Inspectable Item: Propane Area

[Geronimo John]

3 hours ago, Galway Girl said:

I checked AC out yesterday, the version they sell is the 262K BTU version (bottom in data sheet)GR-9994.

Drats you are correct.  It appears that the American Copper and Brass have their wires mixed up.  They are selling these two auto change over valves.  Their left one shows 245KBTU and the one on the right is their 345KBTU model of another mfg.  .  

 

Gut the Fairview Fittins and MFG web site says that the GRF9984 is a 345 KBTU model as I posted previously.

 

The Fairview web site says that the GR9984 is rated at 345,000 BTU.  Go figure????. 

 

 

Here is the link to the full manual:

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/wp-content/uploads/oliver-university/Component_Manuals/Propane_Regulator/Fairview-GR-9984P-Propane-LP-Regulator-Manual.pdf

GJ

 

 

Edited Monday at 10:37 PM by Geronimo John

[Geronimo John]

Time for a left turn on this topic.

The more I  ponder my propane system, and the way that I use it, I'm questioning why I want or need an auto switch over valve.  Rationale:

• I don't ever use the auto switch over part of the device .  I want to know when I have an empty tank.
• It is a single point of failure.
• It is expensive to replace

Why not just buy two regulators and two 18" hoses, attach oneset  to each tank, and "T" their outputs to the supply line going into Ollie?  

Use one tank at a time.  When it goes dry, open the small hatch and shut off one tank and open the second tank's valve.

100% redundancy with less points of failure for about the same cost.

Your thoughts?

GJ

[topgun2]

11 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

I don't ever use the auto switch over part of the device .  I want to know when I have an empty tank.

ditto on this front.

Of course we could leave it the way it is and then we'd know when we have two empty tanks?🙃

Edited Monday at 11:05 PM by topgun2

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, Galway Girl said:

Amazon has the GR-9984 with 345,000 BTU version

This is the model I purchased recently. Thanks Craig, I read an earlier post of yours citing  this model.

The original regulator, now 10 years old was still working. After reading advice here to replace such an old unit with new, I did so. The old saying, “should have left well enough alone” has come to play!

At first it was the sounds, but I can see reasons for sounds as listed above. In attempt to eliminate the sound, I closed both tanks, released line pressure and started again. It’s a sort of a mechanical reboot!

The sound went away temporarily, but then we could not start our indoor appliances (HWH, cooktop or furnace). Meanwhile our fire ring was still burning… What?

And after 20 min, the outdoor fire slowed down. The fire ring on high was like it was set to low! So I did the mechanical reboot again (after turning off the fire ring). Then the furnace started and everything was back to normal.

It’s not the BTU capacity of the regulator, since I doubt I was running 100 BTU, let alone 260 or 345! My brand new GR-8894 regulator has an intermittent issue.

So, I will replace it again! On the advice of another Oliver owner, I purchased the one @Geronimo John just cited as the HO regulator that American Copper lists! My understanding is that Marshall Excelsior makes a quality Made-in-USA product. I’ll let you know how it goes… 😎

https://a.co/d/0drkfrTK

[jd1923]

I took a look today at my original regulator to see that OTT installed a Marshall Excelsior MEGR-253 which is rated at 225,000 primary cylinder BTUs. It’s hard to read but front pic shows the brand name and rear pic lists the model number.

Recently I installed the Fairview GR-9984XF which is acting up! I purchased a kit just like this: https://ebay.us/m/Opru0 Maybe these kits at this price are knock-offs resulting in my issues.

The regulator I just purchased is the Marshall Excelsior MEGR-253H. The H stands for High output, rated at 350,000 primary cylinder BTU.

Our hull was running fine, for 10 years, on 225,000 primary cylinder BTUs, showing the high output units are unnecessary but they cost about the same at $80. We run our fire ring almost every evening and often the 2-burner Napoleon Grill and don’t want that feeling again that the furnace will not start!

It appears OTT moved from Marshall Excelsior to Fairview at some point. I’m going to toss the faulty Fairview, install the new MEGR-253H and keep the old MEGR-253 as a back-up! 😎

Edited yesterday at 05:21 PM by jd1923

[Geronimo John]

18 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

The more I  ponder my propane system, and the way that I use it, I'm questioning why I want or need an auto switch over valve.  Rationale:

• I don't ever use the auto switch over part of the device .  I want to know when I have an empty tank.
• It is a single point of failure.
• It is expensive to replace

And very importantly as Hoosier brought to light, I was remiss in not adding to my list an important reason for our use not having an automatic switch over valve:

• We camp when it is warmer and we fully winterize when our trailer is in storage.

As such, we have no need for it to burn propane to keep warm when it is lonely.

That said, a significant number of owners do need/want/use these devices.  And that's cool.

GJ