Excessive propane usage

[Trlrboy]

I had one of my propane tanks go empty. There was a faint smell of propane when I opened the door to take it out for refill. I turned the knob to the other tank and made sure I had propane flowing. After two weeks without using the propane except for the stove, that tank went empty and again the smell of propane. Is it possible I have a leak somewhere and if so how do I find it?

[Dr__Blake]

A friends RV had a break in the line under the trailer itself. When the factory installed the line and the claps holding it in place they by accident set it up so it was binding. I guess enough time on the road the metal fatiqued and cracked at one of the joins. It was leaking out of the crack and drained to tanks fairly quickly. Replaced the broken line and made sure to fix the binding and he has had no other issues I am aware of.

Might be worth checking under the trailer...

[TurnThePage]

Since it drained both tanks, sounds like the regulator to me. Mine acted just like that when it went bad.

[BigRabbitMan]

old guy wrote:
I moved the hose a little bit and I heard the hiss and the bubbles showed up.

When checking for leaks, this is a good practice. While soaping each connection, wiggle hoses and look for bubbles. Also wiggle the hoses that attach to the regulator while soaping the regulator.

Since you smelled something, you DO have a leak. That is why they put the smelling agent into the propane. You just need to find the leak.

[old_guy]

I had the same problem with my tanks, turned out it was the short hose that was leaking. the leak was right at the crimp strap on the hose, you couldn't see it but the soap finally found it. by that I mean I put soap on it and no bubbles, I moved the hose a little bit and I heard the hiss and the bubbles showed up.

[Clay_L]

I used soapy water to check for leaks until I bought a bottle of leak detector form an RV store many years ago. Does a better job in my opinion.

[2oldman]

Yeah, a pretty big leak.

[wildtoad]

Yep, different situation but had to replace regulator this year due to leaking. Smelled gas coming from under MH.

[CavemanCharlie]

past-MIdirector wrote:
Check your regulator for leakage usually the most come problem and line connections.

Those regulators do go bad. They are after all just basically a rubber diaphragm with a spring pushing on it. The rubber gets stiff and cracks after enough years.

[past-MIdirector]

Check your regulator for leakage usually the most come problem and line connections.

[donn0128]

Spray bottle filles with a mixture of liquid soap and water. Spray it on everything liberally and look for bubbles. Bubbles tells you of a leak.