Date:         Fri, 27 Mar 1998 11:58:54 -0800
Reply-To:     Mark McCulley <raven@HALCYON.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Mark McCulley <raven@HALCYON.COM>
Subject:      propane regulators and Propex heaters
Comments: To: vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

OK, propane experts (Hank, are you out there?) I have a couple of
observations and questions about the propane setup on my 87 Westy.

Apparently all Westys come with a rectangular 2-stage regulator. It appears
that my regulator has been replaced with a circular single-stage regulator,
which is the standard Marshall Model 230. I understand that 2-stage
regulators are used for safety purposes (if one stage fails you have a
backup that will keep your stove from becoming a blowtorch). Should I
replace my single stage regulator with a two-stage regulator?

Also, the single stage regulator output is 11 inches H2O which is 28mbar. I
can't find any specs for the output of the rectangular 2-stage regulator,
but I think it's the same. The Propex installation instructions state that
"the gas supply to this heater must be 28 mbar on butane or 37 mbar on
propane)". This seems to indicate that I have a regulator that doesn't
produce enough pressure for the Propex heater. The heater seems to work fine
though.

Any informed opinions on this?

Mark McCulley