Propane tank question.

My trailer is set up for only a single propane tank so it is really important to know the propane level. I use a translucent fiberglass tank from Viking Cylinders. It is not so easy to discern the propane level in bright daylight, but when the ambient light level darkens, shining a flashlight into the propane from the rear of the tank makes the level quite visible:


Bruce

camperpaul wrote:

bguy wrote:
Just leave one tank valve closed while you use the other tank. When your propane goes out, switch tanks. You now know you will always have 20lb propane in reserve. Now you go fill the empty tank.

That can work in the warmer months but if you are boondocking in Winter and the first tank runs out at two o'clock in the morning and you have to get up, get dressed, go outside into the blizzard to switch tanks it gets rather inconvenient.

I know what you mean, because MOST everyone goes camping in a blizzard

I use my left tank as my primary tank and the right tank is the secondary. If the primary is low and I know I will run the heater during the night I'll switch over to the secondary before going to bed and back to the primary in the morning.
Once the primary is empty I switch to secondary until I get the primary filled. I'll reinstall the full tank to the right and move the used secondary to the left. Now he is the primary and my secondary is full. Start the process over again.

This has been my system from day one (20+ years) and I'm sticking to it.

+1

camperpaul wrote:

bguy wrote:
Just leave one tank valve closed while you use the other tank. When your propane goes out, switch tanks. You now know you will always have 20lb propane in reserve. Now you go fill the empty tank.

That can work in the warmer months but if you are boondocking in Winter and the first tank runs out at two o'clock in the morning and you have to get up, get dressed, go outside into the blizzard to switch tanks it gets rather inconvenient.

poppin_fresh wrote:

KD4UPL wrote:
There are various gauges and non of them work very well.
I would assume your trailer has an automatic change-over regulator, most do. Connect both tanks, aim the "service" valve toward one of them. You should see a green marker in the clear display window of the regulator. When the service tank is empty the regulator will switch to the other tank and then the marker will show red. This tells you you need to remove the tank the "service" valve is still pointing too and get it refilled.

Ahhh...is that how it works? I saw my indicator went red on the last trip, but the "supply" arrow was still pointing to the right tank.

I was assuming the arrow would flip when the supply changed, but in the back of my head couldn't figure out mechanically how it would work. Now I get it and it totally makes sense.

Thanks for the lesson...guess I better go fill a tank!

I have used this system for years without a problem. Start with two full tanks. Open both valves and note which way the "switch" is pointed. When the glass shows red the switchover with happen automatically but the "switch" will not move. Turn off the valve to the empty tank, turn the switch to the full tank and remove the empty one and refill it. Reinstall the tank and open the valve and you are ready to go.

Those who don't trust this system simply wait for their tank to run empty and then go out and open the backup tank. This is a great system to insure that you will not run completely out of propane. It isn't such a good system when the tank empties in the middle of a cold,dark and rainy night.

Using the automatic switch over could get you in a spot where you run completely out of propane but only if you are not paying attention to the little glass indicator. Both systems are good, it will just depend on how you like to run things.

If you buy a Pressure gauge it only tells Pressure in the tank so they are useless as you can tell when it's ety anyway. Buy a 3rd tank and keep it filled and you should never run out of propane.

KD4UPL wrote:
There are various gauges and non of them work very well.
I would assume your trailer has an automatic change-over regulator, most do. Connect both tanks, aim the "service" valve toward one of them. You should see a green marker in the clear display window of the regulator. When the service tank is empty the regulator will switch to the other tank and then the marker will show red. This tells you you need to remove the tank the "service" valve is still pointing too and get it refilled.

Ahhh...is that how it works? I saw my indicator went red on the last trip, but the "supply" arrow was still pointing to the right tank.

I was assuming the arrow would flip when the supply changed, but in the back of my head couldn't figure out mechanically how it would work. Now I get it and it totally makes sense.

Thanks for the lesson...guess I better go fill a tank!

I just use the auto change over regulator and don't worry about it. Having said that, the Truma LevelCheck is on my list of things to get when the price goes down a little more. When they get under $50 I will probably buy one.

My thought is... why pay for 100% refill when the tank is only 70% empty? Get a changeover device and done.

For me personally... I have a tank valve mounted gauge (only rough estimate) that I check once in awhile and when it goes empty I switch tanks. I have a small travel trailer with only one propane tank mounted. A changeover system is easy.

MNRon wrote:
I just read about the Truma LevelCheck, it sounds great until I saw that it was $100. When they get that technology down around $20 I'll consider it. It the meantime I'll do the switchover and/or hot water thing and generally not be as sure as I'd like to know my levels.

You can purchase it here for about $60.