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Old 05-29-2015, 05:30 PM   #1
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Propane Gauge?

Okay, second trip out in the 3990. Hardly seasoned veterans, but my comfort level is slowly going up. Don't laugh, but I even backed into a spot as opposed to using a pull thru. No small accomplishment with my skill level. Installed a Condor motorcycle mount and added a few 6000 lb. "D" rings which are bolted thru the frame as opposed to the screws that are OEM. My questions are: How do you check your propane level? I don't see gauges anywhere. Also, does it draw off of one tank at a time or are they in sequence and drawn on simultaneously? Thanks in advance.
Rusty
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Old 05-29-2015, 05:46 PM   #2
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Rusty,

I've never found a propane gauge that was very reliable.

I just open one bottle at a time and when it runs out I'll switch over and take the empty one to refill. This works great for me because the place I refill doesn't charge by the gallon / lb but a flat rate by the bottle. My Voltage has a switch to flip between bottles, but it will automatically draw from the other side (if open) when the bottle it is set to is empty.

I usually carry an extra tank for DW's propane fire-pit & outdoor patio heater or to use with my wok & dump pot stand. You better also plan on carrying extra propane for cold weather camping when your furnace could run through a 30 lb bottle in a few days.
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Old 05-29-2015, 05:46 PM   #3
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Rusty, welcome and congratulations on your backing up skills. Some of the nicest spots require backing in; your skills will benefit you!
Think of propane tanks like aerosol cans. They are good until the very end, when they run low on pressure and sputter. Gauges tend to have 95% green, and 5% yellow. Doesn't tell you much. You'll see people shaking disconnected tanks, to hear/feel any liquid sloshing around. Again, not very precise.
That's why the concept of two tanks, using a switchover, developed. It works like this: Both tank valves open, lever points to one tank or the other, not in the middle. System will draw from that tank until depleted. When it is depleted, the sight indicator shows a colored flag behind the glass (mine is red), and that means it has switched, and you are now drawing from the other tank, that is the one the pointer is NOT pointing to. At that point, you turn off the valve on the empty cylinder, and move the pointer to the operating tank. The red tag should now clear. You are now down to one tank, but the empty one is turned off, so you can disconnect it, and replace or refill it. When you do, turn the valve back on, so the system can flip to it when the other tank depletes.
Putting the lever in the middle draws from both tanks simultaneously, thus negating any switchover ability. Frankly, I don't know why anybody would use that position.
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Old 05-29-2015, 05:51 PM   #4
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I usually carry an extra tank for DW's propane fire-pit & outdoor patio heater or to use with my wok & dump pot stand. You better also plan on carrying extra propane for cold weather camping when your furnace could run through a 30 lb bottle in a few days.
X2! My carry-along tank feeds our fire pit, our grill, and even my generator when I bring it. I go through these, faster than the TT tanks, even though I prefer to heat water with gas, and am liberal with the furnace.
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Old 05-29-2015, 07:45 PM   #5
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Thanks you guys. I'll go out and revisit the tanks. It sounds like I've got a knob similar to what you described Marty. Appreciate the help.
Rusty
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Old 05-30-2015, 12:21 AM   #6
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Realistically, there is only one way to determine how much the propane cylinder has left and that is to determine the location of the liquid / gas level. Unlike a pressurized gas cylinder that may be found in a welding shop, the propane cylinder has a mixture of liquid and gaseous propane.

Most RV shops sell one or two types of external, non-powered LCD devices. They are both magnetic. One, a long strip type, needs hot water to operate as the liquid propane will absorb the heat faster than the gas. The other type, more rectangular shaped, will actually read the level but there must be some propane use in progress so that the interface has a differential of temperature from evaporation. This type of external gauge would not work if the cylinder contained only gas.

Both Sam's Club and Camping World sell 20 pound cylinders with an integral gauge system built into the cylinder. I recommend that you price both locations if possible as Camping World charges considerably more than Sam's Club, even if you add in the cost of the membership. The gauge system consists of a float that rides on the liquid propane and displays the level on the gauge. The only potential problem is that the cylinder must be vertical. Industrial forklifts that use propane use a 30 pound cylinder but the tank level can be read in either a vertical or horizontal mounting. This type of internal gauge would not work if the cylinder contained only gas.

The inline level gauges simply do not work well as they are attempting to correlate a minor difference in pressure to an equivalent tank level. Regardless the amount of liquid left in the cylinder, as long as any liquid is left in the cylinder, the pressure will be the same as a cylinder that is nearly full of liquid at the same temperature. A difference in the temperature of the tank results in a difference in the pressure of the propane; this can give you errors either positive or negative. Better to use the liquid level as your true amount of propane remaining.
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Old 05-30-2015, 12:40 PM   #7
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Thanks Bill. Learned a lot. I have two 30# tanks mounted on either side of my unit. I'd be happy knowing when just one was empty and I could go refill it at my leisure before the second one goes dry.
Rusty
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Old 06-01-2015, 01:17 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Mole View Post
Realistically, there is only one way to determine how much the propane cylinder has left and that is to determine the location of the liquid / gas level. Unlike a pressurized gas cylinder that may be found in a welding shop, the propane cylinder has a mixture of liquid and gaseous propane.

Most RV shops sell one or two types of external, non-powered LCD devices. They are both magnetic. One, a long strip type, needs hot water to operate as the liquid propane will absorb the heat faster than the gas. The other type, more rectangular shaped, will actually read the level but there must be some propane use in progress so that the interface has a differential of temperature from evaporation. This type of external gauge would not work if the cylinder contained only gas.

