Scamp propane supply hose issue

[BatDude]

When we first re-filled our propane tank on our new 16' Scamp it took a bit of fiddling to get the supply hose from the tank to pressure regulator attached. The factory hose is very short and barely reaches both connections.

I have dealt with this since we picked ours up Oct. 2015. Always a "stretch" as they say to get it connected to the tank. Yesterday as I was setting up on our first trip since April I had an issue. I had the tank filled a month or so ago in preparation for travel.

I could not initially get the water heater to light and assumed there was still air in the line, or as has happened a few times, the big connector to the tank was not quite as tight as it needed to be to open the tank to allow gas flow.

I tried tightening the big connector on the tank but was smelling a bit of propane. Hmmm Not good me thinks.


So I avoided the Belize butane leak testing procedure we had seen dozens of times where folks would hold a lit match near the fittings. I asked why and was told "Yes mon, one want to see where it burn fastest. Den you out it and make tight some more."

What I did use a healthy few drops of liquid dish detergent in a half cup of water and poured over the fittings to watch for bubbles.

Neither of the fittings were leaking. However, the hose was leaking slightly at both of the crimped ends where the hose was inserted into the fittings.

Apparently, the years of tension on a very short hose caused failure of this section of the hose. So a quick trip to the Internet found an RV Superstore in the U.P of Michigan en route to our destination today. So with a quick 5 minute stop I picked up and installed a new hose that was about 4" longer so no strain.

Now we are leak free.

We did have an electric cube heater and used the microwave for cooking so did not need propane last night.

So as we wend our way south a bit from the U.P. of Michigan through Minnesota and South Dakota to Yellowstone I hope no other issues arise.

We are good to go for the foreseeable future. So anyone out there with a Scamp with a very short propane hose you might want to "bubble" test it for slow leakage around the hose.

Cheers,

Bat Dude

[Borrego Dave]

Good post dude.

[Wayne Collins]

You may not have to spend so much if you go to a hydraulic hose repair shop.
They can make up any size and type hose you want.

[BatDude]

Tnx for the suggestion.

Having used Aeroquip hoses for my forumla race car I realize one can make up, or have made up nearly an size hose config.

The off the shelf for < $20 while on the raod in the remote Upper Peninsula of Mich.was all I needed.

Bat Dude

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Wayne Collins

You may not have to spend so much if you go to a hydraulic hose repair shop.
They can make up any size and type hose you want.

Or just move the regulator a couple of inches??

[Jack L]

I just bought 2 new 24 inch tank to regulator hoses on Amazon for about 15 bucks each. I go to Wal Mart and buy kids bubbles in the toy section. They make a great leak detector.