Marshall 250 regulator failure

[nickcrowhurst]

At lunchtime today I was standing 20 yards from our Excella when the
propane regulator burst with a loud rushing sound of escaping
propane. I ran over, turned off both tanks, and by turning one on
slightly, found that the regulator was leaking around the tap that
switches the supply between tanks. There was no-one in the trailer,
and, fortunately, all the gas appliances and pilot lights were off.
The regulator is a Marshall model 250, purchased 11 months ago (as a
safety precaution!!), and fitted to two recently re-certified 30 lb
aluminum tanks with OPD valves.The regulator had not been touched
since it was fitted 11 months ago. This is obviosly very dangerous
and worrying. Has this occurred to others, and is there a safer
method of gas regulation? I have reported this to the Consumer Product Safety Commission by e-mail at info@cpsc.gov (also phone 800 638 2772). I have read the worrying reviews on the Camping World site. If anyone out there has had similar problems, a report to the CPSC will support a case for an inquiry. Thanks, from Nick Crowhurst.

[NewStreamer]

Nick,

First, welcome to this great forum.
Did you buy the regulator in England ? and the tanks ?
Maybe you overfilled them?



Ron

[BobbyW]

Good post nickcrowhurst. This problem goes back awhile. Perhaps your new regulator had been sitting on the dealers shelf for a few years or Marshall never has fixed their problem with these regulators.

If yours is a different year model than the recalled one, could you let us know?

-BobbyW

******************************
http://209.58.136.120/rcls/cpsc/pr/95/95150.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 25, 1995
Release # 95-150 CPSC: Kate Premo
(301) 504-0580, Ext. 1187

CPSC, Marshall Gas Controls Announce Gas Regulator Recall
Washington, D.C.-In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Transport Canada, Marshall Gas Controls, a division of S.H Leggitt Company of San Marcos, Texas, is recalling about 25,000 Marshall model 250 Automatic Changeover LP gas regulators. Some of these regulators may leak propane gas, which is highly flammable and could ignite.

The model 250 is an automatic changeover regulator used to regulate liquid petroleum gas pressure in conjuction with two LP-gas cylinders in certain residential, marine and recreational vehicle applications (i.e., travel trailers, campers and fifth-wheel units). Marshall manufactured the regulators from January 1994 to July 1994 and distributed them through recreational vehicle manufacturers, parts distributors, and retail liquid petroleum gas suppliers.

Warning: Liquid petroleum is highly flammable. Consumers should not attempt to disconnect the regulator.

Consumers who own regulators with date codes "4 94" through "30 94" in two small, raised circles on the back of the unit should call Marshall Gas Controls at (800) 396-1322 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CDT for the service center in their area that will inspect, and if necessary, will replace the regulator at no charge.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from the unreasonable risk of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury and for information on CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To order a press release through fax-on-demand, call (301) 504-0051 from the handset of your fax machine and enter the release number. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information or report product hazards to info@cpsc.gov.

[nickcrowhurst]

Thanks foryour replies. I spend the winter in the USA in our Airstream to visit our son and his family, so the trailer and equipment are totally USA purchased and located. The regulator, purchased 11 months ago in Florida from a main RV dealer with a fast turnover is marked on the edge with a small "01", underlined. This could well indicate a 2001 date of manufacture. The recently re-certified aluminum gas bottles were fitted with OPD valves, and the supply cylinder was almost empty. I have on order a pair of the RV ACME flexible lines from the bottles to the regulator. These have a fire valve and an excess flow restrictor, which may help reduce the consequences of a future regulator failure. I have to find a safer regulator. I'm getting the trailer ready for our 18 month old grandaughter to stay for a week. How can I justify that risk? I'm running on my spare Marshall regulator at present, probably 14 years old, but put together with machine screws and gaskets, which look more secure than the crimping on the later models. The switch is still a risk. Nick

[3Ms75Argosy]

Judging from the postings here and at CW, it seems the 2001 2002 models of regulators have a very simular and dangerous habit of blowing out. All the comments at CW concern people who've bought theirs in the summer of 2001, and have blown out. There's another posting in the forums about another older brand that was recalled as well.

Nick, I'd try Inland RV (@ Inlandrv.com) and look at their inventory list. Although slightly expensive, their valve is (I believe) a different brand then at CW, and appears to be sturderier (sp?) . Last I recall, I saw one listed. If you have trouble getting through, I've always had luck using their local number (more than one 800 number cost bux, speaking from my family retail experience).

