Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:05:51 -0700
Reply-To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Darn -- a propane leak
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I took Mellow Yellow down to the local gas station for fuel and propane
before departing town for a camping trip.
I had modified my propane tank a couple years ago by removing the autostop
valve and replacing it with a manual one. Also, the bleed valve thingy up
near the top of the tank's side was replaced as well, with a manual
finger-tighten type. This setup has worked fine, and has resulted in fewer
puzzled propane jockeys.
The tank took about a gallon, I paid for my purchases and trundled of to
the supermarket for some sundries, beverages, and comestibles.
On the way to the market, driving on the freeway, I caught a quick glimpse
of something bouncing along the road ahead before it vanished under Mellow
Yellow and hit the underside with a bang! In the rear view mirror I saw
that it was flat and thin, about the size of a paperback book cover, and
apparently quite hard and heavy as it was bounding along the pavement on
its edge at a high rate of speed. I have no idea what it was. I worried
that something under the van had been damaged.
When I got out in the parking lot, there was a strong smell of propane and
I heard a hissing sound. So there I was, on crutches, one foot in an
immobilization boot, no weight-bearing permitted, clambering down on my
stomach to see WTH* was going on.
The bleed valve thing hadn't been tightened enough and was leaking propane
gas. It was loose. Stupid propane monkey.
So grumbling and fumbling, I tightened it as far as I could with my
fingers, and the hissing stopped. I then managed to haul myself back
upright, using the door handle as a grip, and did my shopping.
In camp,** I continued to catch a faint whiff of propane outside the
vehicle. So the next morning (yesterday) I asked my son who had joined me
for the weekend to check it for tightness. He did, it was tight. So he
gave it another 1/8th turn with a pair of pliers.
That should have done it, but it didn't. It's still whiffy, with the main
shutoff valve shut off.
Like - I need that now.
============
* "What The Heck"
** A lovely place along a river in Central Oregon with beautiful scenery
and mid-80s (F) weather. The burble of the water, the plops of trout
gulping insects, the sound of the gentle breezes in the treezes. It was
nearly perfect except for the folk in a 5th wheel parked about 200 feet
away who needed to run their generator for a couple hours twice a day. It
was so loud that they needed to shout over it. The background rattle and
thrum got pretty irritating after a while. A Honda it was not. A Briggs
and Stratton engine it was not. Harbor Freight quality gas engines are
better muffled. A real piece of c**p, is what it was. In contrast, the
next site beyond them had an old couple who sat in their RV with the
curtains drawn and the air conditioning turned on. They had a large Honda
generator placed away from the campsites with a long cord to the RV, which
was a nice thing for them to do. And while that generator was miles
quieter than the junky one the closer 5th wheel used, the engine was still
audible in the background. From 300 feet away. With a river at my feet
gurgling and burbling and the winds in the trees. I wondered why they
didn't just check into a motel and hang a picture of a lake outside the
window if they were just going to sit in an RV with the curtains drawn and
the a/c running? They never came out. Everyone has their own style of
camping and I vow to not judge how others choose to camp unless it impacts
me. Generators, as my longtime reader knows, are IMO their own category of
obnoxious. But I rant. But what's new?
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
Bend, OR
KG6RCR
