Propane Smell

[mpfireman]

This goes back several months, Jan 2016. We store our fiver in our sons pole barn year round except when it is in use. But my grandson called us early on day stating that there was a very strong smell of propane in the shed. The only thing that i could think of was that i might have left one of the propane tanks on. But i also told him to open both overhead doors, Manual opening, Do not turn on any lights, and if they are on, do not turn them off. No sparks needed. He stated that one of the tanks was not turned off tightly. So i guess the task now will be to locate where this gas was leaking from. Our unit is 18 years old, but always kept under cover unless it is on the road and still looks good. In our younger days we took trips lasting 6 to 8 weeks, Camping in Canada, Alaska, Visiting over 20 of our national parks, from Main To California. So i guess i will be looking for this leak? in May when we go to the farm.
Glad we took all of those trips when we were younger.

[Old-Biscuit]

Kayteg1 wrote:
No, not theory, but factory standards.
Even on new trailer I did not smell propane, each time I was restarting it after 5 days, not only propane lines had no pressure, but were filled up with air.
Bleeding long lines with restarting refrigerator 20 times was pretty annoying.
Still the system passed reinspection.
My present camper has steel pipes outside and copper tubings inside, still when I turn the tanks off, the pressure indicator will go to red in matter of minutes.
Rubber hoses at the tank are my biggest suspect.

Designed to have small leaks........factory standards :H

Propane ....flammable gas.......designed leaks HUGE Liability

Leaks do occur but not by design. Components are mfg'd with the full intent of being reliable & not leaking.
Failures do happen but not by design.

RV propane system is only 0.4 psi (under half pound...less pressure than you use to blow a candle out)
When system is secured for extended period the regulator is closed (no demand)
When you go to use an appliance it takes time to re-establish FLOW and place a DEMAND in the regulator.

Designed to have small leaks.....factory standards.
That is a far fetched theory. Sorry but way too many years dealing with pressurized systems to buy into that line of thought.

[beemerphile1]

Most likely culprit is a stove or oven control that is slightly open/on.

[time2roll]

Kayteg1 wrote:
No, not theory, but factory standards.
Even on new trailer I did not smell propane, each time I was restarting it after 5 days, not only propane lines had no pressure, but were filled up with air.
Bleeding long lines with restarting refrigerator 20 times was pretty annoying.
Still the system passed reinspection.
My present camper has steel pipes outside and copper tubings inside, still when I turn the tanks off, the pressure indicator will go to red in matter of minutes.
Rubber hoses at the tank are my biggest suspect.

Mine did that for years. Occasionally smelled propane but could not find a leak.

After ten years I thought it was time to replace the regulator and pigtails. No more issues. Holds pressure for months.

I recommend Cavagna brand regulators and pigtails if you have a choice.

[vic46]

Kayteg1 wrote:
No, not theory, but factory standards.
Even on new trailer I did not smell propane, each time I was restarting it after 5 days, not only propane lines had no pressure, but were filled up with air.
Bleeding long lines with restarting refrigerator 20 times was pretty annoying.
Still the system passed reinspection.
My present camper has steel pipes outside and copper tubings inside, still when I turn the tanks off, the pressure indicator will go to red in matter of minutes.
Rubber hoses at the tank are my biggest suspect.

There appears to be more to this than meets the eye! I have used propane tanks and propane cylinders for years. I have never had to bleed any lines in motor home, trailer or BBQ. The only time I have encountered the propane odor has been immediately after filling a cylinder or once when the regulator on the motor home fixed tank went sideways. Propane systems are not designed to leak except in the case of an overfill which is clearly not what has occurred in this situation. There is a leak and obviously that leak needs to be tracked down and repaired.

[Boon_Docker]

I can not understand why a trailer manufacturer would design a trailer to have a propane leak.
If your fridge is on or water heater is on then the propane lines will bleed off, this would not be classified as a leak.

[Kayteg1]

No, not theory, but factory standards.
Even on new trailer I did not smell propane, each time I was restarting it after 5 days, not only propane lines had no pressure, but were filled up with air.
Bleeding long lines with restarting refrigerator 20 times was pretty annoying.
Still the system passed reinspection.
My present camper has steel pipes outside and copper tubings inside, still when I turn the tanks off, the pressure indicator will go to red in matter of minutes.
Rubber hoses at the tank are my biggest suspect.

[Boon_Docker]

Kayteg1 wrote:

djgarcia wrote:
Check to see if one or both of your tanks are empty. Tanks are designed to give off a egg sulphur smell when the tank is empty.

That is interesting theory 😉
RV systems are design to have small leaks.

That's an interesting theory also. 😉

[the_bear_II]

If the inside of the barn got extremely hot and / or the overflow valve wasn't shut all the way with the last fill it may leak propane.

Loose fittings and not shutting off the valve on one or both tanks is the most likely cause.

[Kayteg1]

djgarcia wrote:
Check to see if one or both of your tanks are empty. Tanks are designed to give off a egg sulphur smell when the tank is empty.

That is interesting theory 😉
RV systems are design to have small leaks. Even when I had new trailer and make warranty claim, the system passed the 10 minutes pressure test.
So having RV in closed storage, the smell could be just natural thing, but sure going at start of the season with spray bottle of soapy water is good idea.

[MrWizard]

Moved from technology

[MarkTwain]

Check to see if one or both of your tanks are empty. Tanks are designed to give off a egg sulphur smell when the tank is empty.

[Old-Biscuit]

One of the tanks not turned off tightly......

Then leak could be from around stem of packing gland on service valve. Service valves have double seats.....fully closes & fully open. In between packing seals the stem.

Course with an 18 yr old rig........
Pigtails between cylinders and regulator
Regulator itself
Feeder hose from regulator to distribution pipe
Any fitting on dist. pipe
Any supply line from dist pipe to an appliance
Any appliance gas valve

Go to any toy store/dollar general etc. and buy bottle of 'Bubbles' (kids use to blow bubbles with)
Spray bottle and couple cap fulls of bubbles.....valve in the cylinder that was left partially open and start spraying at cylinder working downstream.


Tiny bubble, in your barn....tiny bubbles makes you learn :B