How to troubleshoot all gas appliances stopping prematurely?

[kevenh]

On the morning of our last trip, the hob gas ring to boil our morning brew only had a small flame.
That’s a bit odd I thought. There should be at least 4.5kg of the 6kg Calor left.
Eventually we had no flame at all for after the second brew.

A check of the water heating gas was inconclusive as the water was already up to temperature from EHU (I.e. on gas the light stayed green).

Long short, now home and on the drive, every gas appliance is now out of action.
I swapped the gas bottle for the new one I had ready in the garage. I weighed it. 14.2kg
Took the one off the MH, and that’s 12.3kg.
Hold the bus!! That does mean we did have about 4kg of gas that should’ve kept us “cooking on gas” (literally ).

It looks like we have a gas issue in the Motorhome.
Neither the new or old Calor gas bottle are working.

Each appliance has their own gas shutoff tap.
But where would all gas appliances be off?

We had normal gas for dinner time the previous night.
When on, we leave the gas on until leaving the pitch.

Any troubleshooting ideas? TIA.

 

[Clivefog]

On board regulator dying/dead?

 

[Googlebot]

Your regulator is probably clogged or broken.

 

[kevenh]

Thanks for the prompt feedback.

In my attempts to understand the issue, with each appliance having its own on/off tap, the regulator area looked the only single point of failure.

Is checking for a blockage a simple owner task?
Asking as I’m a keyboard warrior by trade that’s happy to try most simple tasks but the “no user parts” warning sticker near our regulator and similar warnings in our UM put me off a little.

 

[Stealaway]

Thanks for the prompt feedback.

In my attempts to understand the issue, with each appliance having its own on/off tap, the regulator area looked the only single point of failure.

Is checking for a blockage a simple owner task?
Asking as I’m a keyboard warrior by trade that’s happy to try most simple tasks but the “no user parts” warning sticker near our regulator and similar warnings in our UM put me off a little.

How old is the regulator they tend to fail after about 8 years.
They are cheap as chips - this the fit to bottle type

<Broken link removed>

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[Landy Andy]

Fit a new, and not Truma gas regulator. If nothing else it will text what you’ve got, and having a spare isnt a bad plan.

 

[Googlebot]

They gum up, or the diaphragm fails, you can’t really clean them easily.

I would just bite the bullet and change it.

 

[tonyidle]

Are you using propane or butane?

 

[kevenh]

Are you using propane or butane?

red propane Calor bottles

 

[jockaneezer]

Give Autogas at Thirsk a call, they supply Cavaggio (spelling ?) regulators that are a straight swap for the Truma ones, as long as you order the correct pipe size (usually 8 or 10mm) and orientation. They're under £30 for the basic model.

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[kevenh]

they supply Cavaggio (spelling ?) regulators that are a straight swap for the Truma ones

Cavagna? If this is your suggestion.

Id better check the output dimension I need.
If the “CE-0085BM0272 number can be used to determine 8 or 10mm I need 10mm
Based on this pic

The pipe work leaves our locker then runs to the other side of the Motorhome in metal pipe work around the rear of the van to get to the water heater, cooker and fridge.
A shorter run to the heater is t’d off on the locker side of the Motorhome.
Just a general locker pic:

From your answers and my observations, the lack of gas pressure must be at the regulator.

And I’ll replace it.
It looks like I can use a spanner to disconnect the pipe and a screwdriver to remove the old regulator.

A new regulator looks like £25 for none Truma or £40+ for a Truma like for like. (Exc. P&P)
I could add a downstream filter but that’ll likely alter pigtail routing In a small locker too much.
And Truma should’ve fixed the issue in their regulators right?

 

[Googlebot]

Waste of time with a downstream filter. You need one before the regulator.

I have heard refillable LPG is considered dirty and some recommend filters. I don’t have one and don’t intend to have them. That might change though if my £150 crash safe one goes kaput.

 

[kevenh]

Waste of time with a downstream filter. You need one before the regulator.

I have heard refillable LPG is considered dirty and some recommend filters. I don’t have one and don’t intend to have them. That might change though if my £150 crash safe one goes kaput.

