No LP on cold days/nights

[Alan Mayhew]

Just bought a 2004 Itasca Suncruiser 33V in California. On my drive back to Texas stopped in Flagstaff AZ where the temp. was 22 degrees. Could not get my lp heater to come on. No gas at stove and the gas hot water heater would not light. Same store in Amarillo Tx.

So it was suggested to me to poor hot water over the LP regulator and try it. I did this and all worked fine in freezing weather. So I bought and installed a new regulator. Waited till this morning when the temp was below freezing.

Once again no gas. Pored hot water on regulator and again hot everything.

There must be something else besides the regulator that prevents the gas from flowing in cold weather. It would be hard to believe that the new regulator is bad.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? and is so how did you solve it?
thank you in advance
alan

[mikf]

I do not know the answer, but I am posting so I can find out. When not using the furnace do you leave your fridge and hot water on? I think I would use that tank of propane and refill with fresh. Good luck.

[rgvtexan]

You may have a tank of Butane not Propane.

[luvlabs]

You have moisture contamination in your propane tank. It happens. Take your rig to a propane shop and have them purge and refill the tank.

BTW, LP dealers do not sell butane.

[Rwsward]

Hello Alan,

We have a 2004 Vectra that has a switch on the control panel that turns the propane on and off. Something our previous coach did not have. You may want to check to make sure it's turned on.

[JoeC]

It's most likely a frozen orifice in the regulator from moisture in the tank. Kind of like a frozen gas line in the "old days" before ethanol gas was used. A common problem when the mercury dropped below zero degrees F. Adding dry gas (ethyl alcohol) to the tank usually fixed the problem over time or prevented if you added regularly. Problem here is, you can't add anything to the propane tank. As stated earlier by luvlabs, get your propane tank properly purged and refilled.

[Schoolhouse]

Had the same issue in Jackson Hole. Coldest night and no heat. Called mobile RV tech. All components checked out okay. He changed the Sail Switch and everything worked fine, still does. The sail switch was ever so slightly narrower than the new one. Consequently, the furnace never got the signal that there was enough air to support combustion so it shut down. Can’t recall the altitude of where you are but it’s a thought. A new sail switch is around $10. but the ”emergency “ call and install cost hundreds. Hopefully you can get it done cheaper. Good luck!

[DryCreek]

Originally Posted by Schoolhouse

Had the same issue in Jackson Hole. Coldest night and no heat. Called mobile RV tech. All components checked out okay. He changed the Sail Switch and everything worked fine, still does. The sail switch was ever so slightly narrower than the new one. Consequently, the furnace never got the signal that there was enough air to support combustion so it shut down. Can’t recall the altitude of where you are but it’s a thought. A new sail switch is around $10. but the ”emergency “ call and install cost hundreds. Hopefully you can get it done cheaper. Good luck!

Isn't the sail switch just for the furnace? he stated that he didn't have gas to his range either. That sounds like a problem with moisture in the tank or an incorrect Butane/Propane mix (which they use in the northern half of the US).

I have had no problems with using the gas appliances down to only about 28 degrees, so that's the only experience I can offer.

[ScottLee]

There are threads that talk of moisture or oil in the lines and they freeze. It typically isn't in the tank but in the lines from the tank.

[Ttowntoehead]

Used propane power trailers for years. When temps got to 24* they would immediately freeze up at the regulators if bottles weren’t covered and protected from the cold.