Spooky propane leak

[Jim Reimer]

Last fall we began smelling what seemed like propane in our 2014 Scamp 16 ft. I soap tested all the joints from the Tanks to the furnace, stove Fridge and Hot water tank to no avail. Finally I purchased a gas sniffer. I stuck the sniffer probe in all the areas where there were connections. It wasn't till I was under the gas stove that my gas sniffer began tic-ticking faster. I took the grates and covers off the gas stove and began soap testing all the joints and connections by each burner... still no bubbles. Then I took the actual burners off to expose the orifice nozzles. When I soap tested those my front burner nozzle gave ever so slight bubbles. I then removed the 2 screws to dismantle the burner control valve. The valve is a tapered cone, referred to as a plug valve. I cleaned it and lubricated it with plumbers grease and put it back together. The soap test was good this time. Since the front burner gets used a lot it simply became dry. I will do this every couple of years to prevent a problem in the future. No more propane smell. There is no other valve in the whole trailer that gets used as much as that burner. Probably 20 times on a weekend camping trip to once on any other operating valves. The hot water tank is the only other plug valve. All the others are diaphragm valves of sorts. Hurray! no more smell. Jim

[mary and bob]

Years ago I did propane installation and service. I've encountered that same issue in a couple home cook stoves with a leak at the burner valve. We did have a type of grease we used on those valves, it may have been something special for that use. Been 25 years or so and I can't remember exactly what it was.