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Old 05-09-2014, 06:59 PM   #1
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2002 19' Bambi
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help

My airstream has been sitting for about a year.... I currently live in Asheville moved from colorado. I smelled propane outside my camper about a month ago and checked the tanks one was open so I shut it off. I am assuming it had been open since last May but have been in and out of the camper and didn't smell anything. Today I went into the camper and it REAKED of propane? I don't understand because both of the tanks have been shut off for over a month. Can anyone give me any suggestions as to what to do or what the problem could be. Help please!
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Old 05-09-2014, 07:00 PM   #2
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Are you sure it is the fragrance from the LP, and not possibly a dead animal?
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Old 05-09-2014, 07:02 PM   #3
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humm i am pretty sure. I am very sensitive to the smell of propane. I can still smell a slight smell coming from the tanks outside too.
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Old 05-09-2014, 07:36 PM   #4
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If you are sure it is LP, you will smell it a lot more when the tanks are almost empty. Has the LP detector sounded an alarm?
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Old 05-09-2014, 08:16 PM   #5
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If it smells like ammonia your fridge just bit the dust. Is the pilot light not lit on the stove and leaking gas?
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Old 05-10-2014, 06:27 AM   #6
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My fridge went out a couple years ago so I know what ammonia smells like. I haven't checked the tanks to see if they are empty? The smell is so strong i keep going back to a leak. Since the tanks have been shut off there is no pilot light lit and the detector never went off, I am assuming, because there is not power to the camper right now? I am going to try the spray bottles and see if there is a leak. I guess I am just confused because the tanks have been shut off so can they still make the inside of the camper smell so bad?
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Old 05-10-2014, 08:28 AM   #7
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I would remove the tanks, air out the trailer and then check all the fittings. After about 5 years, I noticed a propane smell when I opened up the tank cover on the tongue of our 2006. I had a loose fitting on one of the hoses.

Reinstall the tanks and open the valves then start checking things with the soapy solution. There are many reasons why you could have a leak. Shutting off the valves at the tanks should eliminate everything. I am confused by your situation. You could have bad valves on the tanks but having both of them bad is highly unlikely. You could have a leak in the line somewhere, a bad pilot light in the oven, a bad valve in the fridge, but you removed that, a bad valve in the water heater or some combination of all of these. Please keep us posted when you find the problem.
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Old 05-10-2014, 08:53 AM   #8
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It is also possible that one or both of the tank valves are leaking through and not out to the atmosphere. During 38 years with the local natural gas company I have replaced hundreds of valves because they were leaking through. In any case find the leak before you turn on any lights or light any gas appliance. Propane is heavier than air and will collect in low spots. You might want to have the tanks pressure tested just to make sure that the tanks themselves are not leaking.
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Old 05-10-2014, 02:46 PM   #9
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Maybe you are smelling a dying battery. Are you plugged in? I find a dead battery under charge smells a lot like LPG. Jim
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Old 05-10-2014, 03:16 PM   #10
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I would check the fridge LP fitting then the stove (and burners) and furnace. You said it was closed but perhaps the residual pressure slowly released it into the camper
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Old 05-10-2014, 04:15 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zigzagguzzi View Post
Maybe you are smelling a dying battery. Are you plugged in? I find a dead battery under charge smells a lot like LPG. Jim
That is what happened to us on our last trip. We kept getting a wiff of something foul like sewage or a gas leak. Checked the tanks and they where closed, looked all around the trailer for some kind of sewage leak but found none. Then it hit me a sulfur smell like from a battery. Sure enough, opened the battery door and wow, it was cooking! Could not keep my hand on the one side it was so hot. Disconnected the fried battery and all was good, no more smell. Taught me another good lessen, even though the battery monitor showed the batteries being good, take them out every few months to top off the water.
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