I bought my Marshall 290 at Guy Isley's RV in Mesa, AZ for $17.95.  Well
worth it.

Karl Wolz
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Hunter" <EVEHART33@aol.com>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 10:44 AM
Subject: Propane regulator WARNING

> David Beierl set me straight on this and with his permission I'm passing
this
> on to the list.
> My propane regulator developed a leak shortly after I bought it in CA. I
went
> to a RV supply store that also sold propane and brought my old square type
> regulator with me. The salesman I talked to showed me a round type
> replacement for about $8. It looked like a standard BBQ type regulator
that I
> had recently picked up at a swap meet for $1 so I thought great and just
> installed it. Since then we moved to NM and I recently started to work on
the
> fridge because it wouldn't stay lit and I thought it was an air leak or
> regulator adjustment because of the altitude change. I had seen the list
> recommend to other people with leaking regulators to just go to KMart or
> WalMart and pick up a replacement for about $8 and since this is what the
> (obviously new) guy at the RV store told me I didn't think anything about
it
> and passed on the same mis information. The following is the straight
story
> from David:
>
> Marshall Brass 290 is the replacement for the no-longer-made Marshall
Brass
> 260 (square) regulator.  It looks like a small circle stuck to a big one,
> and it's a couple inches longer than the 260, so you have to bend the
> tubing going up into the van somewhat.  Costs about $25 with installed POL
> fitting, plus a few bucks for the weather covers.
>
>               ...and when I asked him what the difference was:
>
> 1) Illegal as hell
> 2) Doesn't have "excess-flow" POL fitting that shuts off propane if a big
> leak happens.
> 3) Doesn't regulate closely enough to run the fridge properly
> 4) Wickedly illegal
> 5) BOOM if you have an accident (see number 2)
> 6) Not approved for RV use (see 1, 2, 5)
>
>  You WILL NOT find the correct regulator at KMart, WalMart, or your local
> hardware store most likely.
> Hope this helps,
>
>
> Ken Hunter
> 82 Westy 1.9D
> 84 Jetta 1.5D
> 89 Mitsubishi van
>