Propane regulator

[don parks]

My 2012 FF 189FDS is equipped with a Marshall 2-stage automatic changeover propane regulator. I understand how it is supposed to work but I find it very difficult to interpret the color change. If I wait until it is fully red both tanks are empty. Does the tiniest bit of red indicate that the supply tank is empty?

Don

[webslave]

Assuming that you do know how it is supposed to work and you have the lever pointing at a tank (not in the middle), you have a defective regulator or a pretty drastic leak in the system.

With the two tanks open, and the valve pointing at either tank (working from two full tanks to start), the color dot will be green. As soon as the tank that the lever is pointing at is empty, the dot will turn red and start drawing from the other tank. At that point, the tank that the lever is pointing at should be empty, however, the other tank should still be full. You would then turn the lever to the tank that still has gas (the dot should then turn green), take the empty one and have it filled, hook it back up and turn its valve on. When the dot turns red again, the tank that was your "second" tank should be empty, the original tank will be full (you filled it a while ago) and you start the "exchange" process over again...turn the handle on the regulator to the full tank, take the empty off, fill it and re-attach, turn its valve on and wait for the dot to turn red again and repeat ad nauseum.

That's how it is supposed to work. Unless you are using an awful lot of LP and never checking the color dot (I make it a habit of checking it weekly), you should never run completely out of LP gas. If you are, and you are using the system properly, then the regulator itself is defective or you have a pretty good sized leak. The "system" is virtually fool-proof; there are those that don't trust it, but, a properly functioning auto change over regulator and regular monitoring will never let you down.

[profdant139]

I know this is slightly off topic, but I just have to take this opportunity to say how much I appreciate the comments from Don (aka webslave). Very thorough, clear, insightful, and helpful. Way to go!!

[don parks]

Our regulator is a Marshall 605H and does not have a color 'dot'. It is difficult to describe the color indicator but it very difficult to interpret. Here is something from a Casita forum. It is a different model but looks identical to ours. http://tinyurl.com/yu9yzz


Don

[webslave]

Same principle... The regulator on my Cougar has an indicator that resembles a Bio-Hazard indicator

In the picture link you posted; (pretend the lines are connected to the tanks), the tank on the right would be considered the "primary" as the lever is pointing to it...the tank would be "empty" since the indicator is red and it would be drawing propane from the tank on the left. At that point, you would turn the lever towards the tank on the left and the indicator should then go "green" (if it doesn't and the tank on the left has gas, the regulator is bad). Once the handle is turned to the secondary tank (on the left) it then becomes the "primary" tank. You can then safely turn off the tank on the right, remove it from the system and have it filled (you don't need to shut off the other tank, the regulator is a "one-way" valve). The tank on the left, now that it has the lever pointing to it, having gas and being the primary should show green until it is empty at which point the indicator will turn red and the regulator will be drawing from the tank on the right. Turn the handle to point to that tank, the indicator should then show green and you can remove the tank on the left and have it filled. The indicator will only show green when the lever is pointing to a tank (the primary) and it has gas. If the indicator is red, the tank the lever is pointing at is empty; the other tank may or may not have gas; only the tank the lever is pointing at is read by the indicator...if the indicator is green the tank the lever is pointing at has gas, if the indicator is red, the tank the lever is pointing at is empty. In essence, the lever is the controller...it sets the "primary" tank and the regulator's indicator, no matter what "style" of indicator it is, will only indicate the gas/no gas sitiuation of the "primary" tank. As soon as it turns red, it is drawing from the other tank and you should flip the lever to that tank and get the empty re-filled.

Thanks for the kind words profdant139 I try