LPG at garage contains oil? (1 Viewer)

normanandsue · Apr 13, 2018

I found this thread on another site. It's the first time I had heard of this and wonder if there is any truth in the comment and if so are filters really necessary.
Anyone with experience or useful comments?

I try & fill at a calor or gas depot as found pump lpg messes up the regulator as garage pump add oil in the mix. To overcome this there is a filter that can be fitted to prevent this problem. As a wild camper l very regularly fill gas tank & have the regulator replaced after under a year's use.

Hymie · Apr 13, 2018

Sounds like nonsense to me, we've been filling our underslung tank for years at PFS's and it's still working fine.

Can't see why a business would want to sabotage itself, word would have soon got around if that was the case, hundreds of MH'ers replacing regulators every few months, I think not.

Hymie

vwalan · Apr 13, 2018

all i can say is the same tanker drops calor gas at my house then goes down the road to the garage and tops their holding tanks .
lpg is liquid petroleum gas . it comes from oil .
best regulators are bottle top ones they go on and on for years .
trouble is the newer regs etc are a poor quality .
not sure which is worse the regs or the refillable so called bottles .
mind many parts with a very common name seem to be poorly made and let folk down.

Lenny HB · Apr 13, 2018

There is always some oil reside present in LPG regardless of using refillable or exchange bottle. Most of the problems with bulkhead regulators is due to them being mounted too low. If mounted higher than the top of the bottles the oily residue can run back down to the bottles rather than gumming up the regulator.

nicholsong · Apr 13, 2018

vwalan said:
all i can say is the same tanker drops calor gas at my house then goes down the road to the garage and tops their holding tanks .
lpg is liquid petroleum gas . it comes from oil .
best regulators are bottle top ones they go on and on for years .
trouble is the newer regs etc are a poor quality .
not sure which is worse the regs or the refillable so called bottles .
mind many parts with a very common name seem to be poorly made and let folk down.

I still have a 37mb Propane regulator which screws directly onto either my Gaslow refillable or my (as yet unused) Calor back-up.

I do not know how old it is, but obviously pre-dates the introduction of 30mb regulators and I have had it trouble-free for 9 years, which supports vwalan.

Geoff

SpeedyDux · Apr 13, 2018

The presence of trace amounts of oil may also contrinute to sooting up of gas burners and flues. That might affect some 3-way fridges.

tonyidle · Apr 13, 2018

It is apparently 'low ends' which is remaining crude oil not fully cleaned before the liquid is sold. It vapourises at a higher temperature than LPG. If you run a bottle to the bitter end in warm weather it ends up burning in whatever appliance is connected. The flame smells like burning rubber and it does clog burners (and no doubt regulators). It doesn't normally affect our stuff because non of it burns gas fast enough. It is most often seen by users of blow-torches.

Feltwell · Apr 13, 2018

Car LPG systems have a filter which is changed at each service. If neglected they do eventually block up with the oily residue.

Pausim · Apr 13, 2018

Lenny HB said:
There is always some oil reside present in LPG regardless of using refillable or exchange bottle. Most of the problems with bulkhead regulators is due to them being mounted too low. If mounted higher than the top of the bottles the oily residue can run back down to the bottles rather than gumming up the regulator.

When I fitted my 14kg Alugas there was very little fall back from the regulator to the top of the bottle so I decided to fit a filter as a precaution. Last time I checked it was still clean.

mitzimad · Apr 13, 2018

Feltwell said:
Car LPG systems have a filter which is changed at each service. If neglected they do eventually block up with the oily residue.

lpg vehicles use the tank contents as a liquid therefore oil particals will draw up but less so with our setups which use vapour

The2i's · Apr 13, 2018

We had an underslung tank fitted last year and have only refilled three times. Our regulator blocked at Easter, first the heater wouldn't work but the cooker would, next day no oven, but could run one gas ring, next day nothing! The tank was (and still is) full. The van's only a couple of years old and the regulator is inside the van about 18" above the tank but no filter/trap.
A little research suggests this is quite a common problem on the Truma Mono Control unit but not other makes.
The subject has cropped up on the forum a while ago -
Possible Gas Regulator Problem a dilemma

Lenny HB · Apr 13, 2018

Pausim said:
When I fitted my 14kg Alugas there was very little fall back from the regulator to the top of the bottle so I decided to fit a filter as a precaution. Last time I checked it was still clean.

I fitted gas-it filters to my last van, took them off after a year as the connecting joints didn't seal that well and I kept getting gas leaks. I took the filters out to have a look at them after a years use didn't look like anything had ever passed through them they looked brand new.
Makes you wonder if the filters are snake oil.

Basildog · Apr 13, 2018

tonyidle said:
It is apparently 'low ends' which is remaining crude oil not fully cleaned before the liquid is sold. It vapourises at a higher temperature than LPG. If you run a bottle to the bitter end in warm weather it ends up burning in whatever appliance is connected. The flame smells like burning rubber and it does clog burners (and no doubt regulators). It doesn't normally affect our stuff because non of it burns gas fast enough. It is most often seen by users of blow-torches.

