Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:10:01 -0400
Reply-To: Phil Zimmerman <phil.zimmerman@MAIL.CRCN.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Phil Zimmerman <phil.zimmerman@MAIL.CRCN.NET>
Subject: Re: Any way to transfer LP from gas grill tanks into the vanagon
LP
On Tue, 11 Oct 2005 07:15:06 -0700, Larry Chase <roadguy@ROADHAUS.COM> wrote:
>Chris,
>Any history of usage with this set up.
>How many times have you used it?
>How long to fill?
>Problems?
>Thing you would do different?
>Etc?
>Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 21:56:30 -0400
>From: Christopher Gronski <gronski@GMAIL.COM>
>When I had the valve on my propane tank changed the guy that did the work
>also made up a "cheater hose" for me. The fitting on one end matches the
>van, the fitting on the other end matches a standard tank. Hook em up, open
>the valves and voila!
>
To the list:
jimt's posts in the archives give an informative test of refilling the Westie Tank and worth a read.
My recent experience:
I found an "Auto-Propane" to "POD" Adapter at a local propane supplier (Superior Propane in
Canada) and a 4' POD male to male Hose that hooks-up to current refillable portable tanks. A bit
pricey (aprox. $65 Can$) but when out of propane in the middle of where-ever.... priceless!
Used this set-up once on my last trip. As per my experience, woke-up in the morning... no fridge
no stove..... out of propane! Pull out the adapter hose and fitting, extract the Manchester #5 tank
(holds about 4# of propane... slightly less than 1USgal), from the Luggage Compartment,
assemble tank and hose, hook to Westie auto-fill fitting, open valve on portable tank and listen to
the wonderful sound of propane flowing into the Westie Tank. Retire to the Westie, make coffee,
drink coffee, guess this worked pretty slick! Oh, restart fridge.... 8-)
Later, went out to inspect this set-up. Test joints with soapy water... no leaks as all three joints
are, "o-ring" seals, essentially hand-tightened. Didn't try filling the Westie Tank by inverting the
portable tank... up-side-down and elevating portable tank above the Westie Tank. Me too lazy and
WANTED coffee. At a more civil hour, packed-up my stuff and headed to town. Filled Westie Tank,
took about 3-USgals.... so seems as if not much filling took place. Essentially, the portable tank
just flows through the Westy Tank, supply gas to the system. Worked Ok.
Carrying a "spare" portable tank is a pain. Where to store outside the Van? I carry mine up in the
centre of the luggage rack with the bow of my canoe (when I carry it) covering the tank. Provides
some weather protection and increased security in event of a crash. Do not want a flying propane
tank sent down the highway....
FWIW. When purchasing the adapter fitting and hose, I pressured the propane clerk guy to sell me
a non-refillable bottle adapter (an adapter that fits onto those 1 lb green disposable tanks. He
rightly held his ground saying: you don't want any of those.... go with the refillable! But I am only
going to use this when I run out of propane... like once a year... and carrying the disposable
cylinders is so much easier? Go with the refillable he says. But, but, but... I don't have an excess of
storage space for a propane tank? Go with the refillable he says again.
Down the road a bit, at a State Park in somewheresville.. I read a rant from the Park Ranger
regarding those little green disposable bottles..... "Please take your bottles home with you and do
not leave them here!" They gave some statistics of how many bottles they get "stuck with" each
year. The cost of safe legal disposal..... Glad the propane guy I bought my stuff from stood his
ground.....
As always, your milage may vary...
Phil Z. '87 Westy
Campbell River, BC