Help with Extend-a-Stay propane connection

[bcbounders]

We installed an Extend-a-Stay propane fitting to our RV shortly after we bought it. For years, we have only used the portion of it that allows us to use our BBQ grill off of the RV's propane tank. We're full-timers, and have snowbirded in the Desert SW every winter since we began RVing. We are now settling in for our first winter in a northern climate, and want to make use of the Extend-a-Stay to connect to a large (about 120 gallons) propane tank that is available to us on the site we're in.

We purchased an extension to reach the big tank, confirmed with the delivery guy that the tank has plenty of propane (it was used regularly by the previous tenant for several winters in their 5th wheel), turned off the valve on our RV's propane tank, and fully opened the valve on top of the tank (which we already confirmed causes propane to flow).

The flow simply is not sufficient. The grill will barely stay lit. The burner on the stove is reduced to a tiny flame, even when on high. The burner will continue to stay on (very low) for a long time, confirming that there is some flow. When you turn on a second burner, the first burner decreases to almost nothing. Appears to be a low flow issue.

All of the big tanks in the park (mostly connected to park models) have the same standard pressure regulator on them. The delivery guy (who is not certified to install or work on these systems, but only to fill the tanks) said that the regulator takes the extremely high tank pressure and reduces it to "about 10 PSI" and that the regulator on our RV will then reduce it further to around 11-14 column inches, which he said was about 0.5 PSI. He also said the size (diameter) of the hose we're using doesn't matter (the Extend-a-Stay is pretty small diameter). Again, he's not an expert, but before we pay one to come out, we though we might be missing something simple.

Is it possible that the extend-a-stay will only work with the small portable propane tanks without regulators on them? Has anyone attached an Extend-a-Stay to one of these big external tanks, and if so, is there some special consideration that needs to be dealt with? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

- John
2005 Newmar Mountain Aire 43'
2003 Honda CR-V toad

[autofish]

bc ---it sounds like you have a regulator on the big tank so you have low psi gas comeing out of this tank . The extend a stay hose is a high psi hose and will not let enought low psi gas through it as it has way too small openings in the end fittings. So you need to take off the tank regulator and feed the hose with high psi gas or keep the regulator and get a hose and fittings for low psi gas. hope this helps

[John Hilley]

Autofish is right. The Extend-a-Stay is expecting high pressure from the tank. You may be able to feed your RV by connecting to the manifold on the low pressure side of the RV regulator. On a lot of RVs there is an extra connection on a 1/2" pipe that feeds the RV.

[sparkydog]

I bought a gas grill, hooked it into designated 1/2" gas line on curb side of coach. I got minimal flame. I removed regulator that came with grill, it works perfectly. That line is already regulated out of the large onboard tank.

[bcbounders]

Thanks, guys. You must be right. The Extend-a-Stay is designed to be connected directly to an UN-regulated tank (like a small, 5-gallon tank that would be easily refillable while parked long-term)… and as a result, it has very narrow connections. The large tank we're trying to utilize is regulated, so there's just not enough "oomph" behind the flow of propane to squeeze enough through the little orifice on the Extend-a-Stay.

I'm going to call the propane supply company today and see if there's any way they can remove the regulator so that high-pressure propane is available, as I'd rather not modify anything else on the coach… and because I want to make use of the darned Extend-a-Stay that I already have! LOL!

I just wanted to be sure there wasn't something simple that I was missing (like some little valve that needed to be turned that I was missing, etc.)!

I'll report back with how things go.

Thanks!

[bcbounders]

Hey all! Thanks for your responses. With your input, here's the updated report (if you don't want to read it all... everything's fine now!):

We removed the existing regulator from the big external propane tank and installed a new regulator that passes higher-pressure, instead. The local propane shop said that the original regulator brought us down to 10 or 11 column inches, which wasn't enough pressure to account for the small-diameter "pigtail" needed to connect to the Extend-a-Stay AND the additional, on-board regulator further downstream.

The reason we couldn't go with no regulator at the tank at all is due to the required length of the hose to reach from the tank to the extend-a-stay — about 30 feet. He said that full-pressure propane along that long a run of hose will cause oil to build up in the hose, clogging our on-board regulator. The new tank regulator brings the pressure down to 10 PSI, a pressure below which he said oil will not accumulate in the hose.

An alternate solution would have been to leave the original, low-pressure regulator on the tank, and plumb a new connection into our system DOWNSTREAM / AFTER the on-board regulator, thereby bypassing it. Since we didn't want to re-work our RVs propane connections, we opted to spring for the new regulator.

15 minutes later, all is fixed. It's toasty in here watching the snow fly outside!

Thanks for the great input, as always.

- John
2005 Newmar Mountain Aire 43'
2003 Honda CR-V toad

[bcbounders]

Hi all,

Thanks for your very valuable input on this. With the help of our local propane dealer, we've gotten everything setup and working perfectly... just in time, too. The snow began falling the next day, but we were warm and toasty inside with the heat running!

I put together a quick video going over what it was that we ended up doing to get things working right... in case anyone's interested (and/or having the same problem). You can see it on YouTube:

HOW TO: Connect an RV to External Propane - YouTube

Thanks again for all your help!

[ottffss]

Glad you are all fixed up!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcbounders ... He said that full-pressure propane along that long a run of hose will cause oil to build up in the hose, clogging our on-board regulator....

Can someone offer an explanation about WHY this happens?

[mr300ce]

Thanks for the video. I will be full timing on the road in 3yrs, and may need a large tank someday. Right now I use (3) 5-gal bottles so I don't use up my onboard propane. I just go fill them when they all run out.

I use about 1/3 to 1 bottle a week in the winter, depending on the temps here in the high desert.

BTW...nice ring on your hand !

[wa8yxm]

The Extend-a-stay is a high pressure device. IT feeds vapor to your RV's regulator. You need to REMOVE the regulator from the big tank and feed the high pressure direct into the Extend-a-stay.. This will require a different extension hose as well.

The Propane supplier SHOULD have been able to figure that out.. Alas, some can, some can not.

But you feed full tank pressure to the Extend-a-stay.. Not "Regulated". Ditch the tank's regulator.

[w6pea]

bcbounders

Thank you for posting the video.....informative.



If We Can't Haul It....You Don't Need It! Motor-T

[Thunder1]

Great video, bcbounders. I will probably be doing this some day too.
Thanks,
Doug and Carol

[bcbounders]

Quote:

Originally Posted by w6pea bcbounders Thank you for posting the video.....informative. If We Can't Haul It....You Don't Need It! Motor-T

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[bcbounders]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm The Extend-a-stay is a high pressure device. IT feeds vapor to your RV's regulator. You need to REMOVE the regulator from the big tank and feed the high pressure direct into the Extend-a-stay.. This will require a different extension hose as well. The Propane supplier SHOULD have been able to figure that out.. Alas, some can, some can not. But you feed full tank pressure to the Extend-a-stay.. Not "Regulated". Ditch the tank's regulator.

Actually, our supplier DID offer that as an option, but suggested that such a long run of hose (25 to 30' needed to reach the tank) COULD cause an oily residue build-up that would clog our onboard regulator. Adding the regulator to the tank to drop the pressure to 10 psi (not 10" WC) is supposed to prevent that. We'll see. Since we didn't want to take that chance that we could end up with NO supply of propane (inevitably during a blizzard!), we decided to take his advice and install the additional regulator at the tank. And everything is working as it should.

For shorter runs of hose (i.e. if you were just using the pigtail to go right to a smaller, portable tank), it should be no problem to go directly from the tank into the Extend-a-Stay and not have any oil problems. We'll report back if we end up having a problem anyway.

Thanks!