Cracked Propane Lines

[DT6]

OOOOH yeah, my MEGR-253 regulator came with those adapters. things you forget about when its been 5+ years since you messed with it.

I'll take that as a good sign that the MEC propane lines I bought will last a very long time!

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I'll take that as a good sign that the MEC propane lines I bought will last a very long time!

yeah, I inspected them just the other day, and no hint of cracking.

definitely do a soap bubble test after connecting them... a little dab of Dawn in a pint of water in a spray bottle, spray all over the connections when the tank valves are turned on, look for any bubbling.

 

[Carmel Clown]

I found a set of Marshall-Excelesior, the MER425-12 on the Walmart website and they should be delivered by this weekend, so now we will be ready to depart for the rally at Osoyoos in a few weeks. BTW, for some reason they were a lot cheaper on Walmarts website vs. Amazon and a few others.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, as always it was extremely helpful!

In my opinion, even though Amazon advertises free shipping, I’m sure that they pass that price on somehow. Or it could be all the employees Amazon needs. Anyway, I started ordering from the maker or other retail stores because I don’t like that Amazon dominates sales. I’m one of those who likes to touch and inspect what I buy, but those days are long gone.

 

[Fender]

When replacing the hoses going from the propane tanks to the regulator should a thread sealant be used?
Oddly, on the original fittings it appears as if a sealant had been used on one side but not the other.

 

[SRS]

When replacing the hoses going from the propane tanks to the regulator should a thread sealant be used?
Oddly, on the original fittings it appears as if a sealant had been used on one side but not the other.

They are a tapered thread so it's not necessary and I don't use anything. I just had to replace a pigtail due to cracking. I threaded and snugged the fitting but not too tight. Connected the propane tank and turned on the gas. Using a mixture of 1/3 dish soap and 2/3 water and put the solution on the new fitting at the regulator and watched for bubbling. There was some bubbling so I snugged the fitting a little more and the bubbling was gone.

Anytime I work on gas fittings, I use the soap/water technique to look for leaks.

 

[CharlesinGA]

You have to be a real sleuth to find the link to the Marshall Excelsior Camp and RV catalog but here is the link.

It has a lot of useful information in it, more than just a catalog. For instance, on page 7 it explains the operation of the automatic change over regulator.

Do not waste any money on so called tank gauges that fit inline on the tanks. The LP tanks maintain a rather steady pressure from full to nearly empty and drop off rather suddenly just before becoming empty.

I suggest buying a couple of the 20 lb Flame King tanks with magnetic operated gauges on the service valve,, at Costco for less than $50 each new, or get the Mopeka Tank Check electronic system, which is extremely accurate, but pricey.

Charles

 

[Thrak]

You have to be a real sleuth to find the link to the Marshall Excelsior Camp and RV catalog but here is the link.

It has a lot of useful information in it, more than just a catalog. For instance, on page 7 it explains the operation of the automatic change over regulator.

Do not waste any money on so called tank gauges that fit inline on the tanks. The LP tanks maintain a rather steady pressure from full to nearly empty and drop off rather suddenly just before becoming empty.

I suggest buying a couple of the 20 lb Flame King tanks with magnetic operated gauges on the service valve,, at Costco for less than $50 each new, or get the Mopeka Tank Check electronic system, which is extremely accurate, but pricey.

Charles

I've looked at that system and it intrigues me. The only catch is that one would likely need to have 2 of them - one for each tank. Alternately, you could just use it on the primary tank to know when you were switching to the secondary tank or put it on the secondary tank and when you saw the level dropping then you would know you were getting low. I would probably just use it on the primary tank. It's "on my list" of interesting items along with TPMS and a few other "interesting" items. Sheesh... Aside from driving back from New Mexico to home (and to the DMV for licensing and fees) we haven't taken the trailer anywhere yet. Fairly soon though... Fairly soon. We'll likely take a brief trip to a local forest service campground maybe an hour and a half away just as a break in trip to show us more of what we need to pack (or not need to pack). It would be nice to get up in the hills a bit. It's been in the 90's here.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I have two of those Costco FlameKing tanks with the integral float gauge. When they show fully EMPTY, there's still like 1/3rd of a tank left.

 

[jevc]

The other day we could smell propane in the trailer and also the detector started chirping. I found the connection at the refrigerator was loose. Very loose. This is the first time the refrigerator has been used. It’s a 2023 21c. Last month I replaced both propane lines that came off the tanks because they were badly cracked. Today I crawled under the trailer and almost all the propane lines are cracked. Not badly but they all have at least a crack or two. Now I’m going to have to pull the oven/stove to get to the back to check connections and also check the water heater and heater. Not sure how to go about pulling the oven out. This is a late 2023 build. Not too impressed with the quality of the factory lines or the loose connections. This does not have foam insulation on the bottom thankfully. I wonder how all those with foam would find or repair those hoses. Wouldn’t copper lines be the way to go?

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

Guessing a bad batch of rubber. Going all copper would be expensive and copper joints can fail from vibration. The rubber on my 2014 is still in good condition after a ton of miles on often nasty roads

 

[MD-Escape]

I’ve had similar LP hose problems. Multiple propane lines with cracks and had 2 that were actually leaking. Not fun. Ours was completed fall of 2022.

 

[jevc]

Do you remember where you got the replacement lines? I need water heater, refrigerator, stove and furnace lines. All different sizes. I can’t find any where online that has the sizes I need. The main line seems to be a different rubber and it looks ok.

 

[CharlesinGA]

For years, RV mfgs used a black iron manifold and soft copper tube risers, however code no longer allows the black iron manifolds. It seems most RV mfgs have gone to all flex hose and fittings. My buddy's 2017 Forest River Surveyor has all rubber hoses. My 2008 Bigfoot has all soft copper except for the flex hose from the regulator to the back of the A frame where it connects to the copper line.

Charles