Changing Gas Cylinder

[hoopdriver]

I ran out of gas and replaced the cylinder yesterday. And all day yesterday and today everything was fine - perfectly normal., When I went to cook dinner tonight the gas on my hob sputtered and went out,  It ws just like the cylinder was empty, but it couldn't be. I bought it only yesterday. The hook up is fine, the cylinder feels heavy and full. No smell of gas anywhere. Just no gas reaching the hob. Any ideas?

[TheBiscuits]

Silly question, have you turned the bottle tap on?

 

Next, do you have a fancy changeover valve that needs resetting?

 

Third, have you tried running the gas a bit longer to clear air out of the pipes ? Note that you'll probably have to hold the tap in to do this.

[hoopdriver]

Yes - as I say it worked fine all day yesterday and today. Tap turned on. And yes the value is one that needs resetting, which I did when I swapped out the cylinders. It worked fine for about 36 hours 

 

 

Edited April 4 by hoopdriver

[Russ T]

Have you got an OPSO device that may have triggered?

[Mike Tee]

It's possible you were given an empty replacement instead of a full one. Only guessing, but the warmer weather may have generated a little pressure in an empty cylinder giving you a little gas. Or you have a big leak which has vented overboard.

[hoopdriver]

5 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

It's possible you were given an empty replacement instead of a full one. Only guessing, but the warmer weather may have generated a little pressure in an empty cylinder giving you a little gas. Or you have a big leak which has vented overboard.

I have been wondering both these things. There’s been no smell of gas at all, although it has also been quite windy 

 

The tank feels quite heavy 

6 minutes ago, Rod Stewart said:

Have you got an OPSO device that may have triggered?

I’m sorry - I’m not clear what that is 

Edited April 4 by hoopdriver

[Russ T]

1 minute ago, hoopdriver said:

I have been wondering both these things. 

I’m sorry - I’m not clear what that is 

It's an over pressure safety device built into some regulators. On mine, it is in the form of a resettable plunger, that you push down to reset. Mine is under an un-screwable clear plastic cover on top of the regulator.

[hoopdriver]

Yes I have a reset button on the regulator . I pushed it when I installed the new cylinder and it clicked. And the gas flowed perfectly well until dinnertime tonight (always these things happen at dinner!) Ate you saying it might have un-clicked?

Edited April 4 by hoopdriver

[Russ T]

6 minutes ago, hoopdriver said:

Yes I have a reset button on the regulator . I pushed it when I installed the new cylinder and it clicked. And the gas flowed perfectly well until dinnertime tonight (always these things happen at dinner!) Ate you saying it might have un-clicked?

I can't say what your button is without details of your regulator, but there is an easy way to find out......go have a look. Not all regulators have OPSO devices. Yours may not

[bizzard]

6 minutes ago, hoopdriver said:

Yes I have a reset button on the regulator . I pushed it when I installed the new cylinder and it clicked. And the gas flowed perfectly well until dinnertime tonight (always these things happen at dinner!) Ate you saying it might have un-clicked?

Have you any flexible gas hoses in the system especially from the regulator or to the cooker itself. Sometimes they can degrade inside bits fall off and act like a one way valve blocking it.

[hoopdriver]

4 minutes ago, Rod Stewart said:

I can't say what your button is without details of your regulator, but there is an easy way to find out......go have a look. Not all regulators have OPSO devices. Yours may not

Thanks mate! You’re a star! The pot of chilli is now warming on the stove! 

7 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Have you any flexible gas hoses in the system especially from the regulator or to the cooker itself. Sometimes they can degrade inside bits fall off and act like a one way valve blocking it.

Good thought! Turns out it was simpler than that. Dinner now cooking. But thank you all for your prompt and thoughtful advice. Hugely appreciated. How nice to be able to ask questions to a bunch of fellow boaters and have a problem solved in time to make dinner! Thanks again

[Russ T]

7 minutes ago, hoopdriver said:

Thanks mate! You’re a star! The pot of chilli is now warming on the stove! 

