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Propane gas versus LPG.
As explained in the article I penned about the virtues of Propane gas, printed in 218 issue of 'The Motor Caravanner', there are distinct advantages in using this product in your Motor Caravan gas cylinder. So following the odd query raised since the last article here goes again!!
The major advantage of using either Propane or Propane enriched LPG, will be found during the colder months of the year. As most Motor Caravans stow their Gas cylinders in a fiberglass locker to which a door is fitted, with very little ventilation. It will be found, that when there is reasonably prolonged use of gas appliances in the motorhome, the temperature of the liquid contents of the gas cylinder will start to take a dive. If this temperature goes below about 4oC, the butane contents of the cylinder will stop vapourising and thus only permitting the removal of the Propane contents of the LPG, causing butane enrichment of the LPG. Once all the propane has been used the cylinder will be unable to produce any further vapour until the contents of the cylinder warms up to about 8oC and the butane starts boiling again. A similar problem will happen if you cover your gas cylinder with a tight fitting cover to protect it from stone chips on the draw bar of you caravan.
One of the first indications you will have of this problem happening is when you attempt to make that morning cuppa on a rather frosty morning. You light the gas cooker, that worked perfectly last night, and low and behold it only produces a rather weak orange looking flame that wouldn't boil anything. yep it happened to me!!! Or worse still the fridge has turned itself off.
There are two possible methods to prevent this happening, one is to use Propane enriched gas, the other is to add external ventilation to the LPG locker, to allow air movement around the cylinder. This ventilation will help to keep the contents of the cylinder at ambient temperature.
Another strong recommendation is to ensure you completely empty the contents of your LPG cylinder before refilling it, because if you just top it up you will find that what was left in the cylinder before refilling it would have been predominantly Butane which will cause you more grief and sooner!
Another possible cause of this problem is where you are using too small a size gas cylinder for the installation. You should remember there is a finite amount of gas per hour that can be drawn off a particular size of cylinder, if you exceed this amount even with the best ventilation you will encounter the problem of NO gas. So when building your motorhome, fit the largest sized cylinders you can and use the highest propane content gas you can get.
I hope this article helps you and makes your movanning more pleasurable
Lex Ward 12673
Ward's R V Accessories
Lower Hutt
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