During the last camping trip I was on occasion getting whiffs of propane
outside the van. Not strong, not inside, and nowhere near sources of
ignition so I figured I'd sort it out here.

So Mellow Yellow is parked on the driveway and I get whiffs of propane.
I shut off the main valve and the whiffs continue. Bleed the inside
lines (open stove valves) and a day later, whiffs continue. This
suggests to me that the trouble is the filler bits, the tank, the line
leading to the main shutoff, or the main shutoff.

So I start painting everything with 50/50 mix of liquid dishwashing
detergent and water. No bubbles. Not one. Isn't this supposed to be,
like, at Pretty Darn Good Test for something like this?

While I'm at it, I paint everything else I can reach, including the new
2-stage regulator I had installed three years ago, and it's output bits.
No bubbles. Whiffs continue.

Questions:

1. Do main shutoff valves not shut fully off? IOW, if it's tightened
fully clockwise, would we expect it to not pass gas to the regulator?

2. The autostop valve's reset button -- I'd like to try to reset it, but
pushing on it as hard as my measly fingers can does not move it. Use a
tiny hammer? Hire a gorilla? Which leads to:

3. Could the autostop valve be the source of my propane whiffs? I have a
manual fill valve and a manual bleeder valve on hand.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR