

| Subject: | cleaning propane regulators |
| From: | Stuart Hutton |
| Date: | Tue, 17 Jan 1995 01:14:20 -0700 (MST) |
Hello vanagon gang, I asked earlier if anyone had actually cleaned the vent of their propane regulators. I must assume from the astounding silence that no one has. Well, now I have and I will report the consequences. Before I do, however, I want to say that the people at the gas company say that the vents can not be cleaned. The problem is this: I would fill my propane tank ... it would only take just a bit of propane until it was supposed to be full. Then it would only power the fridge for about 3 days or so. I would then fill again, and feel like an ideot because it was still full, etc. (Most people would only do this once or twice ... I did it about 8 or 9 times). The solution which seems to work (my fridge has been running now for 8 days) is two fold: (1) get the propane people to inject methyl alcohol into your system. This was mentioned in a posting by Joel about 1 year ago. (2) After this does not completely solve the problem, here is what I did and for me, at least, it works: Go to the car wash and ignore what you are told about getting water into the vent valve on the regulator. Really squirt it good. This is a desperation move. Next step: try to dry it as well as possible with a paper towel. Then, go to the drug store and buy a pint of 90% isopropyl alcohol. Pour and squirt that stuff all over the vent. The hope is that it will dry out the critical areas of the vent. My results: my fridge works. I also bought 2 bottles of 70% isopropyl alcohol to use if the vent freezes up outside. I also pour some of the alcohol down the sink after camping to insure the sink does not freeze. Stuart Hutton
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