The propane line on my MkII seems to have an air lock. The burner on the stove will light, burn for a few seconds and then go out. The tank was showing 90 and now shows 0. Assuming that the tank may just be empty, I hooked up a small coleman tank that clearly has propane in it. The gauge momentarily fluctuated around 30, Again the burner ignited for a few moments, faded, and went out. Gauge dropped to zero. When I removed the Coleman cylinder, a pop and a puff of propane indicated there was gas in it. Does it sound like an airlock, insufficient propane in the tank? How does one resolve an airlock? Could there be a valve or some other problem?
Any ideas and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Roland
Blithe Spirit
#1762
propane line problems
Fri, 06/29/2012 - 06:48
#1
propane line problems
Roland,
It almost sounds like the solenoid is going bad. Possibly when you turn it on, it lets some gas into the line, but then shuts itself off? There are 4 places that the gas can be kept from getting to the burner (lots of redundancy in propane systems for good reason):
Valve at tank
Solenoid
Thermal switch at burner
lastly, the burner control knob
Every one of them has to be open for the gas to flow and the flame to work. I don't think a propane system can be compared to the engine cooling system with regards to an air lock. When the gas flows, it pushes air out of the system, and doesn't get caught in a high spot or a low spot. Is there another valve in the locker that needs to be turned on? Hope this helps.
Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT
Thanks, Tom, I'm heading to the boat in the morning. I'll check the solenoid first, and go from there.
You are the best!
Roland
Blithe Spirit
1762
Tom,
It was the regulator. Hamilton Marine, close by, had one. Up and running.
Thanks again.
Roland
Blithe Spirit