Cold and Propane

[MTBMark]

So this weekend I was up at the ski resort with my trailer and had a bizarre propane issue.

Set up Friday evening and everything is fine. Hot water, furnace stove fridge.

Sat morning the furnace won't fire. Water heater pilot has gone out too. Stove still works, but when the furnace tries to fire the flame drops to near nothing.
Switch tanks and everything is fine.

Sun morning exact same thing has happened. Switch tanks back and everything is fine again.

Wasn't super cold maybe down to 25 degrees, I have been colder without a problem, and not super high, the base is only around 5000 feet.

Any ideas? This is a first for me.

Thanks

[jdalrymple]

Propane is stored in the tanks as liquid and vapor.

Appliances burn vapor.

The liquid boils into vapor to maintain equilibrium, based on ambient temperature.

As ambient temp and the pressure inside the tank drop, it takes longer for the liquid propane to boil to equilibrium. At low outside temps, the rate is no longer enough to meet the demand of the appliances.

When you switch tanks, you are moving to an idle tank that has had time to boil and create vapor at enough pressure to meet the demand.


Put a 100 watt light buib inside the cover with your tanks, near the top, to heat the vapor space and keep pressures up.



Regards,


JD

[HowieE]

Propane boils off to vapor and under extreme cold that does not happen.

[OTRA15]

How old is your propane setup, especially the regulator? That might need replacing IMO. More details will probably help you get better advice.

YodaBuddha's recent thread about camping in extreme cold is a good read FYI, and he did not report any similar issues:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f462...ng-161869.html

Good luck!

Peter

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by HowieE

Propane boils off to vapor and under extreme cold that does not happen.

I don't think the evaporation process stops, but rather slows down IMO, at the normal range of temps which the OP reports.

[MTBMark]

So what is weird is both tanks were just filled, and when I switched the tank the second time it was back to the original tank. Plus it wasn't that cold out, and it has worked without an issue in the past. Do the tanks "re-pressurize" when not in use? Could something else in the system be failing, like the regulator?

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

How old is your propane setup, especially the regulator? That might need replacing IMO.
. . .

Possibly, yes, the regulator may need replacing. It is a common thing and can happen randomly without warning.

You could also try turning off both tanks, then open one valve very very slowly. Opening the valve too quickly can activate the regulator's safety feature which detects an open propane line (sometimes in error).

[jdalrymple]

Another issue that may cause what you describe is that all vendors do not sell the same mixes of LPG. The mix you have now may have more butane, which will change the effects of cold outside temps.