Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:27:06 -0700
Reply-To: Edward Wiebe <wiebeis@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Edward Wiebe <wiebeis@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: Propex and getting gas tight fittings
In-Reply-To: <c280e73b0906160748t323e6855s4ab82406c4849733@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Hello All,
I'm the guy that started this thread and firstly I want to say Thank You for
all the input about this. Secondly, I will bring you up to date. After 2
attempts at getting gas tight fittings and not getting it I decided to go to
a professional place to have it done. This is a busy RV business with a
very busy service department. They looked at what I had done and told me it
was not according to code in a number of ways. According to them, in
British Columbia the pressure fittings do not meet the code for propane
lines. Also all fittings need to be made outside of the RV or in this case
the van. They were quite willing to do the work for me. All connections
are flared tubing connections and the T fitting is underneath the van.
Since I had cut into the fridge line, the whole line needed to be replaced.
Their estimate was 4 hours labor. The work was completed promptly in2 days
and looks good with no leaks and the Propex heater throws out a lot of heat.
The only problem is that at a shop rate of over $100 an hour this turned out
to be an expensive addition to my 1990 Westfalia. ( My wife and I will have
to do a lot of cold weather camping to get our money's worth out of that).
It appears that codes vary widely from province to province and I assume the
same is true in the US. We all make our own decisions but my suggestion is
to at least you check out the codes in your area if you are installing
something that involves propane gas fittings. Also make an honest
assessment of your skills in making flared fittings. If you choose to try
using pressure fittings make doubly sure they don't leak.
In conclusion I want to thank Frank Condelli as the Canadian supplier of the
Propex heater for his personal involvement in the form of emails and phone
calls to assure that my project ended successfully.
Regards,
Ed Wiebe
----- Original Message -----
From: "miguel pacheco" <mundopacheco@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 7:48 AM
Subject: Re: Propex and getting gas tight fittings
In the natural gas business, we use teflon tape on all threaded
connections where we don't want gas to escape, which is all of them,
including the installation of sensitive devices. Of course, as
mentioned earlier, we don't use it on compression or flared
connections.
Teflon tape has to be used properly, or the chances of little bits
getting into a myriad of orifices, causing upsets and failures, are
very good. I believe that is the only reason you are discouraged from
using it in a Propane application, i.e. because, unless you've had
instruction and practice, you are likely to apply it incorrectly, and
it will leak, or come apart inside your system, or both.
Miguel
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