Date:         Thu, 7 Jun 2001 23:40:04 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: How to diagnose a propane regulator?
Comments: To: Joel Cort <joel_cort@YAHOO.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <20010608013933.29578.qmail@web10105.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 09:39 PM 6/7/2001, Joel Cort wrote:
>If I remove the brass tubing pipes going from the regulator to the
>burners and the fridge I get propane hissing out. When I reconnect
>the lines .... nothing at the burner.
>
>Do the symptoms described here characterized a bad propane
>governor/regulator?

Short answer: Probably.  Make a U-tube manometer (10 feet of clear tubing
with a U-bend giving two vertical legs at least three feet high, with at
least 18-inch depth of water in the bottom of the U ).  Secure it to a
board or similar so you can keep it roughly vertical.  Apply the end to the
regulator output and open gas valve.  Let a little gas escape, then
reapply, and measure the [precisely] vertical distance between the meniscii
of the water -- the specification is 11 inches difference between the two,
*not* 11 inches drop in one side or rise in the other (this is about 6 oz
per square inch).


If you get 11", look for pipe blockages??  I'm guessing you won't, and that
you need a new Marshall Brass 260 (exact repl, no longer made) or 290 (two
inches longer, a nuisance but you can bend the tubing carefully).

The regulator is adjustable by turning a plug in the large (low-pressure)
section, but it shouldn't change calibration much once it's set...

david


David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"