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wopachop's avatar
wopachop
Explorer
Feb 21, 2021

Where would my LP regulator leak?

Been chasing an intermittent propane leak. I think it must be my regulator, but i have not found a place making soapy bubbles. I will pressurize the system and then close the propane valve and watch the dial. Sometimes it will lose pressure in 2 minutes. Other times it will hold pressure all night long. Ive tried setting the regulator to different positions and cant seem to make it leak enough that i can confirm with soapy bubbles before buying a new regulator. 
Do you think maybe its leaking at the ACME nut instead? I recently bought 2 new hoses which i hoped would solve my problem. (both hoses would leak slightly). I noticed the new ACME nuts sure felt hard to turn on both hoses. Spraying soapy water everywhere i cant find the leak. 




  • Regulator vent
    pipe connections, verify that there is yellow Teflon tape
    O-ring inside pigtails
    connection at appliances
    connections where appliances tap off iron pipe under rig
  • How old is the regulator? Eight to ten years is about the max IMO.
  • I had to replace both the valve and one pigtail (did both), to stop the leak. This is on a 2 year old TT. when I drained a tank after just one day on a heater (barely used), I went looking for the leaks.
  • wopachop wrote:
    Been chasing an intermittent propane leak. I think it must be my regulator, but i have not found a place making soapy bubbles. I will pressurize the system and then close the propane valve and watch the dial. Sometimes it will lose pressure in 2 minutes. Other times it will hold pressure all night long. Ive tried setting the regulator to different positions and cant seem to make it leak enough that i can confirm with soapy bubbles before buying a new regulator. 
    Do you think maybe its leaking at the ACME nut instead? I recently bought 2 new hoses which i hoped would solve my problem. (both hoses would leak slightly). I noticed the new ACME nuts sure felt hard to turn on both hoses. Spraying soapy water everywhere i cant find the leak. 








    WHAT do you mean by that highlighted statement??


    LP leaks
    Probably that 'gauge' (really useless cause they work on pressure and the cylinder will have pressure until almost empty---10#)
    1st Stage Vent....small pencil size hole in body
    2nd Stage Vent....1/2" hole in body
    Body Crimp areas
    Pigtail...bushing/hose connection on backside of ACME Nut
    *How hard of a bend is in that pigtail (reg to cylinder should be a easy swooping bend NOT tight curve)

    Hard to tell from PIC
    That big knob (haven't seen one like that)....should POINT towards the cylinder in service NOT Up/Down like in PIC
    What brand Reg is that?


    LP Portable Leak Detector (sniffer) are inexpensive and WILL find very small leaks (roughly $33 or less) and No Messy Soap Residue
    *Small leaks may NOT produce visible bubbles
  • Howdy!

    I had a propane leak I could not find using he typical method of soaping and checking for bubbles. I ended up purchasing a Leak Sniffer Detector on Amazon and found the leak right away.

    Propane leak sniffer detoctor

    “Happy Trails”
    Chiefneon
  • Look for a very small vent hole in the regulator. If the membrane in the regulator is leaking, the propane will escape thru that hole. My regulator was turned in a position I could not see the vent hole and could not get soapy water on it. Therefore no bubbles. Took the regulator off and there was oily residue around that vent. Replaced the regulator and all good.
  • I had the same issue and replaced one hose and the regulator. Then decided to replace the other hose. Problem solved. The hoses will start to leak around the crimps as well as the regulator around the diaphragm. I could smell the leak but could not find it using leak detector. The hoses were getting a little "crispy" anyway so it was prudent to replace them with the regulator.
    Curly
  • Happened to me last week
    Ours turned out to be a missing washer in the hose that attaches to the propane tank

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