Racerguy wrote:

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Pamela, Google propane tank guages.There are many different styles. Any RV Store can sell you one,some better than others.


-- Edited by Racerguy on Monday 20th of December 2010 08:13:50 AM

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What Fred said is right on, I agree.  However, I do have an “external” gauge I purchased, something like $30 from a LP Gas "store."  While it sort of works, I haven’t used it in 4 years.  They just aren’t all that accurate.  It will sort of tell you the tank is full, or half gone, but after that, it’s sort of a guess.  (There are gauges available that are quite accurate, but they are internal to the tank and require a new connection / outlet installation. They can be “remoted” to inside read outs.  But you’re talking a lot of money and trouble for such a retrofit. – Airstreams had these as standard features at one time.  Quite pricey with the aluminum tanks that were also standard.)

If you plan to use it on a smaller tank that you might be using for grill cooking, then it works OK as a general indication.  But as Fred said, on the dual tank RV installation the easy way is to just use the auto changeover feature that’s on 99% of our RV’s (excluding single internal tank motorhomes.) Leave both tanks on, when the green/ red thing goes full red, change over the lever to the full tank and go get the empty tank filled. That method has worked well in our fulltime RV for 35 years.

Safe travels

Bill

LuvSun wrote:

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Fred - I do have that type of system - with 4 tanks of propane, 2 on each side. Was told by the walk thru tech that I would still need to manually switch tanks though...think I will need to double check that note. ....

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53 Merc wrote:

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LuvSun wrote:

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Fred - I do have that type of system - with 4 tanks of propane, 2 on each side. Was told by the walk thru tech that I would still need to manually switch tanks though...think I will need to double check that note. ....

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Do you really have 4 propane tanks?  All of the specs on Open Range RV indicate 2 (two) 40 lb tanks.  If I were you, I would make sure on this item.  I have never seen one with that many tanks, it would eat up a tremendous amount of storage space. 

The manual switchover operation is a matter of choice.  Fred is right on target with his operating instructions.  Both tanks open, a frequent check on the indicator.  When you see RED, switch the selector valve, close the empty tank valve, remove and have it refilled.  Grunt a lot while lifting it back into position, connect the pigtail hose, SLOWLY open the valve and begin monitoring the indicator again. 

 

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So, Pamela:

You have 4 – 20lb tanks?  Is that correct?  That’s interesting. Learn something new every day.  We have friends with a rig like yours, but it was a 2010 and it only had two 30 lb tanks. That is an interesting setup and I guess it saves some space to make room for the genny somehow.

Safe travels

Bill

Racerguy wrote:

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Actually my need to monitor only applies to things that cost me money as in propane and electricity.I gave up on monitoring the holding tanks long ago and have learned that when the sink starts draining slow we are close and when the toilet burps we are close.

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Bill and Linda wrote:

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So, Pamela:

You have 4 – 20lb tanks?  Is that correct?  That’s interesting. Learn something new every day.  We have friends with a rig like yours, but it was a 2010 and it only had two 30 lb tanks. That is an interesting setup and I guess it saves some space to make room for the genny somehow.

Safe travels

Bill

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What brand of regulators do you have?  If they are Marshall Brass you may have an option. They are available at PPL and TWEETYS.

pplmotorhomes.com/parts/lp-gas/propane-regulator-valve.htm

Remote LP Gas Indicator

This remote indicator eliminates dual cylinder depletion. Here is how it works! Once the above valve switches over to the reserve cylinder, the sensor tells the light box to flash and you will know that one of your cylinders needs to be refilled. 

Tom

LuvSun wrote:

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yep - four 5lbs tanks = total 20lbs. Found out if I open all 4 valves that the system will start on right side, pull from one until empty, switch to its mate then when both tanks on rigth side are empty the system will switch to left side and repeat process. So unless I find a way to monitor I could run thru all 4 tanks before I realize I'm empty.

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Really, never seen that 5lb configuration before on a 5'er. Then again, there are a lot of things I have never seen.

When I looked at the specs on-line it said those rigs had 80lbs total but obviously that isn’t accurate.

Are you coming to the Rally?  I would love to see this arrangement.

Safe travels

Bill

your right I never looked at the date  LOL

Thanks

John and Paul,

Sometimes it is far better to start a new thread rather than revive an old one.  For instance, this thread was begun and run most of its course clear back in 2010.  The problem is that people come along later and thinking that the thread is relatively new, take the information in the earlier comments as being relevant, even though the information, or even some of the products, are no longer available or true.  By starting a new thread, that confusion doesn't occur.

Terry

Terry and Jo wrote:

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Sometimes it is far better to start a new thread rather than revive an old one...

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Thanks for the advise, I did that & deleted my post here.

Bill and Linda wrote:

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What Fred said is right on, I agree.  However, I do have an “external” gauge I purchased, something like $30 from a LP Gas "store."  While it sort of works, I haven’t used it in 4 years.  They just aren’t all that accurate.  It will sort of tell you the tank is full, or half gone, but after that, it’s sort of a guess. 

