Propane leak at Water Heater

[kayt]

This past week I took the trailer out for a night and noticed a slight propane smell; when I went outside to check the water heater area there was a very obvious propane smell coming from the water heater. Needless to say I turned off the propane at the tanks. I am planning to take the trailer in to the Airstream Orange County repair shop tomorrow.

Is this a common occurrence for the water heater to begin leaking like this? Is there anything one can do to prevent leaks from starting, or is it just something that happens sometimes?

[switz]

If you have the copper tubing flare wrenches, check the fittings where the supply line attaches to the refrigerator, they might be loose due to time and vibration.

[Siegmann]

Get two small adjustable wrenches, cup of soapy water, and eye dropper or Q-tips. Turn off water heater. Turn on gas. Soap up gas line fittings. See bubbles? Use wrenches on both sides of fitting and tighten a very little bit. Repeat bubble test.

[HowieE]

Mix up some soapy water and paint the fittings leading to the gas valve and the valve itself. This should bubble at the leak.

It is most likely the flared nut at the valve and you can tighten it without going to a shop. if the valve body itself is leaking you need a shop

[TomKirk]

Check fittings for leaks with soapy water.

Additionally: Check brass fittings for proper tightness. If over-tightened, brass fittings can crack.

Q: Do you have a propane sniffer??

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=propane+sniffer

Tom

[Protagonist]

When troubleshooting, begin at the beginning—

Is the water heater line actually leaking propane, or is the heater just failing to ignite? Either one could lead to the smell of propane around the heater.

[crestonrv]

is it burning ? is there a spider web in tube ?
I often find the 2 stage valve leaking past when not on , possibly because they are exposed to the elements they are more apt to have problems with corrosion .
back in the day we took them apart and cleaned with zippo lighter fluid , usually did the trick . now , thanks to liability nobody fixes them we just get a new 1 (appx 150.00 ) the leaking past thing rarely leaks bad enough that you can smell it .
is enough however to fail a stand test.

[Siegmann]

Kayt, please come on back and tell us how you resolved this.

[kayt]

I took the airstream in to a service shop and they are replacing a valve in the water heater. Seems like it was bad enough to need to just be replaced. Looking forward to not having a gas smell anymore!

[Fred L]

In doing a search in the forums for "propane smell at water heater", I came across this thread, so thought it may be best to revitalize it.

Going back a bit, a few months ago I replaced both of my 11 yo propane tanks and while I was at it, i also replaced the pigtails and regulator.
When that was done, I used some soapy water and my wife joined with her very good nose to check and all seemed good.
A few weeks ago we took our first trip for 4 days and while sitting out in the afternoon my wife announced she smelled propane. We were sitting towards the mid back of our 23 Safari/D with the water heater a few feet away. We had full hook-up at the campground and showers around the corner, so I shut down the tanks.... but had never fired up the water heater.
After getting home, I parked the AS in the driveway, turned on the propane, filled the gas lines using the stove and went to start the water heater (tank is full of water). The burner ignited for 3 seconds and shut down. Tried a few times and all attempts had the same result.
I read on here that a flame igniting for a brief few seconds and shutting down is usually due to a thermocouple not being in the flame, so I checked for the brief seconds and it appears to be in the flame.

I had forgotten to shut off the tank after that last check and a week or so later my wife walked by the back of the AS and said "I smell propane again", so i went out at night and shut the tank off.

So this afternoon I went to try it again and plan was to put some soap on the propane fitting leading to the burner to see if that was leaking. I opened the propane cover to turn the propane on and the new tank that was filled a month ago and barely used, is now empty (regulator is red).

I opened the other tank (even though it is an auto change regulator, I sometimes and luckily this time, had turned the other full tank off, so it was full). I went back and painted some soapy solution on the fitting and could not find a leak.

Could it be a bad valve in the burner? Is that something I can take apart and clean? Would a bad valve allow a leak, but not enable full ignition?
I looked at replacing the whole burner assembly, but its about half the cost of a new water heater and at 11 years old, thinking I should just replace the whole thing. Unless I can fix it. Already have a number of things on the to do list, like installing my Easy Start and several other things, so would prefer fixing vs what would probably be a whole day of replacing the heater.

Thoughts appreciated.
(sorry for the lengthy post, but wanted to give as much background as I could)