New guy with a problem

...you may have air in your gas lines appliance-side (~ 0.5 LBS after regulator, so may take time to purge the appliance-side lines). Also, when you turn on the gas at the tank, turn it on verrry slowly, so pressure can equalize across the POL valve.

Our gas filler (I have our tanks filled at the gas company facility, where they know what they are doing), they always bleed for a few seconds after the fill (not because the tank is overfilled).

We have exactly the same horizontal tank you have. Never an issue.

OBXcamper wrote:
Interesting.... I've used the exact hose I linked to, with black knob, many time at hunt camp with a verticle tank on the ground.(I already had the hose to run a portable heater). I also used the "steak saver" adapter as linked. Never had a problem running the furnace. Maybe I just got lucky. Thanks for pointing that out though as I don't like posting bad info.

Quite possible, what you were running, didn't have the demand to over task the flow from the black knob. Industrial term for that knob is ACME nut.

The black one is rated for 70,000 BTU's. The green one is rated for 200,000 BTU. Red one is rated for 400,000 BTU.

Here's a link to a green one on Amazon.

handye9 wrote:

OBXcamper wrote:

Amazon,
Hose

Adapter

Or a welding supply could probably make you one.

Be aware, there is a color coding on the knobs for propane lines. The line in the Amazon link above, has a black knob.
Look at OP's picture, you'll see his horizontal tank hooked up to a line with a green knob.

Those color differences are based on flow rates.

Black -- Low flow commonly seen on BBQ grills and small space heaters.
Green -- Medium flow commonly used on RV's
Red -- High flow commonly used on large space heaters / furnaces.

I learned this by doing exactly what OP intends to do. That is a vertical tank sitting on the ground, with a hose and adapter going into the camper propane system. It worked as far as lighting a small flame on the stove, but, there was not enough gas flow to operate more than one stove burner. The water heater and furnace would not operate at all.

Changed that black knob (AKA handle) to a green one and all is well.

I purchased all the parts on ebay or picked them up at Ace hardware, and made the line myself.

Interesting.... I've used the exact hose I linked to, with black knob, many time at hunt camp with a verticle tank on the ground.(I already had the hose to run a portable heater). I also used the "steak saver" adapter as linked. Never had a problem running the furnace. Maybe I just got lucky. Thanks for pointing that out though as I don't like posting bad info.

OBXcamper wrote:

Amazon,
Hose

Adapter

Or a welding supply could probably make you one.

Be aware, there is a color coding on the knobs for propane lines. The line in the Amazon link above, has a black knob.

Look at OP's picture, you'll see his horizontal tank hooked up to a line with a green knob.

Those color differences are based on flow rates.

Black -- Low flow commonly seen on BBQ grills and small space heaters.
Green -- Medium flow commonly used on RV's
Red -- High flow commonly used on large space heaters / furnaces.

I learned this by doing exactly what OP intends to do. That is a vertical tank sitting on the ground, with a hose and adapter going into the camper propane system. It worked as far as lighting a small flame on the stove, but, there was not enough gas flow to operate more than one stove burner. The water heater and furnace would not operate at all.

Changed that black knob (AKA handle, AKA ACME nut) to a green one and all is well.

I purchased all the parts on ebay or picked them up at Ace hardware, and made the line myself.

Reddog1 wrote:
You got it on the photos.

As I recall, it was not required to change to non-OPD valves on horizontal tanks because the valve would not work properly. If your tank has been retrofitted with the OPD valve, that could be the issue.

I understand the new Horizontal tanks have the OPD valve, but it is designed differently than the first OPD valves used on vertical tanks.

I have no less than nineteen 5-gallon vertical tanks. Eleven are on equipment and eight are spare tanks. I have been using the OPD tanks since they first came out. None have ever had a sticking valve. I haven't used a horizontal tank since the OPD valves came out.

I'm thinking I pointed this out earlier.

"... He checked the number on the new valve and said he thinks it's the wrong one. He kept the tank and said he can fix the problem. ..."

I took the camper with the propane tank back to the place where I had the new valve installed. I talked to a manager who says he is sure the problem is not in the camper but is in the tank.
He checked the number on the new valve and said he thinks it's the wrong one. He kept the tank and said he can fix the problem. We will see.
He also is making me a 6' long jumper hose to connect a vertical tank sitting on the ground to the camper connection.

Hope all this works.
Michael

Last summer I had a problem with the hose between the tank and regulator. Flow was intermittent. Sometimes it appeared to be normal, then the next I had no flow at all. At some point the hose had been kinked and I'm guessing something internal separated. That, or some hoses have a back flow preventer and perhaps that was malfunctioning. I only know that a new hose cured my problem. I suppose a very unsafe test would be to close the valve on the bottle, remove the hose from the regulator but leave it attached to the bottle, then slowly turn the valve on at the bottle. If you get flow, it's probably not the hose. If you don't, there ya go. Ideally, you could test the hose with compressed air, but without the proper fittings... Just don't smoke while doing the test with the bottle.

This is too wierd.
I just went out and tried the propane again. It has been 4 days.
Now everything works.

Could this be a regulator adjustment issue?
There is a black plastic knob on the regulator that is turned all the way it can go clockwise.
Does this mean it is all the way open?

Could too much propane be flowing and eventually a safty kicks in shutting down the system?

Thanks,
Michael

On second thought, I think that black cap is just a threaded cover for an adjustment screw.

pjay9 wrote:
I had Horizontals in my Lance...they worked very well. You do need to keep the fittings clean and make sure the seats are good, and any rubber bits not worn. At 2009 it should be hand tighten type, if not make sure you tighten everything. Also you said it has new stuff...did you do that? It may be best to go see a good dealer, the new stuff could be bad or maybe not the correct unit, not likely but starnger things...

Post some pics of the tanks and the new bits.

Good luck and don't give up on those tanks, once they work, I think you'll like them. I wish I had them on my present TC.

BTW is the a 150 Yamajammer hanging on that sleek craft?

Here are some pics of the setup. The tank weighed 37 lbs. when it was full. I have not weighed it since then but I have had it out and shook it around. There is about half left.

Yes, that is a Yamaha 150 four stroke on our boat. We love to fish.

We have the same set up in our Arrow, the guages are not very accurate,

I cant remember the error trend in the gauges, did you weigh the tank you think is 1/2 full to see how much propane is still in the tank to determine the if it is just a guage reading incorrectly?

I think our guages read about 1/2 tank error...