This is a "Jump in and Help Us Make it So" thread...

Propane, also known as Liquid Propane Gas, is a compressed gas to which "STINKY" is added so that you can tell if it is leaking. The "STINKY" is a substance called ETHYL MERCAPTAN which is listed to this day in the Guiness Book of World Records as the foulest smelling substance on earth. It is added in a few parts per million to the gas so that you will know if a gas leak is occurring - but that is still not enough for safety.

*Compared to Ethyl Mercaptan - ROTTEN EGGS smell like roses. TAPE WORMS would throw up, you get it? It's like that...

RV's (at least modern ones) have sensors mounted at floor level somewhere in the living area designed to detect LPG gas leakage, but they also sometimes register the exhaust from RV generators or other similar gasses.

These are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from "Smoke Detectors" and should not be confused with them.

Another note about LPG systems in RV's is that pressure regulation in them has changed over the years. Prior to 1998, single stage LPG Pressure regulators were commonly used - something like you would find on a barbeque, or a turkey fryer. Those are now illegal on RV's with good reason - when a single stage regulator goes bad, there is no "BACK-UP" for it. So the first and only indication you got was usually flames shooting up from something you didn't expect it from.

DUAL STAGE regulators are found on all RV's after it was found that single stage regulators were a safety issue - see this link to WIKI:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_regulator

When LPG tanks are used on RV's, there is the high pressure tank pressure, that must be stepped down to the pressure used in the RV's systems. This is a much lower pressure, and is measured in inches of mercury or water column. To do this, a specialized gauge called a manometer is used.
(more on that later)


The test consists of connecting the manometer to a hopefully low pressure source - such as a cooktop - after the regulator at the tank(s). The typical means of doing this is to open a cooktop in the RV, and connect directly to the source of gas for one of the burners.

#ad

This is a manometer, and reads in inches of "WATER COLUMN" which is a very small measurement

Next what we do is to turn on the burner we have connected to, and then go outside to the LPG tank(s) and TURN OFF the gas valve (AT THE PROPANE TANK ITSELF).

The gauge will read a specific amount of pressure when first connected and the burner control turned on. Once the gas is turned off, if there are no leaks, the gauge reading (which should be a very low reading) should not drop by any significant amount over a period of at least five minutes.

If it does - there is a leak large enough to be a matter of concern.

THIS gauge is made by a company called "MARSHALL BRASS" and is a commonly available RV test tool. Presumably you can get one fairly cheaply from AMAZON or E-BAY

*I apologise for the picture being turned on its side - I was hurrying to post this before running out of time.


I hope this helps you, and I hope I told you in a way you can understand it. I also hope more of you jump in and add to it.

The more we know - the better off we are.



~Wolfie


*NOTES:
If the regulator(s) are shot - the gauge reading will be off the scale
If the regulator reading bleeds down - you have a leak somewhere.
If you get a bad reading, wet the coupling to the gauge so it seals better
If you get no reading - there may be a bad leak. Check everything.

~ Or you have no gas in the bottle...





Ain't it a bitch?

 

TAPE WORMS , MERCAPTAN ?? In the old days the treatment for tape worms was to eat cloves of garlic. Garlic has mercaptan and drives out the worm !!
The onion family has mercaptan which gives it the pungent smell and taste! Garlic has been used in medicine for a very long time ! Skunks also have mercaptan !
[

 

Adding ethanethiol to LP used to be known as "skunking". It is some very potent stuff!

One night while on Patrol on the Police Motorcycle on Interstate 5 in the middle of Roseburg while in charge of a special DUII multi agency enforcement team, I began to smell "gas". As I proceeded North, it got stronger and stronger. Fearing major gas leak, (we'd had one a couple of weeks earlier when a contractor slammed a back hoe into a major underground gas line), I of course "hit the button" and got three different fire agencies rolling on a possible major haz mat. While I and other officers from 5 different agencies began trying to define the perimeter for closure and evacuation, the fire departments began their air sampling.

RFD was very concerned because the Bat Commander felt there was an inordinate amount of gas and ordered our southern perimeter expanded. The problem they were having was that there air sampler was saying it was negative for gas. DCFD#1 and DCFD#2 reported the same results.

We began a ground search trying to locate the source of the gas. Donned in gas masks, and several miles north of where I first smelled it and just north of Roseburg in the Newton Creek area, we came to the Ferrell Gas LP plant/distribution center which had been closed for the day by several hours so there were no employee's around. We had started to get calls from area residents a few minutes earlier. Probably the only reason it took so long was that it was around 3 in the morning.

There were a half dozen LP train cars sitting there on the track siding. You just about couldn't breath without the gas masks on. More than just a couple of minutes without the masks was enough to make you want to puke. Along with the Fire Departments we determined that an area evacuation was not yet in order. We all felt the odor was way too strong for just gas and the Gas Meters were still saying there WAS NO GAS and no danger.

Dispatch got a hold of one of the bosses from Ferrell Gas and he responded to the plant very quickly. His first thought was that something other than gas was the problem as the odor was too strong. He said they had gotten a train car shipment that night after closing and a couple of employee's were detailed to stand by for the shipment. After it had arrived and they had inspected the cars, they had called him and said the load in one car had not been 'skunked'. He told them to do it and then go home. He did some checking and sure enough. One of the employees had set an opened one (1) pint can of the ethanethiol on the top of the train car. While trying to open an access port to put the ethanethiol into, he knocked the pint can off the car and of course the contents spilled. They got another can, added it to the load and hosed the area down, through the empty cans in the garbage and went home.
Anyway, I had always known the LP had an artificial odor added to it because of the no odor nature of the gas. That night was my education on just what it was and just exactly how terribly potent a drop of the stuff could be.

 

Thanks SB.
Very interesting stuff. One pint can from miles away! Wow.