Community Forums

RoadEyePie · 05-03-2019, 04:02 PM

Our new 2019 Beacon uses propane for the generator, the furnace, the hot water heater and the oven and gas stove top. We camped in it 7 nights so far, and have used the furnace and ran the generator a couple of hours and we've only used 3.2 gallons of propane. I took the two 30 lb. tanks to refill them today to be sure we had enough for our next trip....3 weeks. I'm thinking these two tanks should last me most of the summer. I bought a spare 30 lb. tank thinking I would need it but now I don't think I ever will if my trips are 6 to 8 weeks and back home. What should I expect?

Old-Biscuit · 05-03-2019, 04:46 PM

We 'Full Timed' with Two 30# cylinders'
Cooking, heating water, fridge cooling ----typically go 6 weeks on ONE 30#
Winter time..all above and add in furnace use.....3-4 weeks on ONE 30#
(Furnace is a HOG)

A gallon of propane has 91,600btu

Water heater....10,000/12,000btu per hour of burn time (Atwood/Suburban)
Fridge.............. 2,200btu for large fridge per hour of burn time
Furnace...........35,000/42,000btu per burn time
Stove top....one high btu burner (9000btu) 2 low btu burners (5000/ea) ..stove 1200but per hour burn time
Generator........depends on size (KW) of gen (5500W .8 gal/hour 1/2 load)

SO add up YOUR appliance btu per hour of run time and then you can get real close ball park figure on usage
30# cylinder has 7 gallons usable propane

OR when first cylinder goes empty.....go get it filled.

RoadEyePie · 05-03-2019, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

We 'Full Timed' with Two 30# cylinders'
Cooking, heating water, fridge cooling ----typically go 6 weeks on ONE 30#
Winter time..all above and add in furnace use.....3-4 weeks on ONE 30#
(Furnace is a HOG)

A gallon of propane has 91,600btu

Water heater....10,000/12,000btu per hour of burn time (Atwood/Suburban)
Fridge.............. 2,200btu for large fridge per hour of burn time
Furnace...........35,000/42,000btu per burn time
Stove top....one high btu burner (9000btu) 2 low btu burners (5000/ea) ..stove 1200but per hour burn time
Generator........depends on size (KW) of gen (5500W .8 gal/hour 1/2 load)

SO add up YOUR appliance btu per hour of run time and then you can get real close ball park figure on usage
30# cylinder has 7 gallons usable propane

OR when first cylinder goes empty.....go get it filled.

So will it empty one before beginning to use the second?

powerboatr · 05-03-2019, 05:10 PM

our onan 6500 propane genny would eat a 30 lb cylinder in short order..like 8 hrs or continuous running

Old-Biscuit · 05-03-2019, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoadEyePie

So will it empty one before beginning to use the second?

Auto Changeover LP Regulator WILL swap to other cylinder when first one goes empty....provided 2nd one is valved in for service

1st cylinder valved in for service is Primary....then turn lever/knob so it points to 1st cylinder and full green will be indicated.....open 2nd cylinder valve

When 1st goes empty...red will be indicated ....Reg will swap to 2nd cylinder.
Turn lever/knob to point at 2nd cylinder & red goes green

YOU need to check to see if 'red' is being indicated so you know 1st is empty. No other indication cause propane continues to flow

OR leave 2nd cylinder valved out...when 1st goes empty then no more propane flow and nothing works.
Course that usually happens at 2am on a cold night and no furnace

bro61021 · 05-10-2019, 06:27 AM

I turned my knob from the empty tank to the full tank. Saw red turn to green. Went to stove. Can't get it to lite. Went back to tank indicated and it was blank. No green, no red. I assume the leak safty is locked. How do I cancel to get propane flowing again.

Thanks

1bigmess · 05-10-2019, 08:20 PM

To get the leak safety to reset, I close the tank valve, disconnect the pigtail to relieve the pressure, reattach the pigtail, then **slowly** open the tank valve again.

Old-Biscuit · 05-10-2019, 09:33 PM

With all propane demand secured downstream of Regulator, close cylinder service valve...wait 30 seconds then SLOWLY open service valve
Should hear 2 clicks...one when you first crack open service valve and then another when Excess Flow Device (ball check valve) resets (all should happen within 5-10 seconds of opening service valve)

bro61021 · 05-10-2019, 09:44 PM

Thanks, I'll give this a try to see if I can get it to work.. Thanks

Ray,IN · 05-11-2019, 10:14 PM

Old-biscuit is right.
When using the auto-changeover feature, the first tank will not completely empty, the auto feature does this based on vapor pressure in the first tank, so it leaves a bit in the first tank. This is so your LP appliances will not go out unexpectedly.

bigchick · 05-12-2019, 07:02 AM

going back to the original question i would not expect to get the weeks of usage that have been quoted out of your propane tanks if you are running the furnace and / or generator. our onan 5500 lp generator can go through a tank of propane in around 8-10 hours. you don't mention what model generator you have but i would expect a 4000 to last a bit longer and somebody mentioned that a 6500 uses a tank in around 8 hours. extrapolating out you may get somewhere in the 8 -12 hours out a 30 lb tank depending on the load. running an a/c that is a day. recharging for 2 hours / day that is about 5 days. now hooked up to shore power and only using propane to cook you might go an entire season.

bro61021 · 05-13-2019, 06:32 PM

I tried many times with no luck. This started with me starting my absorption refridgerator 24 hours in advance of use. When I returned the next day the freezer was cold but the fridge was hot. I checked the stove to see if I was out of gas but it wouldn't lite. So I changed the switch to the other tank and it hasn't worked since. I wanted the whole story out there to hopefully help get some answers.

RoadEyePie · 05-22-2019, 06:45 AM

In my case, I have a 5500 lp generator but we don't dry camp. It's basically for emergency use. Plan to stay at CG with 50 amp hook ups. My RV uses propane for genny, furnace, stove top and oven and the water heater. At this time of year we won't be running the furnace, we don't use the Furrion oven because we don't like it and bought a Breville. Don't run the genny. Our water heater is a Truma On-Demand doesn't burn propane until we shower or wash dishes. So we're burning very little propane.

bro61021 · 05-22-2019, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bro61021

I turned my knob from the empty tank to the full tank. Saw red turn to green. Went to stove. Can't get it to lite. Went back to tank indicated and it was blank. No green, no red. I assume the leak safty is locked. How do I cancel to get propane flowing again.

Thanks

A little more on my delimer. After trying every suggestion on this site with no luck, I finally was able to plug into electric and gas came to my stove. What controls when gas only will work. What would gas the gas to work only when plugged in but not when unplugged. I appreciate your input.