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08-13-2017, 02:40 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: harrison township, Michigan
Trailer: 21' Escape 2017
Posts: 108
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Frustration, Disappointment, Propane
I am happy with my new trailer as far as what little I know but now I am getting ready for my first trip and very frustrated. I wasn't able to make the trip to BC so had the trailer delivered. This is my first trailer so I have no knowledge about most of the appliances and systems and am becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of information supplied by ETI. The video on line is old and proving to be of little help. Right now I am trying the get the water heater going so trying to get the propane on. I am almost certain I read the tanks would be supplied full. Is that correct? If I so according to the old video I should see some kind of light on the regulator when I turn the tank on but this is not the case. Are the tanks empty?
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08-13-2017, 02:48 PM
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#2
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Puyallup, Washington
Trailer: 2017 - 21' Escape
Posts: 9
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The tanks are probably empty. Mine were empty when I picked up my trailer.
Make sure there's water in the hot water tank before you start to heat it!!!
Happy camping.
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08-13-2017, 02:53 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Juneau, Alaska
Trailer: 2015 17A - Ready for more Maiden Voyages ....
Posts: 881
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Laurah,
Turn on the propane (slowly) and then go inside and try to light your stove. There could be air in the line so it might not light right off. Try a few times. My stove does not have an auto igniter so I use a BBQ long nose lighter.
No light? Then unhook a tank and see how heavy it is. A full tank is pretty heavy ... an empty tank only half heavy. Boy that is a lot of help! Sorry I don't have details. It wouldn't surprise me that due to interstate transport regulations, you tanks could be empty.
There should be a packet of appliance manuals in one of your drawers. Read them all.
Tom
__________________
Consciousness: That confusing time between naps
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08-13-2017, 02:54 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Milpitas, California
Trailer: 2017 19'
Posts: 347
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only if you purchased the filled tank option
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08-13-2017, 02:59 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: harrison township, Michigan
Trailer: 21' Escape 2017
Posts: 108
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Thanks everyone. I'm glad you are all here. I am going to say the tanks are empty and take them in the get them filled tomorrow. Then to try to get the water heater going-UGH! I have been reading the informaiton books that came with the trailer also.
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08-13-2017, 03:04 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Juneau, Alaska
Trailer: 2015 17A - Ready for more Maiden Voyages ....
Posts: 881
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Magnum has made a VERY good point about your water heater. Read up in manual and pay attention to the bypass valve handle directions. Fill water tank and turn on the water pump (not the water heater) to pressurize the plumbing. Turn your galley faucet to cold and run long enough to get air out of the lines, repeat with faucet turned to hot. Water should be cold out of hot water direction. You have just made sure that the hot water tank is full of water. Now you can turn on the water heater. Doing so with an empty water heater tank will burn out the element.
There are lots of people here who will help you.
Tom
__________________
Consciousness: That confusing time between naps
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08-13-2017, 03:07 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Trailer: 2018 21'
Posts: 152
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Quote:
Originally Posted by laurah
Thanks everyone. I'm glad you are all here. I am going to say the tanks are empty and take them in the get them filled tomorrow. Then to try to get the water heater going-UGH! I have been reading the informaiton books that came with the trailer also.
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There are lots of helpful people here when you have questions. I agree with just getting them filled. When you get them off, most empty tanks weigh about 18lbs and full tanks weigh roughly 36lbs if that is helpful. Good luck!
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08-13-2017, 03:07 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Trailer: 2015 5.0 TA
Posts: 392
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Laurah, unless you specified on your build sheet to have the propane tanks filled, they are probably empty. Undo the nut holding the propane tanks and lift one, if it is full, it will be about 37Lb quite heavy, empty they are about 17lbs.
When using the hot water tank, check the position of the bypass valves. To add water to the tank, the valves should NOT be in the bypass position. The ETI manual has a picture showing the valve positions. If the tank is empty and you try to heat it, the tank could be damaged.
There are no dumb questions when learning to use a trailer and it's systems.
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08-13-2017, 03:15 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Houston, Texas
Trailer: '87 Bigfoot 20DLX 5er (sold) - 2017 Escape 5.0 TA: Sep-17
Posts: 523
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarvingHyena
Turn on the propane (slowly) and then go inside and try to light your stove.
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Laura,
The reason Tom said to turn on the propane SLOWLY is because there is a check valve in the tank. If the propane flows out too fast, the check valve will activate and stop most/all the flow of propane. The best way to fix this is to turn off the propane, wait minute, and turn it back on slowly. Sometimes this doesn't work for me because (I think) I need to release the gas pressure in the hose to deactivate the check valve. If so, I:
- turn off the propane
- loosen the plastic knob on the propane hose to relieve any pressure
- tighten the plastic knob again
- slowly turn on they propane again
- check the stove.
In the last step, the stove may not light right away. If there is air in the line, you have to wait until the propane gets to the burner. Even if it doesn't light, you may be able to hear the hiss of the air/propane flowing out of the burner.
This all assumes that you checked your build sheet and confirmed that the propane tanks were filled. That is an extra cost option.
Hang in there!
Rich
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08-13-2017, 03:32 PM
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#10
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Puyallup, Washington
Trailer: 2017 - 21' Escape
Posts: 9
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Higgins took the keys to the Ferrari away for a week when I damaged Mr Masters trailer.
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08-13-2017, 06:58 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Santa Rosa County, Florida
Trailer: 2014 Escape 21 Tow: 2024 Toyota Tundra
Posts: 3,097
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"Frustration, Disappointment, Propane"
Now that tagline is better than mine.
__________________
Mike Lewis
She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie-- propane
Photos and travelogues here: mikelewisimages.com
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08-14-2017, 12:24 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Myrnam, Alberta
Trailer: 2005 Aliner, 17B due in April/17
Posts: 372
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In case your not sure ( I know I wasn't!), you turn on the switch on your monitor panel to heat with propane. You flip the switch on the actual hot water tank (exterior of the trailer) to heat with power. Of course, you'll only use the one switch if you didn't get the 2 way hot water tank. Good luck!!
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08-14-2017, 07:16 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Westcliffe, Colorado
Trailer: 2010 EggCamper (#083); 2017 Escape 21 (#053); 2016 F-150 5.0L FX4
Posts: 1,765
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Laura, Our build sheet shows "2 - Filled propane tanks" = $60 (CAD). Double check your build sheet, but as others have pointed out, if you didn't pay for the propane, you didn't get it. If you didn't pay for them being filled by ETI, or fill them yourself after delivery, then as others have suggested, and you surmised, I'd say your's tanks came empty. Transporting full propane tanks from Canada to the US is not an issue as ours was transported with 2 full tanks. Lots of other good advice above. Best of luck. Happy camping, once you get things going, which I'm sure you will....
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08-14-2017, 07:58 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Burlington Twp., New Jersey
Trailer: 2010 Escape 19
Posts: 7,126
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You will initially have quite a bit of air in the system. Run the stove first for a few minutes. The hot water heater may still take a few tries to light because there is air in the branch line. The Suburban will try to light three times and then lock out which is indicated by the reset light staying lit. To reset just flip the rocker switch and it will initiate three more tries. This happened to me the other day and it took about 5 tries total to light.
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