Date:         Thu, 8 Jul 2004 22:07:10 -0700
Reply-To:     Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Subject:      Re: Westy propane tank repair advice needed
In-Reply-To:  <87E88B64-D132-11D8-A1BB-00039358121A@sfu.ca>
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On 8 Jul 2004 at 15:59, Tobin Copley <tcopley@SFU.CA> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> On my last camping trip of the season last summer, I high-centred my
> 2WD westy while negotiating a decommissioned logging road up in the
> mountains in BC.  I smeared the wimpy little propane tank skid plate
> quite badly, the also smunched the plumbing outside the tank itself.  I
> now have a slow leak from somewhere in that exposed plumbing.  The
> smell was noticeable outside the van, but it was faint and the system
> maintained enough propane to keep the tank running until I got home a
> day later.  The tank has since emptied itself out.

Sounds like we travel similar roads... ;-) I've not managed to clobber my tank too much
yet, just the engine carriers and the spare tire/bumper.

> I'd like to get the leak fixed.
>
> I am a bit worried that if I bring the camper into a RV/propane shop
> here (BC Canada), that they will refuse to work on it or be compelled
> via regulations to remove/disable it or some such thing.  The tank is,
> I believe, original, and therefore 22 years old now, which in itself
> may make it illegal to work on (I don't know).  The plumbing and tank
> looks okay to my untrained eye, but it *does* have some gouges and such
> from past and the most recent ground clearance "issues."  It doesn't
> seem to be rust-laden or anything.  The plastic cap that covered the
> regulator was squeezed between the smunched skid plate and the tank
> itself, and it cracked in a lot of places and has fallen off.  The skid
> plate that received the Salvador Dali treatment is lying in a warped
> condition on my garage floor.  I figure with an hour of so of work with
> a sledgehammer and other implements of destruction I should be able to
> get it reasonably straight and make it fit back on.

My tank is *very* rusty, but the local propane place didn't seem worried by it. It took it in
a few years back when I smelled gas. He was prepared to replaced the filler assembly
($100), since it was leaking. But sensing my frugality, he then whacked it with a
wrench, and check for a leaks again. It worked, and hasn't leaked since. He explained
that there is a brass safety valve that can get partially stuck, and cause a leak.

> The big tabs on the tank that the skid plate bolts to are also bent
> quite a bit back.  Is it okay to use a huge wrench and a hammer to bend
> them back so that they are perpendicular to the tank again?

I don't see why not. The tanks are built like a, well, tank... :-)

> I suspect that just one or two parts of that exposed plumbing system
> have been damaged and that the rest is okay, but I don't want to open a
> regulatory Pandora's box by bringing my aged westy into a propane
> repair shop.  I'm also not entirely comfortable with the idea of
> working on the propane system myself--propane kind of freaks me out.
>
> Since there's no propane in the system now, even to identify the source
> of the leak I'd have to go to a station and have them put a few pounds
> into a system I know is leaky, and I'm not sure I'm cool with that
> either.

Perhaps you can find a shop with appropriate fittings to put some compressed air into
the tank for testing with. Or just call a propane shop willing to try things out for you.

--
Shawn Wright
http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright
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