Gas regulators on 2004 on vans

[MONKEY1]

Graham ,

I think your prudence or rather resourcefulness is spot on.we have a 2000 Dethleffs Caravan which was rigged for 30mb but as we imported it from Germany; it came with a bottle mounted regulator and not a wall mounted one as the regulator is bottle type specific.

We decided to replace it with the convention 28mb butane regulator initially but I have decided to replace this with the 30mb wall mounted one. Only time will tell if this was a wise move, but I will carry a length of the old flexible pipe and the old regulator just in case.

Kindest regards Monkeys husband

 

[KentMike]

Hi,

I'm going to put together a barbeque connector butane spare just in case - but i'm not sure what a the BBQ nipple looks like - i need to do a towsure order - so can anyone point it out !

 

[Edward_5065872]

I had a regulator,the new 30mb, pack up on our first trip out in March 2005, on our new Ace Award Tristar.I rang the dealer from the site I was on, and he said it was the first he had heard of the problem.I rang my son who was coming to the same sight as I was on with his van,so he called into the dealer who gave him a replacement.On returning home to Nottingham,I took the regulator to the dealer,who told me that this was the first complaint he had had at this sales depot, but in Hampshire at his other sales their had been a few replaced. I always use propane.

 

[ThePlotter]

I dont know if any of you are disloyal to PC like me and read other mags but this month in another but often better mag there is a full page article about the problems of the new regs which puts forward the theory that it is the height of the regulator on the bulkhead that is the problem because it is lower than the cylinder vavle it is acting like a 'trap'

An interesting article but a little suprised that PC have not done any reasearch on our behalf.

 

[DeliDave]

its not disloyal to read more than one what is it called.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello all,

The number of failed regulators reported on this forum does suggest that there may be some underlying root cause. Sadly I no longer have access to the facilities that would have allowed me to do a scientific analysis of the problem.

Butane was originally a waste product from the oil industry but since Calor, Camping Gas and others have been offering it commercially, the product will be filtered to the same standard as Propane.

In the bottom of some bottles of gas you would find some other non-gas components, (heavy oils and may be some water). These lie at the bottom of the bottle and not cause any problem because they are much heavier than the gas vapour, and will not normally be transferred out of the bottle when it used , BUT, if the gas bottle is stored, transported or used in anything other than the upright position, there is a chance that some of these impurities could find their way through the valve and into the regulator and pipework of your caravan.

The heavy ends can block up small injectors in appliances, and can affect regulators.

Other issues that I came across, were blocked atmospheric breather holes (Shops price sticker over hole in regulator case), corroded bias springs, water in the atmospheric chamber freezing on the diaphragm which prevented the regulator from functioning- This can occur at atmospheric temperatures of 6C, because as the pressurised vapour leaves the regulators injector it expands and drags heat out of its surroundings. Corroded pivot pins that prevented the regulator from compensating.

All the above were found, but in very small numbers and not consistently on one make or model, so the current continued reports of failure relating to one model strongly suggest there is some manufacturing issue.

The height of the regulator should not make any difference to its operation, unless it allows a point for Butane to re-condense and collect in low temperatures. - as this would be from its gaseous state no debris would be involved, and the problem would disappear as soon as the temperature rose enough.

 

[ThePlotter]

its not disloyal to read more than one what is it called.

Caravan

 

[Chris4]

My 30Mbar regulator failed over the weekend. By good fortune I was within 15 miles of my dealer, so got a replacement. He said he was still sending loads back. When asked what was wrong, he commented about impurities in the gas blocking the regulator. Apparently, Truma are taking legal action against the gas suppliers over this.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Chris,

I have doubts about the claim that there are 'Impurities in the gas' that are capable of blocking a regulator. My basic reasoning is that unless there is some radically different technology used in the regulators from this one manufacture, then the problem should be affecting all regulators of a similar performance. It should also be affecting appliances, especially those with relatively small injector sizes, such as the burners in fridges, and the pilot burner in most space heaters. These other indicators do not seem to be occurring.

Any impurity likely to be capable of blocking a regulator must have a substantial size and mass. It is therefore very unlikely that the vapour produced in the bottle would be capable of physically lifting, and transporting such an impurity up through the bottle valve and into the regulator. This is similar to the effect of sea water evaporating and leaving the salt and other minerals behind.

It is known that petroleum based products like LPG will attack natural rubber, and some oil based lubricants, that is why synthetic flexible components and lubricants are used in gas system components.

The only other possibility is if there is some significant change to the PH balance, but as stated above this should affect all manufacture rather than only one.

I appreciate that my comments are not based on actual evaluation of any failed units, and it does not help your individual difficulty, but I hope that may expose what I believe is some miss information being spread.

 

[clivea]

Hi,

I too had a problem with cooker flame stability ona 2005 Bailey Pageant. The dealer said it was because we kept things in the cupboard that contained the air inlet grill (in floor)! When we showed him that even empty it was still unsatisfactory he repalces a valve on the cooker. But it is still not stable. We use propane and the problem is the same whether we are in Summer or Winter. I have contacted the Cc Technical desk and they are well aware of the problem, but it is strange that the CC magazine as made no mention of it. I think trying to balme the gas or gas suppliers is bucking the issue. I have done nothing diffrent with this van to all of my other ones and have never suffereda gas stablity problem. The problem is that it is either the regulator design, manufacture or installation that is the cause of the problem. In typcal cottage industry style I am told that trade associations are meeting to discuss it!

Until a solution is found continue to pester your dealer under the good old Sale of Goods Act as the 'van' is not doing what it should, and your contract is with the dealer. If he will not play ball advis e in writing that you intend to have the work carried out eslewhere and use the Small Claim Court to seek redress. It's not an appraoch that I like to use but sometimes consumer muscle is required to obtain reasonable service.

 

[john_5040735]

Hi folks

Having been informed by a local dealer that this problem with the new regulators has been resolved on 2006 model vans it would be interesting to note if any 2006 van owners have experienced a problem recently.

I am now going to obtain a spare regulator - just in case! - but am not sure which make. Truma - as fitted to van - or Gaslow (cheaper). Anyone any thoughts.

John