Possible propane leak

[WanderLoveJosh]

So we left Las Vegas, New Mexico on Tuesday morning, ran the furnace most of the night until  the propane ran out. Make our way to some blm land about 200 miles away, stopped on the way to swap the tank.

Upon setting up the trailer and turning the gas back on, the wife noticed she could smell propane, mostly near the stove, and when you opened the under cabinet doors, it smelled as if that’s where you could really smell it. So I turned the tank off and bled the line to the stove top. 

Where is the best  place to try to go to for an rv propane issue? We will probably drive to Phoenix since I’m sure there are lots of places there, but should we seek propane repair, or mobile rv repair? Does anyone have suggestions around the Phoenix area?

 

[Weight]

With your doors open, test the gas lines with some dish soap looking for bubbles. After thought, could it be a pilot on the oven?

 

[mpruet]

If you don't have a propane alarm, get one.  If you have one, test it out.

 

[TMG51]

Sometimes when disconnecting your tank or such and there's a puff of gas, that propane smell can linger. Especially on clothes or something that absorbs the odorant.

But as others have said, put some soapy water in a spray bottle, check all connections. If no connections bubble, you should be fine. And buy a propane leak detector, they're pretty cheap.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Heed the advice above, but here is one possibility:

As the propane runs out, it can get kinda 'stinky' as the burner gets starved for propane, and this smell may have increased in the cabinet where your RV furnace is located. Is the furnace right next to the undersink cabinet? It may clear itself out after an hour with those cabinet doors open. 

Most older RV furnaces can be set to run with the propane supply turned off, on fan only, try that, see if the smell clears. Let the blower run for 5 or 10 minutes, then turn the propane back on, and try again, if you have that smell again, you probably DO have a leak. 

You can also use a spray bottle of soap or cleaner on all the fittings, check pilot lights, etc. An RV or propane supplier can check for leaks with a 'sniffer'...a portable electronic gas leak detector. 

And by all means, install an RV propane leak detector, ir could have been leaking for some time. 

Good luck.

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

Did the soapy water test, couldn’t find anything, which I’ve read doesn’t mean much, we have an lp gas detector which is lit green indicating it’s working fine. Bout to have it checked at a propane place in Gallup.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yeah you can see their sign from the interstate...I know right where that is.

Fingers crossed for ya!

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

Seeing a small leak around the knobs, going to try to grease it up and see if that helps. And then obviously keep a nose on it, if not then they will need replaced, hoping they are replaceable anyways, it’s a two burner suburban stove top.

 

[closeanuf]

I notice when my tanks are getting low I get a propane smell too.  I agree with txsturgis.  That would make sense since you ran out instead of switching tanks.

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

So there some screws on the valves that were not tight, the guy tightened them down, and I think we are good to go now, no propane smell and it’s been on for 10 mins.

 

[RVTravel]

Thanks for the feedback on what was wrong.

 

[Wayne On The Road]

I go through this panic every time one of our tanks get close to empty. Just last night again to be honest. Woke up, smelled the propane smell, checked the knobs on the stove etc all was good. After awhile I lit the stove and found it sputtering out. Switched tanks and all is well.

To be clear I've had the whole LP system checked in November before coming down. ...but it does get my attention every time.