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Micro leaks outside are probably not all that dangerous. After reading about leaks under the trailer—it was a year or two old at the time—I used soapy water for all the connections under the trailer. At one place, there were no bubbles, but a slight smell. I do not recommend this, but if the leak is really really small and there are no bubbles, a lighted match will find it. I close the tanks over the winter and that reduces leaks. I wrapped the propane lines with vinyl tubing—split it with a knife and attached it with pipe clamps. Reduced the chance of rocks breaking it.
You can put pipe tape on the threads. For gas, use the yellow pipe tape, not the white stuff, which is for water.
After a guy at a Pilot station overfilled one tank (I was sleepy I guess and didn't notice) I got a leak on that tank's pigtail—easy to see when ice forms around it. I bought pigtails with gauges and though I don't trust they are very accurate, it helps give me an idea of how full they are, perhaps slightly more accurate than lifting them up and guessing. After more than a decade of lifting them I got pretty good at knowing how full they were. Whenever one tank gets low or empty, I switch over to the other one and get the mostly emptier empty one filled. I am not all that good at that, but I get it pretty close. Pilot reimbursed me for more than one pigtail and wasted gas, so I came out pretty well. We have a 5¢ discount for Pilot gas, but I noted that the station across the road (Love's?) was cheaper than Pilot even with the discount. The overfill made me notice it. When we leave town going west in the spring, we stop at the junction of I-70 and the local bypass for propane and gasoline. When we go east, we stop at a propane dealer about 40 miles east of town and get gas at a supermarket 50 miles from home. If we go south or north, we will pass by one of them. I go through less than one tank a year because the trailer is so much more insulated than Airstream. We use very little propane for heat and have a dual fuel water heater. Above freezing, a little electric space heater works fine. Lasko makes just about every version of electric space heater you can imagine. We've used ours for 10 years in trailers and to keep the garage above 40˚ in the winter. That must be 3 or 4,000 hours per year x 10, so it is very reliable. I used to go through several tanks per year. Now campgrounds pay for our heat and hot water. No wonder they've raised prices!
The new pigtails were pretty cheap on Amazon(less than $20 I think) and that tells me they won't last.
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Gene
The Airstream is sold; a 2016 Nash 24M replaced it.
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