outside?

Get some Leak Check, and put it on the bleeder valve and other fittings. Can be bought at most hardware stores.

Be very careful. I would disconnect the tank if it's currently connected to your rig. Place the tank in the closest open area around your location. It would be good if that area is secure and you can monitor who passes by, hopefully no one.

Here's the deal: there is an overfill release valve on every tank, even the old ones. If the emergency pressure relief valve fully opens, there may be a big, sudden release of both gaseous and liquid propane. Call whoever filled the tank and have them deal with it.

I had a 20lb cylinder that was overfilled inside my work van. When the relief valve released, I couldn't see my hands on the wheel. Luckily, I was able to turn the key off and glide to a stop onto the shoulder of the road while holding my breath and looking out of the open driver's side window.

Not to get too worried, though. If the tank is in an open area where the propane can't accumulate, all will be good. As someone mentioned, wear gloves. FWIW, I have a Federal License to handle LPG and in my seafaring days we used to cool our beer by placing it under a 3/4" pipe fitting and releasing enough propane to form an iceberg over the beer cases. In 5 minutes the beer was cold and the propane ice was gone.

Edit: reread your initial post and see you have a MH so the tanks are fixed, right? Here's what I would do: call the outfit that filled it, tell them to roll a guy to your location with the necessary connections and tank to bleed yours off.

If you have any spark producing devices, make sure they are off. This means, if you're connected to shore power, turn the power off at your pedesatal or inside the load center at your house. DO NOT attempt to remove the cord from your coach. If you have a battery disconnect switch, turn it off to all banks. Wait for the cavalry and stand back from the coach. If you can open a door or window to the coach without creating a spark, you might try. It might be better to just keep away.

If the outfit that refilled your tank won't come to the rescue, call the Fire Dept..

You do not have any issues with your tank or valves. Your tank was overfilled and is now venting. You could consider using a propane appliance to use up some of that overfilled propane.

Those valves go bad all the time, that's usually where the smell is coming from around the valve you open and close.

You can get away for awhile by tightening that valve as hard as you can when closing it. But eventually you will have to replace it.


When looking at used RV's if it takes you 2 hands to turn the propane valve on.....it's a good sign that you know the valve's bad. :W

adayjk wrote:

If the tank is truly overfilled it will continue to vent with temp changes until it is not.

I've run into this - overfilled at relatively cold temperature, the tanks heat up going down the road and when I pull into the campground the vent is hissing away.

There is a fill bleed that passes liquid at the 3/4 mark on the tank. It is a little plastic thing. If it isn't tight or failed to seal it will leak. Check it, use soapy water and watch for bubbles if needed.

Did you wear gloves when you attached that fittting? If there is a sudden leak of liquid propane whan attaching thre fitting it can lead to severe frost bite, skin damage, and tissue damage. Wear the thick rubber gloves in the fill house even if the LP guy doesn't if you attach your own fill hose.

If the tank is truly overfilled it will continue to vent with temp changes until it is not.

There is a rubber ring inside the connector with a plastic cap. The threads are fine, he was an older gentleman and struggled to get the connector on but I did it in seconds.

He did open a little valve when filling for a bit. It's dark now so I went out with a flashlight and could really smell it towards the front and as I got to it. I only spent about 2 minutes because its so strong I started feeling dizzy. The bleeder valve wasn't loose but it could have been tighter so I gave it as much as my hand could do in that time. The smell is really strong though and I am concerned. I can wear a mask tomorrow to inspect further. Should I run a hose over the tank and look for bubbles? If I do find it leaking from somewhere should I drive it and can they remove the propane so that I can fix the leak? I don't know what to do.

Isnt there a rubber oring that goes inside the connection? Is that ok? The threads and all look ok? I think theres a bleeder screw they open to bleed air while they fill make sure thats closed good. Its a pretty simple setup so cant imagine there could be too much wrong.