Tue - 16 Dec/14

Today I had to solve a few problems. None of the gas appliances would work. I tried the hot water tank, the stove top elements and both of the heaters. No luck. Safety devices allow three ignition attempts. If no ignition occurs it shuts off.

The new propane tank would not release propane even though the valve opened easily. I phoned my son-in-law Nick (Nick's Mobile RV Service) back home in Canada. If anyone would know it would be Nick. He is the top RV tech in our area.

Apparently, there is a hidden safety valve built into the propane tank that will close during various circumstances. No propane can exit the tank even if the tank valve is opened. If this valve is installed backwards (highly unlikely) it would lock in the closed position. Another scenario is if the tank was overfilled. (Old tanks had no such safety devices).

This is a new tank. I had the tank filled in Canada before leaving. The temperature was at least 40F colder than when we arrived in Florida. As propane warms the pressure increases. What was an 80% fill in Canada became an overfill in Florida. RV tanks have safety devices that do not allow a tank to fill above 80%. A valve opens at this pressure and the extra vents to avoid overfilling.

Venting an overfilled tank can be extremely dangerous. Rapid expansion of vented propane causes extreme cooling and unprotected skin can be flash frozen. It can also be very explosive.

I had an idea. I got up at 3:30 am when the temperature, due to clear skies, had dropped from the mid 70's F of the day to the mid 30's. I was hoping the cooler temperatures would allow the propane to contract enough to allow the valve to open.


It worked. I then ran the 2 heaters, the hot water tank and all 3 stove top elements for a few minutes to use up some propane to prevent it from exceeding the 80% (by volume) when the temperatures raise again.

Problem #2

 At least I did not have to go out at 3 am to fix the water connection slow leak at the water filter. The filter is located behind the panel and difficult to get at without removing a lot of items. I removed everything stored in that bay. I then disconnected both the inlet and outlet lines from the filter.

The next step was to go across the road from the RV Park to ACE Hardware and get the parts needed for my solution. I could have easily just put in a connector and used hose clamps to join the two hoses; however I wanted to retain the original connectors should I wish to replace the filter unit. I easily found a 1/2" threaded plastic pipe. The problem was to find washers that would fit the connectors. All with the correct outside diameter did not have a center opening large enough. Plan B: buy the washers and drill a larger center hole. Job done and all appears to be working.

Coming back from the hardware store I had a better chance to notice the Christmas Decorations. Several of the RV's also have lights. We will have to take a ride around at night.

Going south means Spring Cleaning. Charlotte did a great job cleaning the kitchen drawers. It will be a few days before everything is ship-shape. She also did a great job on the bathroom. It will be my job to organize the cabinets. Needless to say we are tired from the trip and will only do a little each day,

We called it quits when Jeopardy came on. Tuesday is my TV night with NCIS (both original and New Orleans versions) and Person of Interest.

That was it for today.