I think I'll keep my original regulator - still going strong (I think, knock on wood!). I was thinking of getting new, but my old one gives me more piece of mind right now (it's covered, so maybe it'll last a long time?)
Marc

[davidz71]

Dave-O posted on 11/19/02 that Inland RV has original Fischer LP regulators for $165 so I would hit Andy's website to see if that is still true.

[wallybyam]

Nick, as I posted a month or so ago, I had the same failure on my Marshall regulator which was only five months old! Gas leaking around the changeover tab. I had mine installed at Thomas Airstream in Wentzville (outside of St. Louis). They are 800 miles from my home here in N. Carolina, however I was back there last week and stopped by their facility to see if they would make some kind of adjustment only to find that they were shut down from before Christmas until after New Years. I replaced the failed Marshall with another Marshall as that was the only brand available............will see how this one performs. It does seem that Marshall has a potentially very serious defect in their regulators. I hope they get it corrected before someone is seriously injured or worse.

[nickcrowhurst]

I agree entirely. It would help the situation if you could report your incident to the CPSC, either by the 800 number or e-mail address as in my first post. If enough reports are made, the CPSC will take some action. The CPSC reference number for my report is #H02C0272A. Nick.

[BobbyW]

This number, (800) 396-1322, is from the notice that I posted above. I would like to encourage one of you who has had this regulator fail on you to call Marshall and get there response on it and let us know.

Just like cars, sometimes Manufacturers have secret recall/replacment programs in place that only get addressed when someone makes a little noise.

Best regards;
-BobbyW

[nickcrowhurst]

Regarding my burst Marshall 254-00 regulator, I have spoken with Ed Lee (senior), at Marshall's Technical Department, phone 1 800 877 2495, e-mail edlees@mgc-mbc.com .Mr Lees told me that last year a problem had arisen with one particular brand of fifth-wheel travel trailer, where one propane tank was a considerable distance from the regulator, and was connected by a metal pipe. This had caused condensation of perhaps water, drying alcohol, perfuming agent, or petroleum distillation products in cold weather. These condensates were running down to the regulator, causing it to fail. In the latter part of 2002, the design of the regulator was changed to deal with this condensation. He suspected that this was the cause of my failure, particularly when I told him that the Excellas of my vintage (1988) had the regulator mounted at the base of the tanks. He said that the 254-00 regulator should be mounted at the top of the tanks, so that any condensates will run back into the tanks. The failed regulator was manufactured in week 17 of 2001 (stamped on rear), and the warranty replacement was dated week 30 of 2002. Mr Lee said this was too close to the new design date to be sure I had the modified design, so he has now mailed me the latest design in exchange. I will now fit that regulator to the top of the threaded rod between the tanks, and fit two 15 inch ACME flexible pipes (with the pressure limiting and fire control features)from the tanks to the regulator. I tried to order the Airstream cast alloy bracket for just this task, but was told it was no longer available. I found one at a dealer in parts from wrecked trailers. When these new parts are fitted, I hope there will be a slight downhill run from the regulator to the tank valves, and that this will prevent a recurrence of this problem. Nick.

[nickcrowhurst]

The CPSC has recently ( May 2003) re-issued this recall of model 250 automatic change-over regulators, but the only difference appears to be a new number for contacting Marshall:

"Consumers who own regulators with date codes "4 94" through "30 94" in two small, raised circles on the back of the unit should call Marshall Gas Controls at (512) 396-2257 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CDT for the service center in their area that will inspect,and if necessary, will replace the regulator at no charge."

There will have been a lot of new members of this forum since this thread was active, so I thought it might be worthwhile bringing the thread to attention. Nick.

[jimmickle]

I had the marshall regulator on my 2002 Safari (built in November of 2001) fail on the way to WBCCI international in June of 2002. Since it was Friday afternoon, and we were in a small town in Minnesota, I was lucky to get a replacement so that we would have heat and refrigeration for the next few days. Ours was not the only failure on the caravan. Out of 20 units, we had, as I remember it, some seven or eight failures. One member of the caravan had a failure at the rally in Michigan before the caravan left, and replaced it with a new unit. It failed on the way, and had to be replaced again. Mine was returned to Airstream who reinbursed the cost of the replacement as it was still under warrenty. So far the replacement is working OK. I was able to buy a used spare from a propane dealer near the rally site. It is the old Marshall that is put together with screws and had a brass changover warning gage. Another customer had it replaced with a new one as a precaution before a trip to Alaska in a pick-up camper.
With the failure rate of the latest from Marshall, I think that he made a mistake.
BTW, the recent Marshall regulators that I have seen were made in Mexico, a country not noted for understanding quaility control. Lional Trains was almost put out of business when they move production to Mexico to save money. The product that they got was JUNK!! They moved production back to the US and saved the company.