Propane problem with pressure

[minndonn]

I am having a problem getting the propane pressure in the fishhouse. The two stage regulator will not go to green and the pressure if any is weak. I have tried two new regulators, all the same, 5 propane tanks and 3 different hoses. Any Ideas?

[MJBaldwin]

Have you tried it it with nothing connected to see if propane comes out? if it is coming out must be something in the house.....

[minndonn]

I have tried it with no hoses attached. It let a small amount of gas out but still did not got into the green.

[mnhunter2]

Try a 30# or larger tank, in this cold weather the 20# can be a problem.

[blue_healer_guy]

i agree, cold and a 20lber dont mix.

[MJBaldwin]

With out a doubt if your just using a 20 lb tank that wont be enough 30 at the smallest...

[minndonn]

I had the tanks inside so they were not that cold. Had the regulator inside also. Tried it with the tanks inside.

[Smoker]

Try turning the tank on and leave it sit for a couple min. with out any thing else turned on. I have had alot of tanks I had to do that with and I was told it is a safty thing in the tanks.

[limited out]

make sure your regulator vent is not clogged up. Also could have clogged gas lines. We've had a 15,000 BTU empire that has never seemed to get the pressure it needed. We tried eveything from cleaning the lines to cleaning the thermal coupler. I know others that have had this problem with some Empire heaters. Eventually, just bought a suburban heater which is nice but runs on a battery.

[gregg52]

i could give you another idea or 2

but i would suggest maybe talking with somebody at a propane dealer

rather than taking advice on here

propane is rather dangerous and i dont think any here is quafied to tell really what to (i dont think maybe some one works with it but it doesnt sound like it to me)

a couple things i learned this past summer was that for heating purposes

on our melter 20 lb tank was better than 30 cuz they put out more pressure and did you know that propane inside a tank is 44 below zero

these were told to me by people who work with it for a living

becareful is all i'm saying

[Wanderer]

I am having a problem getting the propane pressure in the fishhouse. The two stage regulator will not go to green and the pressure if any is weak. I have tried two new regulators, all the same, 5 propane tanks and 3 different hoses. Any Ideas?

It sounds like you've changed just about everything. Greg is right about taking this up with a qualified propane dealer, they can probably figure it out fairly quick.

I do have a question about the five tanks though. How fresh are they? A tank can lose it's prime and have to be purged and refilled. I just had a full 20 not able to push any gas out last weekend. The furnace was cutting out on low pressure and when I went to the tank I could actually hear the liquid propane boiling inside (the tank was outside the camper @ -20 or so).

If the tanks have been sitting around or are old, have them checked.

[clownshack]

I have had problems with the new tank safety valves. Make sure there is nothing on,like the stove, oven, or furnace. Then try to slowly open the tank valve.

Shot in the dark anyway.

[fishinmedic]

I was going to chime in and say the same thing. When I hook up my bulk #20 tank to my buddy heater, I slowly (and I mean slowly) open the valve. If you do not do this slow enough, most of the tank valves see this as a purge in gas and slow to a trickle, so gas will get out, but not enough to actually do anything.

I first encountered this with a gas grill and did my research on the project then. It has to do with the OPD valve actually having distinct functions. Most grill intructions mention this.

Ok, now to help you out. The problem mostly manifests itself when the tank isn't completely full. So this has worked for me. Hook up the heater, slowly open the valve. If your heater doesn't light, turn the tank off, unscrew the hose and let it sit for a minute or two, hook it back up and slowly open the tank again. YOu have to realize that sometimes it takes alot of gas to purge the line.

[MJBaldwin]

I used to work at a propane dealership in the Cities. If those are twenty pound tanks the OPD valve can get stuck if you have a POL wheel to screw onto the tank that could be a problem unscrew that and put back on open tank very slow. I have seen those go bad quite often very easy to replace on the pigtail from the dual regulator. That is one suggestions if you think the tank's OPD valve is stuck you can turn it upside down and drop it a few times to relese that OPD valve on the inside of the tank. Those are two posibilities that I would think could restrict the gas flow that you are are not getting. I have read that you replaces the regulator which could have been part of it but I would try the POL wheel either green or black that connects to the tank.

[fishnhooks]

Sounds like a similar problem that I had the other week. Tried a new reg and all. Found out both hoses coming from each tank to the reg were bad.

[bbqhead]

Dont matter if it is a 5pounder or a 100.. they all have the same pressure..

Dont know where some of this info posted came from. Yes 20 pounders and cold

do mix.

randy

[Eelpout08]

exactly- the only difference between tank sizes is capacity. sounds like you have replaced everything you could so whatever is left is the problem! probly best now to find someone with the right diagnostic tools (mainly a pressure gauge) to figure it out for you. I would start right after the regulator and check pressure, if that checks out keep moving down the line untill you find the bad link. maybe a gas line is kinked somewhere.

[bbqhead]

Call Wayne at Mikes LP in Maplewood, He knows his stuff! Otherwise if

you can bring it to St Paul I could check it for you.

randy

[boatfixer]

Dont matter if it is a 5pounder or a 100.. they all have the same pressure..

Dont know where some of this info posted came from. Yes 20 pounders and cold

do mix.

randy

If you do a search on propane vaporizing rates, you will see that tank size, %volume and temperature all have a very significant role in correct operation. Yes, without a load or draw the pressure is the same. However as soon as a demand is there and BTU load increases, the smaller tank will not be able to keep up with the required vaporization rate in order to sustain the adequate pressure that the appliance needs to operate correctly.