Notes from the field

woody · 01-04-2016, 08:08 PM

Howdy all. We got back from a month long trip to FL a few weeks ago. This was our first long trip since purchasing our Ace 30.1. Overall the trip went well. Driving the RV was a lot of fun and you definitely feel like you're king of the road. The one issue we did have was on our return trip home when we stayed overnight in VA and PA. On those nights the temps went below freezing resulting in issues with our propane which caused the furnace to shut off in the middle of the night. Thank God the wife packed an electric blanket. The stove did not work either until the temps climbed above freezing the next morning. From what I read in our manual the problem is caused by moisture in the propane freezing and clogging the regulator. I am curious as to whether anyone else has experienced this issue and what steps they took to address it other than adding an antifreeze such as hydrous methanol. Other than this issue for which I do not blame Thor, the unit performed flawlessly. We had a great trip and stayed at some nice campsites.

KNMIB · 01-04-2016, 08:22 PM

I have not had that problem. I just went out and ran my stored unit to keep batteries alive and I ran the furnace and it was 25 outside and has been below freezing off and on for several weeks. We also ran it last year in Arizona mountains in February below 32 and everything worked. I am interested to know if this is a common problem and if so I will pack a space heater.

**EA37TS** · 01-04-2016, 08:32 PM

I have not had a problem and my furnace has run with outside temps at 14 degrees this past February.

Question: Did you try running the hot water and fridge on propane and if so were there problems there as well?

On thing you might try is rigging up one of those Styrofoam hose bib insulators to fit over the propane regulator. I have some insulated bags I bought at Home Depot that I use on my hose bibs on the house and they look like they would fit a propane regulator.

woody · 01-05-2016, 03:30 AM

Hi Dave. Yes I did try the fridge and water heater with the same results. I'm guessing I must have a lot of moisture in my propane tank. There's a RV service center in the next town that offers full servicing of RV's including propane systems. I'm going to have them take a look at it. Thanks for the tip re the Styrofoam hose bib insulators. I'll look into that.

**EA37TS** · 01-05-2016, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woody

Hi Dave. Yes I did try the fridge and water heater with the same results. I'm guessing I must have a lot of moisture in my propane tank. There's a RV service center in the next town that offers full servicing of RV's including propane systems. I'm going to have them take a look at it. Thanks for the tip re the Styrofoam hose bib insulators. I'll look into that.

You might give Thor a call and see if they will cover the cost of purging the tank and lines with nitrogen under warranty. Purging the tank should remove any moisture which may be freezing.

woody · 01-05-2016, 01:06 PM

That's a good idea,Dave. I'll give it a shot.

fivejackie · 01-07-2016, 12:23 AM

KQ Ghost Mountain. Off I50, east of Sacramento, CA

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