Help needed with 1972 Shasta propane system

[drsolo]

I have a friend who was looking for a little old TT and I found this 1972 Shasta Compact for her up in the Wisconsin tundra. The guy who sold it said everything was working. I just had an RV savvy friend drop by to show me how to light the furnace. He swapped out a full propane tank for one of the empty ones. Went to light it up and it keeps "flaming out". Only one burner keeps going at a time and it isnt very high.

The seller said the tanks were configured so when one went out the other could be manually turned on instead of an automatic configuration. So one full tank should push enough gas thru, right? We did wait a good while to make sure the lines were purged.

Anybody have any idea what is going on, what we should check next? TIA

[Old-Biscuit]

Dtaylor wrote:
One of the times I had a propane tank filled, the guy used the screw on side of valve and vented tank, basically overfilling it. That tank would not work on my camper until some of the propane was used out of the tank. (I use a larger tank to refill my 1lb. bottles)I do not know if the older regulators are like that.

Using that 'screw' is proper method of filling a propane cylinder.

Screw opens a bleed off tube that is set to 80% level.
When liquid starts to spurt out you close bleed screw & close valve---tank filled to proper 80% level.

[Caveman_Charlie]

drsolo wrote:

wrenchbender wrote:
Had one of those TT for 14 yrs.A word of wisdom, after you get the propane problem solved reseal the clearance lights.

??? what are the clearance lights?

The little orange and red lights around the top and sides of the camper.

That's what I call them too though I'm sure they have a official and overly complicated real name.

[drsolo]

wrenchbender wrote:
Had one of those TT for 14 yrs.A word of wisdom, after you get the propane problem solved reseal the clearance lights.

??? what are the clearance lights?

[Dtaylor]

One of the times I had a propane tank filled, the guy used the screw on side of valve and vented tank, basically overfilling it. That tank would not work on my camper until some of the propane was used out of the tank. (I use a larger tank to refill my 1lb. bottles)I do not know if the older regulators are like that.

[Old-Biscuit]

Just because it's a 'single stage' doesn't mean other downstream regulators have been used.

Many single stage reduce cylinder pressure directly to 11" WC output pressure (> 1/2#)

Such single stage regulators are readily available for $20


Until you start having delivery issues (or it leaks) with that regulator I would just use it.
Then when time comes replace with appropriate regulator....single stage if fridge, water heater, furnace have individual regs (probably not) or a 2 stage reg.

[westend]

If the propane system is working and the regulator is delivering enough gas to all the appliances, leave the current regulator in place. Many trailers of this age just used a single stage regulator at the gas bottle and any further regulation was done with another regulator at he appliance. If you replace a single stage regulator with a newer two-stage regulator, you may have issues.

[wrenchbender]

Had one of those TT for 14 yrs.A word of wisdom, after you get the propane problem solved reseal the clearance lights.

[drsolo]

UPDATE: We went out and tried the "open slowly" and light the stove top burners.... AND IT WORKED!!!! I looked at the "pigtails" closely and they look new. The hose from the regulator to the trailer looks good, altho difficult to see. Here is the regulator named "LEGUITT Co." I cant find it anywhere to replace it. It does look like a single stage regulator???

But here is the problem. The <$30 two stage regulators like Campco, etc. have a terrible reputation for falling apart. Then the price jumps to over $100. Now I appreciated old stuff. My sports car is 1992, my RVan is 1992, my furnace is much older and they all work really well. So any direct knowledge of how great this regulator was in the first place? Thanks for everyone's help.

[Old-Biscuit]

drsolo wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Light off all 3 stove top burners on high to get propane flow and place regulator in service (establish a demand)
...couldnt do that, could barely get one turned on and lit. Flame was blue and very low. When we turned on a second burner the first one started pulsing and went out.



Stove top burners will give you a good indication of propane flow and regulator.
... so what does it mean? The propane tank is full (it weighs 35.5 lbs)

In some of your pictures you have questions and or ???
The roof vent on left side---that is fridge exhaust vent (lower one on side allows air in that flows upward across backside of fridge and out top) Good air flow draft) needed for proper cooling of fridge
The ?? in side picture (door, stove vent & furnace exhaust vent)
The item in ?? is the door stop/latch. Push door fully open and it will press into round latch on bottom of door to hole it open.
... THANKS!!!