Both Sam's Club and Camping World sell 20 pound cylinders with an integral gauge system built into the cylinder. I recommend that you price both locations if possible as Camping World charges considerably more than Sam's Club, even if you add in the cost of the membership. The gauge system consists of a float that rides on the liquid propane and displays the level on the gauge. The only potential problem is that the cylinder must be vertical. Industrial forklifts that use propane use a 30 pound cylinder but the tank level can be read in either a vertical or horizontal mounting. This type of internal gauge would not work if the cylinder contained only gas.

The inline level gauges simply do not work well as they are attempting to correlate a minor difference in pressure to an equivalent tank level. Regardless the amount of liquid left in the cylinder, as long as any liquid is left in the cylinder, the pressure will be the same as a cylinder that is nearly full of liquid at the same temperature. A difference in the temperature of the tank results in a difference in the pressure of the propane; this can give you errors either positive or negative. Better to use the liquid level as your true amount of propane remaining.
Most accurate method is weighing it...

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Old 06-01-2015, 02:07 AM   #9
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Truer words were never spoken, Aaron.
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Old 06-01-2015, 03:16 PM   #10
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Most accurate method is weighing it...

Aaron
That's why I keep an old bathroom scale in the garage.


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Old 07-20-2016, 02:00 PM   #11
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Photos?

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Originally Posted by MartyG View Post
Rusty, welcome and congratulations on your backing up skills. Some of the nicest spots require backing in; your skills will benefit you!
Think of propane tanks like aerosol cans. They are good until the very end, when they run low on pressure and sputter. Gauges tend to have 95% green, and 5% yellow. Doesn't tell you much. You'll see people shaking disconnected tanks, to hear/feel any liquid sloshing around. Again, not very precise.
That's why the concept of two tanks, using a switchover, developed. It works like this: Both tank valves open, lever points to one tank or the other, not in the middle. System will draw from that tank until depleted. When it is depleted, the sight indicator shows a colored flag behind the glass (mine is red), and that means it has switched, and you are now drawing from the other tank, that is the one the pointer is NOT pointing to. At that point, you turn off the valve on the empty cylinder, and move the pointer to the operating tank. The red tag should now clear. You are now down to one tank, but the empty one is turned off, so you can disconnect it, and replace or refill it. When you do, turn the valve back on, so the system can flip to it when the other tank depletes.
Putting the lever in the middle draws from both tanks simultaneously, thus negating any switchover ability. Frankly, I don't know why anybody would use that position.
As a newbie, I just happened upon this thread. Great info but some photos of this whole flag, switch, yellow/red/green thingy would be great.
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Old 07-20-2016, 03:19 PM   #12
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As a newbie, I just happened upon this thread. Great info but some photos of this whole flag, switch, yellow/red/green thingy would be great.

Propane Auto Changeover Two-Stage Regulator - Mr. Heater F273766 - Propane Accessories - Camping World

This is for dual tanks, there are cheaper prices other than RV stores.
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Old 07-20-2016, 05:56 PM   #13
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Propane Auto Changeover Two-Stage Regulator - Mr. Heater F273766 - Propane Accessories - Camping World

This is for dual tanks, there are cheaper prices other than RV stores.
Hey thanks! It's aftermarket. I thought someone was intimating it should already be on there. I can confirm for mine it is not. But it will be soon!
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Old 07-20-2016, 06:14 PM   #14
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Hey thanks! It's aftermarket. I thought someone was intimating it should already be on there. I can confirm for mine it is not. But it will be soon!
It should be there if you have two tanks.
Give us an idea of what you have regarding your RV.
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Old 07-20-2016, 06:53 PM   #15
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Hey thanks! It's aftermarket. I thought someone was intimating it should already be on there. I can confirm for mine it is not. But it will be soon!
That is a great picture that Sundancer posted. It's exactly what I was talking about. One point of clarification: The red in the window is not a light, or LED. It is a window into a mechanical device. Behind that glass, a red piece of metal flips up to give you the red indication. Sometimes, you'll look at it and "think" you see red, because there might be a hint of red in the corner. That is just the edge of the metal piece in its lowered position. When it flips up, you'll know it; you won't see anything but red.
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Old 07-20-2016, 07:59 PM   #16
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Hey thanks! It's aftermarket. I thought someone was intimating it should already be on there. I can confirm for mine it is not. But it will be soon!
If it's not standard equipement on your camper, it's well worth it to add it. When I added on to our old Airstream, I thought there has to be an easier way to check, than having to remove the tank cover.

I came across a small left over piece of lexan in my shop and the light bulb turned on. I measured how high the gauge was from the frame, cut a 2 1/2" hole with a Forstner bit and glued the lexan to the inside of the tank cover with PL Premium.

I check the gage every morning, if the indicator is red I flip the switch over to the other tank, pull the empty tank and get it refilled during our days adventures.
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Old 07-20-2016, 10:38 PM   #17
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I bought an inline gauge for mine (only 1 bottle) but keep a spare in a milk crate for the grill and Coleman stove (or for the TT) the gauge seems to work ok for me if it is off a little I really do not care, (My wife says I am off a little too)
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Old 07-21-2016, 04:56 AM   #18
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I'll open the tie-down strap on mine and give a lift and a shake - easy to tell how much is in there. Before a big cross-country trip I'll take 'em both out and get 'em topped off.
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Old 07-21-2016, 02:27 PM   #19
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I bought two from Bass Pro Shop. When I notice the tank to which the handle is NOT pointing to begins to go down, then I refill the other tank and turn the handle.

While the gauges are not 100% accurate, this method works great for me.
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Old 07-21-2016, 06:49 PM   #20
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I bought two from Bass Pro Shop. When I notice the tank to which the handle is NOT pointing to begins to go down, then I refill the other tank and turn the handle.

While the gauges are not 100% accurate, this method works great for me.
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