oil in propane line

[12th_Man_Fan]

I noticed this morning that one of my foot pads was covered in oil. Suspecting a hydraulic fluid leak from the cylinder I found the red propane regulator leaking oil.

When I removed the regulator there was a fair amount of oil that blew out.

My question is, is there supposed to be that much oil in the propane system? Just got back from 2.5 months trip and had no isssues with it so I guess thisis normal but it surprised me.

[allen8106]

dougrainer wrote:

12th Man Fan wrote:
Regulator was ordered long before this post. My question was about what I felt was an unusual amount of oil in the line. this was the red regulator by the way.

The RED regulator is a HIGH pressure to lower pressure regulator BEFORE it gets to your main regulator. The usual Tank LP pressure is about 150 PSI. The Red regulator takes that HI PRESSURE and drops it to about 20 PSI to make the run to your regular 2 stage LP regulator. The reason is, since they run a remote LP line, you do not want that line to fail and have 150 PSI LP exhausting to the area around your RV. This set up is usually where you have the extra LP tank on the opposite side of the Main Tank system. Oil in the LP lines and regulator can be caused by dips in the feed lines from the tank, especially if they loop or cause a downward P trap in the feed lines. Oil will accumulate. So, once you have oil, you must repl;ace the affected regulator and it is best to take the affected lines loose and blow/clean out any residual oil. Then make sure you reroute your LP lines from the tanks to the Main regulator with no dips or loops. Remember, LP pressure is NOT measured in PSI in your RV. It is INCHES Water Column whish is 11.5 Inches WC which is about 1/3 of 1 PSI. Doug

I have a red one also but it's inline right before my drivers side LP bottle and feeds the auto changeover regulator. My passenger side tank feeds directly into into the auto changeover regulator. not sure why I have two regulators one feeds the other.

[red31]

http://www.gaslow.co.uk/pdf/Stainless_Steel_A4.pdf

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Some of it is odorant and some more of it is lubricant used for piping valves.
when your pot accumulates it to the point where is gains 5 pounds it is not easy to flush. I do not have the OPD blues but go way way (I mean, far) out into the desert and add a few quarts of solvent let it slosh back and forth, dig a hole and pour the liquid into the hole. Light it off then let it burn down. Pure sand no fire danger, then I refill the hole. Careful! One single drop of liquid on skin or clothes and you will radiate HAZMAT LEAK(!) for days.

[3_tons]

What is most often mistaken for oil in propane is actually sodium hydroxide (soda caustic) which is used to remove trace amounts of sulfer during the final scrubbing stage of commercial propane...Trace amounts may carry over during scrubbing, and to the touch it is uber viscous and indistinguishable from oil, but is corrosive...Over time this liquid caustic can accumulate in the belly of LPG transport rail cars, referred to as ‘heal’ and is purged out when rail cars are shopped for periodic inspection and servicing..

3 tons

[red31]

While propane may have some residual oil, I believe most comes from hose Plasticizer Contaminate. Warm weather causes high pressure in propane containers, the pigtail attached to the container to the red 30 psi regulator experiences this high pressure, 90F = ~150psi, 80F ~130psi, 60F ~90psi, this high pressure causes the plasticizer in the hose to leach into the hose.

https://www.propanecouncil.org/uploadedFiles/Council/Research_and_Development/FS_11297%20Propane%20F...

Gig em!

[rbrand]

Good information, dougrainer. Thanks

[dougrainer]

12th Man Fan wrote:
Regulator was ordered long before this post. My question was about what I felt was an unusual amount of oil in the line. this was the red regulator by the way.

The RED regulator is a HIGH pressure to lower pressure regulator BEFORE it gets to your main regulator. The usual Tank LP pressure is about 150 PSI. The Red regulator takes that HI PRESSURE and drops it to about 20 PSI to make the run to your regular 2 stage LP regulator. The reason is, since they run a remote LP line, you do not want that line to fail and have 150 PSI LP exhausting to the area around your RV. This set up is usually where you have the extra LP tank on the opposite side of the Main Tank system. Oil in the LP lines and regulator can be caused by dips in the feed lines from the tank, especially if they loop or cause a downward P trap in the feed lines. Oil will accumulate. So, once you have oil, you must repl;ace the affected regulator and it is best to take the affected lines loose and blow/clean out any residual oil. Then make sure you reroute your LP lines from the tanks to the Main regulator with no dips or loops. Remember, LP pressure is NOT measured in PSI in your RV. It is INCHES Water Column whish is 11.5 Inches WC which is about 1/3 of 1 PSI. Doug

[12th_Man_Fan]

Regulator was ordered long before this post. My question was about what I felt was an unusual amount of oil in the line. this was the red regulator by the way.

[drsteve]

What he said ^^^^^^ Regulator is toast. Replace.

[donn0128]

Yes, there is always a tiny ammout of oil in propane. If its dripping out you possibly have a failed/failing regulator. Do a leak test, but plan on replacing it.