That's great. When you've had your chilli, it will be worth figuring out what that button is for.

If it's an over pressure event, it may need to be investigated. Though, I'm far from certain that is what it is for

[Alan de Enfield]

 

 

We have a caravan park and were told that it was now a legal requirement to have them fitted on all hire vans.

 

 

when the 'gas man' came he told me they are a pressure 'switch', if for example the cylinder gets hot in the sunshine, it stops the high pressure getting thru the regulator and into the appliances and potentially blowing connections and filling the caravan (boat) with gas.

 

OPSO = Over Pressure Shut Off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we have a caravan park and were told that 

[hoopdriver]

Sounds like a good thing. Don’t know what might have triggered it. It was only about 16°C today. 

[Russ T]

1 minute ago, hoopdriver said:

Sounds like a good thing. Don’t know what might have triggered it. It was only about 16°C today. 

Maybe your Chili was too hot

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, hoopdriver said:

(always these things happen at dinner!)

 

Nah, I used to have a gas water heater.  The gas bottle ran out once while I was in the shower, midwinter.

 

I don't have a gas water heater anymore!

[Russ T]

That happened to me too. I don't have a shower anymore.

[Llamedos]

I fitted an OPSO regulator last year and yes they are a bit prone to this behaviour. I always turn off the gas at the cylinder when leaving the boat for any length of time and have to turn it back on really slowly or else the regulator trips. The reset switches are very stiff too at least on the Calor branded ones. 

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Nah, I used to have a gas water heater.  The gas bottle ran out once while I was in the shower, midwinter.

 

I don't have a gas water heater anymore!

 

Pleasingly in 45 years of boating this has never happened to me. Nor have I ever fallen in. 

 

Maybe I should just keep my trap shut....

 

[Ex Brummie]

10 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Nah, I used to have a gas water heater.  The gas bottle ran out once while I was in the shower, midwinter.

 

I don't have a gas water heater anymore!

It is such a coincidence that the gas only runs out whilst cooking dinner or when showering. Just like when you lose something, it's always in the last place you look.😱

[Russ T]

We always run out of gas when the gas is in use. When we aren't using it, it lasts a while longer. Weird.

[MtB]

31 minutes ago, Rod Stewart said:

We always run out of gas when the gas is in use. When we aren't using it, it lasts a while longer. Weird.

 

Thats AMAZING, same thing happens here! 

 

Even in the 'ovel...

[hoopdriver]

45 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

It is such a coincidence that the gas only runs out whilst cooking dinner or when showering. Just like when you lose something, it's always in the last place you look.😱

And windscreen wipers always fail when it’s raining!

55 minutes ago, Llamedos said:

I fitted an OPSO regulator last year and yes they are a bit prone to this behaviour. I always turn off the gas at the cylinder when leaving the boat for any length of time and have to turn it back on really slowly or else the regulator trips. The reset switches are very stiff too at least on the Calor branded ones. 

Yes they are very stiff! 

[Tacet]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

We have a caravan park and were told that it was now a legal requirement to have them fitted on all hire vans.

 

 

when the 'gas man' came he told me they are a pressure 'switch', if for example the cylinder gets hot in the sunshine, it stops the high pressure getting thru the regulator and into the appliances and potentially blowing connections and filling the caravan (boat) with gas.

 

OPSO = Over Pressure Shut Off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we have a caravan park and were told that 

It is improbable that a cylinder in the sun alone would result in a substantial over pressure.  As the pressure rises due to expansion of the liquid part, the gaseous part will liquify.

 

The liquid would need to expand to fill the whole cylinder - and they are designed not to allow that to happen when not overfilled.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, Tacet said:

It is improbable that a cylinder in the sun alone would result in a substantial over pressure.  As the pressure rises due to expansion of the liquid part, the gaseous part will liquify.

 

The liquid would need to expand to fill the whole cylinder - and they are designed not to allow that to happen when not overfilled.

 

I can but repeat what our Gas-Safe Caravan LPG ticketed engineer told me.