I belong to the same club that Todd does.  I have the original Autostop
Valve on "Ole Putt" and (outside of a few "fumble fingered" so-called
propane filler technicians) have yet to have a problem refilling the tank.
I lead a charmed life I guess.

The O-Rings go bad on these.  Ones made out of brass can be redone with a
new set of O-Rings.  Ones made out of aluminum are NOT rebuildable.

New ones are now made of "unobtanium", in otherwords, not available, but can
be subtituted with a newer (and better) manual fill valve (see the archives
for info).

I happen to have a brand spanking new Autostop valve I picked up around 9
years ago, so I've kept it as a spare for that dreaded day when mine fails
(and no, it's not for sale).
-- 
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
***********************************
On 7/13/07, Todd Last <rubatoguy@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> I guess I must be in the minority of people who have an autofill valve and
> have not had any problems.
>
> What is the problem that happens with these?
>
> Todd
> '88 Westy
>
>
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: alfred bagdan <abagdan@SHAW.CA>
> > So you're having trouble with your auto-fill-valve?
> >
> > Auto-fill-valves are expensive and very troublesome.  Some propane
> > places at holiday resorts refused to fill up my tank after one look at
> the
> > auto-stop fill-valve.
> > I replaced the troublesome auto-stop valve with a simple manual valve
> and
> > bleed-valve for about $20, and haven't had any problem with filling the
> > propane since (about 18 years now).  When you see a newer model vanagon,
> > take a look at the fill valve.  They have the simple manual kind.
> > Check out an RV place or a propane parts center.  They have what you
> need.
> > You can do it yourself or get them to do it.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "BA" <oddstray@ODDSTRAY.COM>
> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 8:39 PM
> > Subject: Re: Refilling propane
> >
> >
> > On Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:56:54 -0700, you wrote:
> >
> > >Howdy Volks,
> > >
> > >I am down south in Mexico and am having trouble getting my propane tank
> > >refilled. We attach the hose, open the bleeder valve, and start pumping
> > >but nothing enters the tank. This has happened at several different
> > >filling stations. It�s almost as if it needs a different type of
> > >connector or something. Can anyone offer any help/advice? It�s an 85,
> > >btw.
> > >
> > >Gracias,
> > >Pedro
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> >
> > I keep coming up against this issue. I believe that the answer is to
> > open the bleeder valve *all the way* (It says so on it, if you can
> > contort yourself to read what's written on it).
> >
> >
> > S&B
> > '87 Westy 'Esmerelda Blanc'
> > SoCal