Bill

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 I dunno…the ones that we have on out tanks from NH work pretty well…and I assume you have the same ones on your Frankenjestic. They're pretty accurate although they do read a bit lower than actual remaining capacity (based on weighing the tank) once you're below 1/4 full.

Neil and Connie,

Bill's comment was 5 years old, so he may not even still have the gauge.  But tell me about the gauges on your NH.  Are they something that can be purchased as an add-on?  What's the brand and/or model number?

Terry

Terry and Jo wrote:

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Neil and Connie,

Bill's comment was 5 years old, so he may not even still have the gauge.  But tell me about the gauges on your NH.  Are they something that can be purchased as an add-on?  What's the brand and/or model number?

Terry

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 Duh…ya think a computer guy woulda noticed the date…but I didn't. Anyways…just looked at our gauges and you would have to have tanks that have 2 connector nipples on top…both are the same with one going to the hose connector and the second has the gauge screwed in it. There's no name plate on the gauges and they're not labeled as to origin. The only thing I can tell ya from looking at them is they have what looks like a manufacturer logo in it. It's a capital R…one of those sort of stencil-ly looking R's with a separate left vertical stroke. The vertical stroke has a horizontal black/white line alternating pattern and the round part and slanted tail are solid black. The gauges are labeled to be used on 40 pound vertical cylinders so there's clearly different ones for different size cylinders. The only other marking is DIAL No. 5-02502 AG Vert. Cyl. They've got the UL marking and 8866 marked on the face as well.

I don't think I recall seeing cylinders that have two female threaded connectors on the top before though…I wonder how hard these will be to replace when they run out of their rated lifetime as noted on the cylinders.

They are pretty accurate though… but then we've only been in warm to almost hot weather. Winters in Fort Myers and travel north spring through fall…we've never seen snow with the rig other than this past September…we were in Jasper AB for the Tour of Alberta bicycle race and headed south down the Icefields Parkway through Banff and Calgary towards Montana…about an inch of snow on the ground at the top of the pass just north of the Columbia Icefield Center on Icefields Parkway. I can post a picture of the gauge if you like but I'm not sure if it will help.

Neil and Connie wrote:

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Terry and Jo wrote:

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Neil and Connie,

Bill's comment was 5 years old, so he may not even still have the gauge.  But tell me about the gauges on your NH.  Are they something that can be purchased as an add-on?  What's the brand and/or model number?

Terry

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 Duh…ya think a computer guy woulda noticed the date…but I didn't. Anyways…just looked at our gauges and you would have to have tanks that have 2 connector nipples on top…both are the same with one going to the hose connector and the second has the gauge screwed in it. There's no name plate on the gauges and they're not labeled as to origin. The only thing I can tell ya from looking at them is they have what looks like a manufacturer logo in it. It's a capital R…one of those sort of stencil-ly looking R's with a separate left vertical stroke. The vertical stroke has a horizontal black/white line alternating pattern and the round part and slanted tail are solid black. The gauges are labeled to be used on 40 pound vertical cylinders so there's clearly different ones for different size cylinders. The only other marking is DIAL No. 5-02502 AG Vert. Cyl. They've got the UL marking and 8866 marked on the face as well.

I don't think I recall seeing cylinders that have two female threaded connectors on the top before though…I wonder how hard these will be to replace when they run out of their rated lifetime as noted on the cylinders.

They are pretty accurate though… but then we've only been in warm to almost hot weather. Winters in Fort Myers and travel north spring through fall…we've never seen snow with the rig other than this past September…we were in Jasper AB for the Tour of Alberta bicycle race and headed south down the Icefields Parkway through Banff and Calgary towards Montana…about an inch of snow on the ground at the top of the pass just north of the Columbia Icefield Center on Icefields Parkway. I can post a picture of the gauge if you like but I'm not sure if it will help.

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Neil and Terry - Picking up on this very old thread:

Well, Mr. Pack Rat still has the gauge mentioned.  It’s not very accurate as it is a pressure gauge, not a float gauge like come standard on New Horizons. At least I’m pretty sure the NH are float gauges.  Now you make me wonder the type.

Yea, Neil, this was a gauge I tried prior to building the Frankenjestic which has those built in gauges.  Very modern.  Finally caught up Airstreams of the 1970’s – gauges on the LP tanks. LOL

The Airstreams are mechanical float gauges for sure.  Still got two nice aluminum 30lb tanks under the house with those.  They were very accurate.

Bill

I realize that this thread is a little old. But, I just installed a product called Tank Check. It uses a Bluetooth enabled magnetic transmitter fixed to the bottom of the LP bottle. Sonar signals determine how full the tank is in inches or % (once you've configured the system for the tank size you're using). There are slightly different readings depending on the ambient temperature but, so far, not enough to matter. There is a free app for your smart phone and/or a remote monitor, at extra cost, that can be mounted in the rig. I have the dual system for two 40 lb tanks. So far, it seems to work well.