Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos

Jamm3r wrote:
A few words on propane.

Like many of us I have the ASME 5 gallon tanks. I had one of them refilled at an RV repair place where I was having the C-11 sealtech tested. We went round and round on certification and stuff and he finally agreed to do it.

Anyway when he was done he must have stuck an O ring in there because the POL fitting leaked and when I went to figure it out, well, there was an O ring in there. I have the stock hard nose POLs and they are a metal-on-metal design and the O ring just ****s up the system.

I still had leaks and finally figured out that he removed the other tank and put it back even though it was full. No O ring but he didn't tighten the POL enough. These things have to be wrench tightened, and if you have little plastic handwheels on them like mine did when I got it, you should take them off.

So the pilot light for the furnace went out while he had the tanks out.

Anyway that was a couple of weeks ago and last night I wanted to run the furnace. Now I have the original gas valve still in there and always have a hell of a time getting it to work because it's so stiff it doesn't want to pop out, usually takes a few tries.

Well I got sloppy on the third try and while it was my fault for not doing everything the right way there was a bunch of gas that accumulated in there and I don't have nearly as much hair on my left arm now. It will grow back and I'm wearing long sleeve shirts for the next month :)

But I think it's high time to tear into the furnace and put in a new gas valve. Wondering if anyone has done it. It's a nice setup, really, sealed combustion, before it's time. More or less the same idea as the Dickenson propane fireplace. I ordered a new valve a few minutes ago. Looking at the furnace, I see that the bottom of the combustion chamber comes off with screws and I'm guessing the burner and pilot and everything is attached to that and will all come out. I'm going to take it all apart and try to fix some of the creaks and klunks while I'm in there.

Meanwhile, keep a close eye on the propane dealers, they don't know how to deal with POLs any more. And be careful lighting the pilot in the furnace, in that confined combustion chamber gas can accumulate if you're sloppy pushing the dial in.