'Gaslow'???

[AnnM1]

Hi everyone --- Just arrived back from a 2 week stint in the Yorkshire Dales. Lovely first week, however the rain followed us for the 2nd!!!

My husband has just asked me to get in touch with Forum members and ask for some advice.

Our 'van is a 07 model, having been used for 7 weeks this year so far. However, we are experiencing problems with the regulator which gives off a loud buzzing noise when any of the burners on the stove and oven are switched on (either singely or 2 or more). The gas has to be turned down to its lowest setting in order to get rid of the noise.

We suspect it is a faulty regulator and it will need to be changed before we go out again in 2 weeks time.

The question is:

Has anyone had problems with plastisizers in the gas hose? If so, have you gone down the route of fitting the new Gaslow steel tubing? Is it any better than the rubber originals?

We need to know before making a decision on whether to keep to the original rubber hose or purchasing the new Gaslow fitment.

Having looked through the CC magazine there seems to be no mention of Gaslow stainless steel hoses and it appears to suggest to members not to fit expensive hoses.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Ann

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Ann,

Buzzing Regulator - it's just plain faulty - most probably the membrane inside the regulator is loose from the backing plate - and yes, it should be changed.

Stainless steel (SS) pigtail hoses - well they shouldn't need to be replaced for quite a few years, so the cost will be ameliorated over their longer life.

Do you need a SS pigtail? - well the issue with UK designed installations should by now have gone away.

Indeed they should all look like the installation in our 2004/2005 German Eriba - regulator mounted at the very top of the gas locker, high pressure inlet at the bottom, low pressure exit at the top, correct grade of rubber pigtail used, and the pigtail always rises between bottle and regulator.

My work involves designing systems for refineries, so I looked at fitting a Teflon inner sleeve to the pigtail - and this turned out to be easy and a fraction of the price for a SS pigtail.

But all new installations should be correct and not need user "upgrades" - but if you want to, then why not.

Robert

As an aside, EN1949 (the new gas regulations for a fixed regulator) was implemented in Germany for exported caravans, and to my knowledge (Eriba Forum) there have been no regulator issues at all. I couldn't understand why so many people were complaining in the UK - until I saw an installation in a UK van in the flesh - and it was apparent that everything that could have been done wrong, was - but even then if the right grade of rubber pigtail had been used, then no one would have had a problem.

 

[VonRyan]

Hi Ann

With you van being a 07 model the regulator on the bulkhead should be above the top of your gas cylinder which means if any plastisizer that may weep should go away from your bulk head regulator. I use the Gaslow large red handle rubber hose connector pigtail which I find excellent for changing on my propane bottles as no spanner is required and it also has a large rubber seal at the cylinder end of the hose which gives a perfect seal.

As far as the noise from your regulator rob_jax is bang on it's just plain faulty and get it changed asap.

Rob