Out of Gas?

Started cooking sausage for breakfast when the fire suddenly went out. Perfect timing! Went to the Ranger Office and asked where I could refill the LP Gas, and promptly went up the road to get it refilled. The guy puts my tank on the scale only to advise it still has plenty of gas in the tank. To shorten the story, I learned if I open the gas valve to far, it starts to cutoff the flow of gas from the tank. The technician said he has seen this before.

 

Yah, actually it's cause it was opened too FAST... it thinks it's a leak and shuts off...

Open the valve gently and you should be fine.

Also, as an FYI, when you know your tank is empty or near and try to refill it but it won't take the fill (like it was already full) it's the little valve, it gets stuck, drop the tank, apx 4-6" on the bottom to try to shake it loose.

If that doesn't work, I had to try 3 different gas stations w/propane filling, take to the propane companies, like Amerigas. They have the pressure to shake it loose.

It's happened to me 3-4 times. I just got used to carrying at least a little bottle, Cary has the adapter for them as a backup..

Hope That Helps..

 

Always carry the little bottle and the adapter you never know where you will be when it runs out I always make sure I have two spares on my one for the BBQ and one for the trailer.

Good tips on the Gas bottle

Thanks for sharing might come in useful one day. We have the pressure gauge that CI sell but took it off as it kept sticking and not letting the gas through.

 

Yah, I ended up just using a 20lb bottle. I have a truck an I always had it in there, so I'd just hook that up and keep the CI as the back up. It was real simple and I knew I'd always have enough..

Open the valve slowly until the needle jumps, should keep it from sticking or the valve isn't in tightly enough. Hand tighten, surprisingly sometimes it's just that last little twist to make the connection.

the gauges work ok for estimates, temp depending... fun..

 

My bottle hasn't worked since I filled it the second time. I bought one of the fiberglass ones that Michael suggested but the little one that came with the trailer will make a great back up if I can get it fixed. It is so much lighter to move around for a barbeque on the picnic table, etc.
Not fun if you can't trust it though. I did try dropping it a few times but that didn't shake it loose. I will take it to Suburban Propane after the holiday.

 

Yah, they will be able to fix it. The thing is that the bottles size are hard to get. Check with Cary if you have to replace it, but guessing it's the stuck pin..
Good luck and always good to have a backup plan eh? heheh,
fun..

 

Haven't had any trouble with our tank...but haven't had to refill it either, so all this is news to me. Good to know. Thanks for starting this thread.

Forewarned and all.

Sue

 

This is interesting. I took mine to refill a few months back and they said it was still full, it wouldn't take any more gas. Now I wonder... We've had our 550 since 2012. We don't cook a LOT but we do cook and have used the heat on a few occasions. Is there an approximate weight it should be full vs. empty? Can you tell by looking at it if it is stuck? Or should I just assume it is a stuck valve and take it in somewhere?
Thanks!
Lisa

 

Lisa,

Take the tare weight number off of the ring of the tank (ie: TW13.6) and subtract that from the total weight of the tank when sitting on a bathroom scale. It is an 11lb tank which means full would have about 80% of 11lb. A typical full load of fuel will weigh 9 - 9.5lb above the tare weight.

Yes, it is very possible for a gas filling place to open their fill valve too fast and hang up the valve in your tank. So, it is possible that the fill place was having skill issues filling it.

Cary

 

Lisa wrote:

Lisa, yes, that's exactly what I was talking about... I tried 3 gas stations, each charging $1 for the wasted gas when putting/taking the hose off.

I finally was going to give up and went to the Amerigas (or other main) Propane dealer to look for a new tank if they couldn't fill it..

They popped the hose on, Whooosh... filled'er right up. Don't know if it was due to the bigger tank having more pressure/operator/valve, but didn't have a problem and was good to go.

It happens occasionally, just be aware of it. Most times it'll take a fill, No Problem-O as Arnie would say.

Fun, it's "Gas"... heheh...

 

From reading how little most of you have refilled your tank, we must really go thru the gas! Back in March we were camping at Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri and ran out of gas just as I was finishing up supper one evening. The worst part was that I couldn't make coffee the next morning! I can live without breakfast, but NOT my coffee! This was the second time already to run out of gas in the 17 months we had owned our 560 (plus we have a spare 11 lb tank we've partially used).....but I do cook most meals while camping & I'm cooking for 3-5 people or more. The more the merrier, right? It's a good thing we have a friend who works for the local propane company!

 

I was really grateful to have the adapter for using the little bottles on my trailer. Just unscrew the bottle, screw in the adapter and screw on the little bottle. You are back in business.
I took my CampInn bottle to the RV place and he fiddled with it and hooked it up to a tester unit he had there and it worked. He thought maybe I just didn't hand tighten it tight enough. I will carry it as a reserve and hope it works next time. I have the fiberglass one on my trailer. It holds a little more and is lighter to handle than the full sized metal ones.