Actually heavy ends and the industry does take it fairly seriously !
Some light bedtime reading !
http://www.adeptscience.net/Presentations/061020 gtc pres-decont.pdf

tonyidle · Apr 13, 2018

Basildog said:
Actually heavy ends and the industry does take it fairly seriously !
Some light bedtime reading !
http://www.adeptscience.net/Presentations/061020 gtc pres-decont.pdf

Interesting reading. TBH I've only once experienced it in a caravan in 35 degree heat in Spain a long time ago. However it seems to plague my blowtorch (on occasions appearing as a liquid stream). It always seems to happen just before the bottle runs out. I did once upend a bottle to squirt it on the ground. Horrible it was.

Pausim · Apr 13, 2018

Lenny HB said:
I fitted gas-it filters to my last van, took them off after a year as the connecting joints didn't seal that well and I kept getting gas leaks. I took the filters out to have a look at them after a years use didn't look like anything had ever passed through them they looked brand new.
Makes you wonder if the filters are snake oil.

So far my filter element seems to be behaving the same way as yours did. I am hoping your snake oil explanation is proved correct because the replacement element seems to cost nearly as much as the complete assembly.

Lenny HB · Apr 13, 2018

My Truma duo control appears to change over before the bottle is completely empty so hopefully it will help with the problem. When it changed over a couple of weeks ago we had a few days use before I filled and when I did bottles only took 28.5 Lt.

Feltwell · Apr 13, 2018

mitzimad said:
lpg vehicles use the tank contents as a liquid therefore oil particals will draw up but less so with our setups which use vapour

Good point - in fact the vehicle systems use the heat from the engine coolant to vaporise the gas, in a unit in the engine bay. I presume it's because they need a much higher flow of gas than a motorhome setup, which can live with the "natural" vaporisation within the tank/bottle. and a much lower flow rate

DuxDeluxe · Apr 13, 2018

tonyidle said:
It is apparently 'low ends' which is remaining crude oil not fully cleaned before the liquid is sold. It vapourises at a higher temperature than LPG. If you run a bottle to the bitter end in warm weather it ends up burning in whatever appliance is connected. The flame smells like burning rubber and it does clog burners (and no doubt regulators). It doesn't normally affect our stuff because non of it burns gas fast enough. It is most often seen by users of blow-torches.

Possibly, but the refining process should have eliminated really low ends..... autogas is mainly propane C3 with a bit of butane C4 plus traces of C2 and C5 but really only traces. There may be oil contamination from other sources but very, very little. Most oil contamination comes from leaching of the rubber hoses according to research

The article referred to in the OP is utter garbage, though.

DuxDeluxe · Apr 13, 2018

Basildog said:
Actually heavy ends and the industry does take it fairly seriously !
Some light bedtime reading !
http://www.adeptscience.net/Presentations/061020 gtc pres-decont.pdf

Interesting stuff.

vwalan · Apr 13, 2018

nicholsong said:
I still have a 37mb Propane regulator which screws directly onto either my Gaslow refillable or my (as yet unused) Calor back-up.

I do not know how old it is, but obviously pre-dates the introduction of 30mb regulators and I have had it trouble-free for 9 years, which supports vwalan.

Geoff

i have regs here that i got secondhand back in the 70,s .
mind i do carry spares just in case.
best buy the butane ones in morocco . some have a knob on the top you can adjust the pressure .
i adapt all my butane to the old regs .
still use adaptors calor issued when the first clip on regs came out .
i adapt my cepsa spanish bottle to camping gas then the old butane .
saves changing regs etc if going morocco.
in spain cheaper ti exchange bottles and

Feltwell said:
Good point - in fact the vehicle systems use the heat from the engine coolant to vaporise the gas, in a unit in the engine bay. I presume it's because they need a much higher flow of gas than a motorhome setup, which can live with the "natural" vaporisation within the tank/bottle. and a much lower flow rate

they dont use the coolant system if your running lpg on an aircooled engine . hee hee .
but we will let you off on that one .

Minxy · Apr 13, 2018

normanandsue said:
I found this thread on another site. It's the first time I had heard of this and wonder if there is any truth in the comment and if so are filters really necessary.
Anyone with experience or useful comments?

I try & fill at a calor or gas depot as found pump lpg messes up the regulator as garage pump add oil in the mix. To overcome this there is a filter that can be fitted to prevent this problem. As a wild camper l very regularly fill gas tank & have the regulator replaced after under a year's use.

Where did you find it?

Spriddler · Apr 13, 2018

Minxy Girl said:
Where did you find it?

Fakebook?

Baycott · Apr 13, 2018

I kept having trouble with my fridge on gas and had the jet replaced twice under warranty. The dealer told me they wouldn't replace it again unless I had a filter fitted as we have a refillable system. I thought they were having a laugh but had no choice and fitted a filter. I have to say I haven't had a problem since although the filter seems clean

PeteH · Apr 14, 2018

Subject arises periodically. 99.9% of the time there are very few issues, occasionally a batch of LPG, will get some contaminant residue, often when the storage facility is coming up for routine cleaning and or inspection. To a greater extent the issue is with the gas mixture affecting the inner lining of the supply pipeline, and being carried over. The hoses should be changed periodically any way. (Says the guy whose home barbecue hose must be at least 20years old

) "slap my wrist!"

.

Reallyretired · Apr 14, 2018

I think we've been ripped off with the bulkhead regjlators. The old bottle top type meant no high pressure hoses needed and they were a tenth of the price so carrying a few spare was no problem.

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LPG at garage contains oil? (1 Viewer)

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