Propane system.....
I would replace regulator and pigtail hoses with new
... will do that.

The low flame...flame going out means very little propane flow due to check valve not fully opening (open cylinder slowly....ball check valve in green ACME nut can close off if cylinder valved in too quickly)
OR
the regulator is just bad.

You can try valving cylinder out (closed) and then slowly open valve and retry stove top burners
BUT I would replace regulator on that vintage of trailer and closely inspect hoses for cracks/deterioration.
Pigtail hoses should go from cylinders to regulator.
then one hose should go from regulator under trailer to hard pipe that runs to various appliances then hose or copper piping to the appliance.

[drsolo]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Light off all 3 stove top burners on high to get propane flow and place regulator in service (establish a demand)
... couldnt do that, could barely get one turned on and lit. Flame was blue and very low. When we turned on a second burner the first one started pulsing and went out.

Stove top burners will give you a good indication of propane flow and regulator.
... so what does it mean? The propane tank is full (it weighs 35.5 lbs)

In some of your pictures you have questions and or ???
The roof vent on left side---that is fridge exhaust vent (lower one on side allows air in that flows upward across backside of fridge and out top) Good air flow draft) needed for proper cooling of fridge
The ?? in side picture (door, stove vent & furnace exhaust vent)
The item in ?? is the door stop/latch. Push door fully open and it will press into round latch on bottom of door to hole it open.
... THANKS!!!

Propane system.....
I would replace regulator and pigtail hoses with new
... will do that.

[drsolo]

OMG, I completely forgot about trying to get the frig running. I knew there was something I was forgetting.
- The previous owner said everything was working this summer.
- OK, so the regulator is old. It is the kind that just turn the bottle on and gas flows, no switch it this way or that. But it might be a very good idea to just replace the regulator anyway. And replace the lines as well. One question ... do those lines connect up outside the cabin or go all the way into the cabin?
- My friend suggested I get the old propane tank refilled and then put that on see if that works. But I will try to open them slowly and just light the stove at first.

We will get back out there this weekend and report back.

[Old-Biscuit]

Light off all 3 stove top burners on high to get propane flow and place regulator in service (establish a demand)

How do the flames look?
Strong steady good flame color (blue with just tingle of yellow tips)
OR are they lazy, pulsating, different sizes, yellowish etc.

Stove top burners will give you a good indication of propane flow and regulator.


In some of your pictures you have questions and or ???
The roof vent on left side---that is fridge exhaust vent (lower one on side allows air in that flows upward across backside of fridge and out top)
Good air flow draft) needed for proper cooling of fridge

The ?? in side picture (door, stove vent & furnace exhaust vent)
The item in ?? is the door stop/latch. Push door fully open and it will press into round latch on bottom of door to hole it open.

Propane system.....
I would replace regulator and pigtail hoses with new

[Caveman_Charlie]

Cute little RV. I'd be surprised if the fridge works but, it might there are stranger things.

I agree, make sure you have the valve for the propane turned the right way. Open the tank slowly. Fire up the stove first to make sure the propane is flowing well. If the stove works and the furnace doesn't then you have a furnace problem. If the stove doesn't seem to fire up very high either then it is probably the regulator. No matter what make sure the regulator isn't leaking and that the flexible lines attached to the regulator look good. At that age of TT that regulator and lines could be bad and you don't want propane leaking at them.

[wrgrs50s]

The regulator may have gone bad. If it's very old I would replace it.

As the previous post stated, sometimes if you open the valve on the bottle too quickly it will automatically close off the valve, scensing there is a leak from the propane quickly passing through the empty lines. The solution is to close the valve and give a few seconds, then re-open it very slowly.

You might get the second bottle filled and see if it works to rule out any issue with the current bottle. If that does'nt work It's probably the regulator.

Another thought, make sure the pointer on the regulator is pointing at the bottle you are trying to use.