17' Series Gas Leak

[vasco pyjama]

Had quiet a dangerous experience whilst camping at the Fortescue river on the weekend in our 2014 17.56 outback expanda , we set the fridge to gas mode and set up the webber q to knock up a feed in the arvo all was good until the morning when we noticed the fridge was off which was a bit strange as both gas bottles where full prior to leaving , when I checked they where empty so the alarm bells rang , plugged my mates bottle in and discovered that gas was releasing from the regulator all as I can say is lucky no one was injured or killed as it was leaking all night, couldn't smell it as it was fairly windy but next day could detect it easily. Just thought I would let you all know for next time you head off , must be a faulty part and have let Jayco know .
Cheers Vasco

 

[Wanda]

Wow, at a minimum inconvenient and at worst who knows what may have happened. Glad you are all fine. I will be very interested in the outcome @vasco pyjama. Please keep us up to date with any developments. Mrs W.

 

[MDS69]

We have gas fuses on both our bottles that would hopefully prevent this.

 

[vasco pyjama]

Don't think they would stop a leak from the regulator though

 

[TRAKADU]

Wow. Very lucky....good to hear that nothing happened and you guys are safe & sound. I guess you can't detect the leak from the regulator unless you happen to smell the leak. We do too use the gas fuses at the gas bottle neck to prevent any leaks from gas bottles. We also have a Gas Monitor installed inside the cabin (in front of the fridge) as carbon monoxide (CO) is odorless. I think it is good to be safe than sorry.

I wonder what Jayco's response was when you mentioned the leak!!

 

[vasco pyjama]

They are going to replace the regulator but I will still get the other one checked out as it is not even a year old

 

[17triton]

Great to hear you are ok and a good heads up for everyone, thanks for posting Vasco.

 

[MDS69]

Don't think they would stop a leak from the regulator though

why not

 

[Drover]

Gas fuses only work on very fast discharge a leaky valve wouldn't set it. If the regulator is mounted below the top of the gas bottle they will fail but a failed regulator is not uncommon. I also close the line valves when not using gas to the appliance.
My question is why have both bottles turned on ?????

Good to hear you didn't go flash...........

 

[Crusty181]

why not

I suppose to set off the gas fuse, the leak would at least have to be a higher discharge to your 5 burner BBQ with wok attachment .... thats whats Ive got.

 

[rags]

Was the rego similar to this one with a 2 stage setup as if so then the 1st stage rego should of shut off.
The problem has come about due to the gas bottle being full [overfilled] and with a change of temperature expansion has occurred, it is not uncommon for bottles filled via the decanting method to suffer excess filling, swap n go bottles are filled by weigh only. By your description you had both bottles turned on, lesson here being always have one shut off. On a regulator there is a vent port which in an excess pressure situation is designed to discharge. The regulator is designed to withstand approx. 1700kpa on inlet side but deliver gas at 2.75kpa
As mentioned in a previous post above by drover, if the rego is mounted below the gas valve on bottle then the excess pressure becomes more of an issue and you can actually get decanting of the bottle happening.
With the gas fuse they aren't much good for detecting anything other than a full flow situation like a broken pipe as they need to pass a sufficient gas load to run as the above example 6 burner bbq approx. 60plus mj/h which would be more than a leaking hose or fitting. .I wouldn't be blaming Jayco for this but and it is an important lesson in the need to ensure if bottles are in a storage boot compartment that the external floor venting is unobstructed.
Some interesting info here http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/479-gas-bottles-in-the-sun

H]

 

[dagree]

Hope you invested in a lottery ticket afterwards @vasco pyjama ?????

 

[Axl]

WOW, you sure dodged a bullet there @vasco pyjama. I would be getting the three way (bottle selector) valve checked as well I would have thought it would/should stop the offline bottle form venting even if the bottle is open, I can except that it may pass a little but I don’t think it should have let the whole offline bottle vent.

 

[Drover]

@rags , well put.................................I would also have a look at the recall site as gas regulators are there quite often. Some pics of the set up would be good, worth a thousand words as they say.

 

[Axl]

@rags, are you sure that the first stage is a shut off device? I wouldn't think that it is because the second stage is designed to vent when a particular pressure is reached and if the first stage is closed then the second stage would not be able to vent down to a lower pressure. The way I understand it is the reason there is two regulators inline now instead of one is that this enables a much smoother delivery of the low pressure gas, I don’t think that one is a shut off device.

You are dead right in saying only have one bottle open at a time this is certainly how I do it but if I were in @vasco pyjama's shoes I would be asking Jayco for or getting some more testing done on the system. The three way valve sounds suspect to me it should have stopped the none selected bottle from venting and if the regulator had lifted due to high pressure it should have reset once the pressure was let down and not let all of the contents of the bottles escape.

I believe that this regulator has failed big time and it appears that it may not have been from over pressure. A failure of course can happen for many reasons but since it became mandatory that regulators were fitted to a position above the bottle valves regulator failures have decreased quite a lot as they don’t get the gunk built up on their seats as much as they did when they were in a lower position.

 

[vasco pyjama]

did only have one bottle on at a time as the two way valve will only allow that to happen but after the first bottle was empty I thought it might have been close to empty so I changed it over but that wasn't the case as the new bottle emptied over night . New regulator on the way and am going to get the old one checked out as to why it happened , will keep you up dated
Cheers Vasco

 

[vasco pyjama]

Thanks for that info Rags and yes is that exact set up you have pictured . also regulator is lower than gas bottles but I spoke to a gas plumber and he said shouldn't be a problem so not sure about that one and anyway the gas seems to be releasing from around the seal of the bottom reg .
Cheers Vasco

 

[Drover]

Looked at a new rig in the park today and his reg was as @rags posted, his was also below the gas bottle tap but the pigs tail was higher which may or may not stop the problem, have never had a problem with the regs that scew direct onto the valve on the bottle.....

 

[rags]

Regulator is required to be above bottle as per AS5601.2.2013 4.3 gas pressure regulator shall - [d] be located to permit drainage of any liquid back into the cylinder, and Note: see figure H1 [which shows diagram of correct installation]
It is a common defect found in many new vans during compliance inspections, I am aware of a particular A caravan manufacturer who has now rectified this problem in their model range.

 

[rags]

Axl my understanding of the first stage part of the regulator is to deal with over pressure situations and ensures a safe situation exists in event of a failure and required under 2.7.9 of code, it is different to a gas supply system that has separate 1st and 2nd stage regulators typically found in larger installations, this being the type of LPG jobs that I specialised in when I was in business and requiring an Advanced gas license which I hold