Burst LP gas line.

[AlanKilian]

I recently purchased a 13' 1977 scamp with a Suburban DuraTherm furnace.

I saw the temperature sensing bulb on the gas valve was broken off so I knew there was going to be some gas work before I had that working.

I rebuilt the gas valve so it works in manual-mode and I hooked the furnace directly to a gas-grill LP tank for testing in the back yard. It works GREAT!

When I reinstalled the furnace and hooked up to the existing gas lines, I smelled gas in the camper, so I went around with my bubbles trying to find the leaking connector, but I couldn't find one leaking.

I had to have my wife turn the valve on the LP tank on a little, then off , then on a little since the high-flow leak-check function of the LP tank kept shutting off the gas.

Eventually, I found a crack on the underside of the gas line, so I replaced the whole line. When I took the line out I see THREE places where the line was burst. This was a pretty good surprise.

I'm not quite sure what caused the line to burst in three places. All were on the underside of the tube.

The previous owner had a 30# LP tank and a really old-looking regulator. The regulator had a 1 inch diameter cylindrical opening with a plastic screw disk in it (for pressure adjustment maybe) which must have been filling with water because the spring and diaphragm below the disk were completely rusted away.

Could water have gotten through the gas regulator and into the lines and frozen? That seems like it might burst the line.

Anyway, it's got all new lines now and the furnace and stove are leak-free and working wonderfully now.

Some more cleanup and we'll be ready for some northern-MN snowshoeing over the Christmas break.

High resolution photos are at: https://picasaweb.google.com/1165069...JuNr5Ou7sL9lwE

[DavidSo]

I would cut the tube at the crack and look inside. More than likely the tube is corroded and the weak places blow out. The malfunctioning regulator could have been a contributor.

David

[Raz]

Hi Alan and welcome to the forum.
It seems to me that with bursting in three places it must be water. I don't see how gas could cause more than one split. ??? Raz

[Spanke]

Certainly looks like a split caused by water freezing in the pipe, especially if it was on the bottom. Glad you were able to fix it it before it caused major damage.

Spanke

[Trill136]

Would be a good thing for all of us to check!

[artspe]

definitely froze and burst.

[Dennis Clinton]

Definately a water freeze split. When I checked out the gas line on mine, I found a kink where the line came in at the front of the trailer-appears to be done at manufacturer. Good thing the military disconnected the gas while the trailer was being used as a loaner.

[AlanKilian]

Thanks everyone. What a wonderful group you are.

Expert analysis in a flash!

It's sure going to be fun restoring this with your help.
I bet this will be my first Egg and I'll think back fondly on repairing each little bit.

[lamimartin]

Originally Posted by AlanKilian

Thanks everyone. What a wonderful group you are.

Expert analysis in a flash!

It's sure going to be fun restoring this with your help.
I bet this will be my first Egg and I'll think back fondly on repairing each little bit.

When I bought my Trillium 4500 last summer, there was enough water in my gas line to make the gas bubble up, so stove top flames were pulsating and I could hear a strange noise out of a brand new gas regulator I installed to replace the original one (1977) on my Trillium. I disconnected the gas lines at the lowest point and purged them with compressed air. I collected half a cup of oily water.

I know brand new gas tanks must be purged to prevent water to contaminate the propane content. Propane should not contain any water. I can ony think of a cylinder that was not purged properly or propane hoses that were disconnected and got contaminated with rainwater or melting snow.

Another possible source of contamination is a defective gas regulator.