Another propane question - one or both valves open?

wcoleman · 05-20-2007, 07:27 AM

Do you open one valve at a time or both? What are the advantages, disadvantages?

Thanks in advance!

irishguy101 · 05-20-2007, 07:35 AM

I open both tanks, I have an auto change over on the tanks so if one emptys the other starts.

rich2500 · 05-20-2007, 08:21 AM

I also have the auto change over however I only open one tank at a time and use the same tank till it's empty,this way I know that my other tank is full.

mbart5fan · 05-20-2007, 04:34 PM

I do the same as Rich. When I switch to the 2nd tank, it's time to fill the first one.

Mike

Poppy & Nana · 05-20-2007, 05:28 PM

Same as Rich & Mike EXCEPT - if we are camping in very cold weather - like this past weekend......if we know we have almost a full tank, we'll go with just the one open, if we are in doubt we will have both tanks open during the night.....just in case one empties we don't wake up freezing!

Bobo · 05-20-2007, 05:40 PM

On my old Coleman I had two 20#s that when you ran one dry, you had to switch the hose to the other tank. Nothing like goin out in thirty degree weather in the middle of the night to crawl under a bunk end and wrestle with a wrench to switch tanks. DW conveniently forgot about womens lib when ever we ran out of propane.

Have a great holiday everybody

Bobo

**JohnB** · 05-20-2007, 09:42 PM

Quote:

DW conveniently forgot about womens lib when ever we ran out of propane.

Have a great holiday everybody

Bobo

That's a good one.....I cracked up laughing just reading the wording….

You have a good camping trip too.

On the propane, yes we too only use 1 tank at a time unless we know it might not make it thru the night then both are on and I check in the AM if it flipped over.

Basically by using 1 at a time it helps you keep and eye on it easier to when a tank is gone. When both are on and in full auto and you never look at it until the gas stops coming, well then you have 2 tanks empty at once and did not know about it.

I do use one of those stick on tank gages to see how much is left, again to keep an eye on it.

Hope this helps

John[/quote]

wobbly · 05-20-2007, 10:48 PM

The MacCoupler http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...%20ACCESSORIES can, I believe, be used in reverse mode to provide emergency gas to the trailer using a disposable bottle.

Wobbly

**PTHutch** · 05-21-2007, 06:15 AM

I have an auto-change over and have always kept both tanks open while camping.

I believe with the auto-change over regulator, it only feeds off the assigned tank until it's empty, then the regulator transfers to the other tank and indicates the assigned tank is empty. If this is not correct, please someone correct me.

I monitor the tanks regularly, when I turn them on before a camping trip, during a camping trip, and when I turn the tanks off after a trip. When I see that the assigned tank is empty, I switch the regulator lever, remove the empty tank, and fill it, with no interrupt to gas flow to the camper.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day week-end.
Hutch