Well, today we started to get the MH ready for our planned southern road trip only to discover that our onboard propane tank, that was 75% full when we came back from our last trip 6 weeks ago, was now bone empty. Yes, totally empty.
Propane makes me nervous anyhow and this was not sitting well at all. We had had no problems with our stove or refrigerator. Nor had we smelled that tell-tale warning when we've been in and out of the rig in the last few weeks.
We double checked all the appliances and they were shut off. We had also shut off the valve at the tank before we hit the road at the end of our last trip.
We had absolutely no clue where any leak was evident.
Of course it was half an hour before closing time at the propane depot around the corner (and a Saturday too). I talked to the fellow on the phone and decided we would head over to have him put just a little bit of propane in to see if we would at least smell a leak.
Once we arrived, he was kind enough to fiddle with all the obviously visible fittings because he was surprised a rig as new as ours would have a leak. Sure enough, "the spitter" (a fancy word for the pressure release valve I think) was quite loose. He tightened it up and we decided to fill the tank, given he was pretty sure that was the problem. After filling, he leak tested.
No obvious leak. No odor of leaking propane.
We didn't even know what that "spitter" was, let alone that we should check it regularly. He said they work loose quite easily, especially on bumpy roads. Ya, the washboard to that beautiful remote lakeside campsite we had enjoyed could barely be called a road, but it would explain a lot.
We will check daily for odor or the tank going down for the next few days. Hopefully we will still be able to take off after our $27 "learning experience." If not, the beast is getting the winterizing treatment and headed to the shop for a fix so we can try again in the spring.
So all you newbies (us included)... one more thing to learn and check. Hope this saves a few of you a similar education.
(Bob no "clueless" jokes. We already know we are that in the MH department.)
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