Propane

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We Have a Really Good Case of Gas

If you got bad news, you wanna kick the blues,
Propane.
When your day is done, and you want to ride on,
Propane.
She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie.
Propane.

propane bottles

Camping without propane is like a day without sunshine. Well, almost. Most of my life I used wood campfires, but now I'm older and have the ability to use a cleaner fuel to warm me on chilly nights and make my morning coffee.

Not to mention hot water for showering. That's something to sing about.

I would not even begin working on propane systems without a leak detector. I ordered and received this little guy before doing any of the other work. I tested it to my satisfaction before starting anything. I like my eyebrows. I want them to stay on my face.

When I received the tank-mount, I took it out to the trailer and started planning a mounting strategy. Turns out it was a unistrut solution, which comes as no surprise. Two lengths of strut, four 90's and 3/8" bolts, washers and nylock nuts and we are solidly attached to the frame.

This regulator is really nice. It has selection switch that lets me pick the active tank. It has a window that is empty when there is gas in the active tank, and shows a red flag when that tank is empty. It automatically switches to the reserve tank when the selected tank is empty. Then you disconnect the empty tank and get it filled or replaced. Easy peasey.

I really like these 12 foot hoses. I ended up buying three of them, one for the water heater, one for the stove and one for the heater. The kit comes with fittings, which is nice.

Once the gas leaves the regulator, it hits this manifold which has these valves to control the flow beyond the manifold. The exception is the heater circuit which comes directly out of a tank before the regulator, hits one of these valves and then proceeds down its own hose to a filter and regulator in the heater. That is required by the design of the heater.

As with all the systems in The Bug, I took my time to work out the kinks before they happened. A little planning goes a long way.

Here be the Gallery of Gas

The regulated propane comes into the galley directly behind the stove. It hits this manifold, and two valves control it at that point. The four holes in the wood are for the feet on the stove. The counter piece above the stove locks onto the two screws there in the wall and keeps the stove secure during travel. One line runs port then aft just under the counter to the water heater. I used an aluminum dryer vent as a fresh air vent to bring air from under the trailer into the galley area. Up forward you can just see the unistrut I mounted to the tongue to set the tank base on. (The foam worms are from holes where a winch used to be mounted.) I used 1/16" aircraft cable, passed it through a hole I drilled into the flap and crimped a stop ferrule on the end. This allows me to open and close the vent at will. Here it is opened. Here it is closed. The line for the stove is 12 feet long. The stove can be picked up and taken out to a table just outside the side door. You can use it indoors, but when it's nice out, why? This is a nice, sturdy base upon which to place my 20lb propane tanks. This cover fits really snug on the tanks. It has quarter-turn covers for access to the tank valves and the regulator. This regulator allows me to pick which tank to use, and when that tank runs out, it automatically switches to the other tank. Of course, both valves have to be open for that to work. Then you simply disconnect the empty and take it to be refilled. I wound up buying three of this kit. I really like the construction and the fact that it comes with a set of fittings. It is obvious a covering is needed. Flame King makes a really nice one, and quite affordable. I like it. I added this Tee and valve and hose to take unregulated propane to the heater. It has its own filter and regulator, so we have to get the gas before this regulator. With the proper fittings, and a leak detector, this is safe.

The propane system is working like a champ. No leaks. No runs. No errors. A Thing that Works!

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