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Mike 1000 · 10-19-2013, 03:56 PM

I have a new 2013 Thor Challenger 37DT that I bought in mid-August. The dealer had it on it's sales lot for about 8 months. I have had the propane regulator replaced twice in that time for leaks in regulator. Now I smell propane again at the regulator and the regulator is all frosted over. Temp outside is in the lower 60's.

What could be making the new propane regulators leak and why is the third one frosted over? Three regulators leaking in 2 months has got to be more than a coincidence. Could there be a problem with the propane in the tank that is making the regulators leak? It has a two stage regulator.

**CLIFFTALL** · 10-19-2013, 04:02 PM

I'm not sure of what's happening there but I hope you have the tank shut off.

Stan.Birch · 10-19-2013, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike 1000

What could be making the new propane regulators leak and why is the third one frosted over? Three regulators leaking in 2 months has got to be more than a coincidence.

Sounds as if you are using the wrong regulator. Regulators have different capacity ratings, and a rinky dink portable BBQ regulator won't be able to handle the needs of a motorhome.

Another possibility, is that you have the vent hole facing up where the regulator can accumulate water.

Mr_D · 10-19-2013, 04:16 PM

That's a strange one. In all the rigs we've had I've never had to replace a regulator and we're going on 11½ years with this one.

Mike 1000 · 10-19-2013, 04:21 PM

Yes, propane is shut off.

jspande · 10-19-2013, 04:21 PM

A friend had a similar issue, which turned out to be a misunderstanding of how they work. I was a little surprised to learn that he had assumed the tank selection lever should be straight up for "automatic change-over", and to the right or left to force selection of a particular tank. After thinking about it, I had to admit it was a reasonably intuitive assumption, but wrong non the less.

Are you always setting the lever all the way left or right? It should never be in the middle.

If you set it to the right then that tank is selected until empty at which point it will do the auto switch-over and the indicator will change from green to red. In other words, green means the tank pointed to by the lever is being used, and red means the opposite tank from the lever is being used.

Hope it's that simple.

wa8yxm · 10-19-2013, 05:31 PM

Do you have any kind of a "T" fitting you are using to "insert" propane from an external tank?

I have seen some of these where the "T" is after the regulator. This very simply will not work unless you also install a 3-way valve and use a 2nd regulator on the external tank.

THe output of the regulator MUST NOT be connected to any propane source other than the regulator it is part of.

OPTION 2: (Just came to me on edit)

SOME tanks have TWO outlets.. Gas and Liquid, the liquid port is for a generator.. The Regulator MUST NOT be connected to the liquid port. Photo please.

Mike 1000 · 10-19-2013, 09:05 PM

Thanks for input. Regulators have been purchased from RV dealers, so hopefully they are the right type, but I will check that. Only have one tank (100 LB size), with only one place to connect regulator. No T fitting.

TQ60 · 10-19-2013, 09:56 PM

Do hourself a huge favor and just stop by a propane dealer and have them look.

You can have them fill it cheaper than the gas station, and they are pros at this where the dealer is not.

They do this for a living and are trained for this.

They will know usually in seconds what is wrong and can tell you what needs to be done, the dealer can follow their instructions.

If manufacturer design issue the propane guy can talk to factory rep to get it done correctly

Fred1609 · 10-19-2013, 10:09 PM

DW and I are camping this weekend and at the start there was a strong smell of propane....I traced the problem to the two stage regulator which leaking on top of the indicator but underneath the plastic lever. Gonna do this weekend with a ceramic space heater....The thing I don't get is that our rig is 3 years old.....and the part failed.?

sswilson · 10-19-2013, 10:10 PM

Frosted regulator means that you are drawing a lot of fuel thru the unit. Pressure change equals temp change. What type of equipment are you using when this happens? What I mean is how much work is the reg doing? Has there been any new pieces of propane equipment added to the rig? Do you have anything needing more than the approx 11 inches water column pressure to run on? There are certainly different grades of regulators out there and inexpensive ones are not always worth their inexpensive cost if you know what I mean. Anyone working on this type of problem should have been trained and have a license, even at a dealer!

Papa_Jim · 10-19-2013, 10:26 PM

Sometimes oil will be in the tank, and that can plug the regulator. When you remove the regulator, is it full of oil?

Mike 1000 · 10-29-2013, 02:58 PM

I now believe that I was wrong thinking that I smelled a propane leak after the regulator was replaced twice. On that occasion, I did not see a leak, only detected a smell which I now believe was exhaust smell from the generator. After I wrote my original post above, I turned the propane tank back on the next day and detected no odor. I used the propane for refrigerator, hot water heater and furnace on 3 day camping trip and still no odor, so I think it's ok.
On the two previous occasions when I smelled propane, I also could see the leaks, so I am sure that the regulators needed to be replaced those times. The leaks were from the top of the regulators as in Fred's situation that he reported above.
Thanks for the input.