Mixed my streams up.
I meant a filter fitted after bottle & before the regulator as you described - upstream

 

[kevenh]

order the correct pipe size (usually 8 or 10mm)

For gas piping we measure the external diameter of the copper pipe, right?
That’s 10mm I’ll need then

 

[Googlebot]

For gas piping we measure the external diameter of the copper pipe, right?
That’s 10mm I’ll need then

That’s right.

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[mitzimad]

looks like 10mm probably marked on the nut on the coupling below the reg

 

[TDub49]

On the morning of our last trip, the hob gas ring to boil our morning brew only had a small flame.
That’s a bit odd I thought. There should be at least 4.5kg of the 6kg Calor left.
Eventually we had no flame at all for after the second brew.

A check of the water heating gas was inconclusive as the water was already up to temperature from EHU (I.e. on gas the light stayed green).

Long short, now home and on the drive, every gas appliance is now out of action.
I swapped the gas bottle for the new one I had ready in the garage. I weighed it. 14.2kg
Took the one off the MH, and that’s 12.3kg.
Hold the bus!! That does mean we did have about 4kg of gas that should’ve kept us “cooking on gas” (literally ).

It looks like we have a gas issue in the Motorhome.
Neither the new or old Calor gas bottle are working.

Each appliance has their own gas shutoff tap.
But where would all gas appliances be off?

We had normal gas for dinner time the previous night.
When on, we leave the gas on until leaving the pitch.

Any troubleshooting ideas? TIA.

Penny to a pound it is the regulator, especially if it is a Truma bulkhead mounted one. Had the same thing happen to me on the last trip about three weeks ago and have just fitted a new regulator - everything fine now. I started a thread about it which I would link you to if I knew how . . . .

 

[Googlebot]

Penny to a pound it is the regulator, especially if it is a Truma bulkhead mounted one. Had the same thing happen to me on the last trip about three weeks ago and have just fitted a new regulator - everything fine now. I started a thread about it which I would link you to if I knew how . . . .

That old Truma regulator failure issue . . .

So off we went for a couple of nights away down near Bradford-on-Avon (more on the site stayed at later in a review post). Rocked up Friday, mosied down to the pub in the marina and then back to the moho to cook up a chilli. All going swimmingly well but then it started to get a little chilly...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[kevenh]

That old Truma regulator failure issue . . .

So off we went for a couple of nights away down near Bradford-on-Avon (more on the site stayed at later in a review post). Rocked up Friday, mosied down to the pub in the marina and then back to the moho to cook up a chilli. All going swimmingly well but then it started to get a little chilly...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Thanks for getting the thread

 

[kevenh]

New regulator & steel wrapped pigtail fitted.
We’re cooking on gas!

Well, I boiled a small quantity of water.
Had a small panic when the gas had lit then went out but that just seemed to be due to air I’d let in while swapping over parts.
The 2nd time I got gas to light it stayed on to boil water.
Our gas leak sensor was happy with all the joints & pipes I’d touched.
Tomorrow I’ll turn the gas on for a couple of hours for a soak test.

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[BillyKontiki]

Check to make sure that there may be a resetting mechanism on your regulator as most crash sensor regulators have also some pigtails have the same flow sensors.hope you get sorted.

 

[kevenh]

Tomorrow I’ll turn the gas on for a couple of hours for a soak test.

Later than advertised, I: -
- left the gas battle on for a couple of hours.
- checked the cooker's hobs and oven lit
- saw that the Truma water heater could run off gas. It failed initially but worked after turning off and waiting a couple of minutes. That's 'normal' for this appliance though
- ran the gas heater for a few minutes
- then used the gas sniffer gadget to check appliances and the gas bottle locker for leaks
All good.

So, I think that's this thread done & dusted. the kevenhs are ready for Houghton Mill & Water Meadows on Wednesday
Thanks all

 

[movan]

Keven, this is one of those threads that makes me feel inadequate and realise what clever people you all are to understand how everything works. Glad you got it fixed.

 

[kevenh]

Keven, this is one of those threads that makes me feel inadequate and realise what clever people you all are to understand how everything works. Glad you got it fixed.

Hi Joy
Trust me, if I've dived into a DIY task it must be straight forward
When I was younger it took me three goes to change the oil in my MkII Escort
No details but I found at: -
attempt 1: the filter hole can't be used to completely drain the old oil;
attempt 2: it may be possible to overtighten a sump plug but too loose is arguably worse
Attempt 3 was text book.