Regulator advice

E

Earl Smith

Newbie
Hi gang, on our last trip we discovered that our secondary regulator under the sink needs replacement. This advanced a plan to eliminate the stove in our Rain-Drop #1118, and use a Coleman-style suitcase stove and plug it into the accessory propane port on the exterior. Will I still need the regulator beneath the sink, or can I eliminate it? Thanks!
 
I was going to reply yesterday but was stymied by being unable to upload a photo. I had the sink out (ugh) for a project and snapped a couple… but the area you’re interested in is right at the bottom of the rat’s nest and isn’t very visible.

The photo appears to show the secondary regulator feeding only the stove (on a 2012 CI).

Call CI! They know for sure…
 
I just found my photo that I’d uploaded a couple years ago:
SethB

Post in thread 'Mr Heater Buddy Connection To Aux Propane Port?'

Steve and Karen said:
I should probably add that I didn't try to swap out the Mr Heater regulator with the CI regulator and put it on the tank. I figured that 11" WC certainly was enough pressure to allow the Mr Heater to operate properly, but I didn't think that there would be enough residual pressure to run multiple appliances, like the CI stove off it at the same time. Or possibly even the CI stove just by itself. That swap-out would have required another reducer which I didn't have.

11" WC translates to only 0.4 PSI. So... not a lot.
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I think that’s all good, as there is a second stage of gas...
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There’s also a little description of what I thought I saw at the time.
 
Uh, if you are replying to my thumbs-up, thats just me annotating your post for my reference plus a thanks for asking.

Thats probably a Cary question and fastest way to get an accurate reply is email him then call, as a headsup on email.

This "unofficial" forum is owners sharing (and I'm idly curious in case I ever need to isolate a gas leak in that area thats hard to get at, and how)

And I'll note that while Cary weighs in here from time to time, gotta remember they can be VERY busy at the Nest

so always best to use the direct option.
 
Whatever you do - make 100% sure, several times, that you don't have a leak. The soapy solution sprayed on each connection is an accptable solution as long as you know exactly what you loosen in the process. I've found leaks several times now where it was clear someone was in there before I was. You do not want to be messing around with a propane leak. Propane is powerful stuff!

The 'standard' test is called a time preasure drop test - but I do not have a test point to connect my manometer ( That is mano-meter, not man-o-meter.) which is calibrated for 11" --- the QD port on the campinn is slightly higher.
 
Thank you! Will do. As soon as we realized the regulator was leaking, propane was off the options list for cooking, on our last trip. I’m pretty paranoid about gas leaks, fire, etc. by nature.
 
Earl Smith said:
Thank you! Will do. As soon as we realized the regulator was leaking, propane was off the options list for cooking, on our last trip. I’m pretty paranoid about gas leaks, fire, etc. by nature.
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Me too -- before I knew anything about propane, I had an RV refrigerator (one of the propane/electric ones) by a professional shop -- they did not do a time preasure drop test, nor did they even do a soap bubble test on the propane fitting after they replaced my cooling unit.

When I got back to the campground, I plugged into shore power and the fridge flipped to 120 volt for the heating of the fridge, but flipped back to gas....when it did that, the spark igniter lit the 'pool' of propane that was in the bay causing a jet of flame to burn up the wires and control boards --- I had smoke pouring out of the top of the rig. I had sense enough to turn off the gas at the valve and grab a fire extinguisher, ripped off the cover and just shot the extinguisher up behind the fridge.

It mad a heck of a mess -- but, the fire was out. All of the damage was in the refrigerator itself, but some of the wood was toasted -- just the golden brown before it catches fire. I figure I was a just a few seconds away from loosing it. We were so very very lucky.

I am VERY careful around that gas....its safe when the proper procedures are used -- but you can not shortcut those protocols.
 
Oh, BTW there are also electronic sniffers available -- I use them for playing hide and seek, but I have found that they are not quite sensitive enough for some of the leaks I've seen. If I have a KNOWN leak I will use them...but when they find nothing its back to the bubble method. FWIW, and I'm not 100% sure agree -- but when I got my certification, it was taught not to use dawn and water. The best stuff to use is specifically sold at hardware stores as leak detection fluid.

I was told two things....

1] Apparently Dawn may be chemically incompatible - and cause some corrosion. I dunno -- some people know things I don't
2] Liability -- if something ever did happen that I missed a leak, and I was using dish soap, and the attorney asked "Was that Dawn and water certified for leak detection?" When I say "no, but...." its one more hole in my defense. Its better for me to say "I used leak detection fluid..." which is specifically designed for that job and sold as such.

I think too it has some dyes that tint the brass -- kind of a sanity check -- "Did I check this?" you can see that you did.
 
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