RV Propane Install and Testing
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- Опубликовано: 21 дек 2020
- This week we plumb in our RV propane system. For this install we used black steel pipe and brass fittings. We walk through the entire installation and how we tested to be sure we did not have leaks and that the system was working correctly.
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About Us:
A family of six dreaming, planning, and preparing to full-time RV around the country. Renovating our '64 GM PD4106.
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You guys are the most conscientious bus builders on RUclips. Very impressive!
I agree
Thank you guys! We are trying to share as much as we can and trying not to be too boring.
You even installed a drip leg at the valve before LP enters your system. Good attention to detail.
The 16th annual Tuber Awards are coming up and apparently Beginning from this Morning is up for " Best Bus Build on RUclips". They got my vote !!
Something one should remember, propane is heavier than air, which equates to flows like water and will settle to the lowest point and if can't escape, will pool. The mount of the tank is a good location because of the ventilation required for the mini-split A/C system.
Thank you Pop - most of the floor is missing in this bay for that exact reason.
As usual beautiful workmanship. Suggest a fluid trap at the first 90 degree in the propane bay area where there is already a tee with a nipple down and is capped...Install a valve here as propane can be laced with a lot of oily fluid from the processing procedure and this oil can and most likely will give problem with your outlets with liquids from processed product. this trap with the valve should be checked by blowing to atmosphere and catching oil residue before getting downstream. This will save you from lots of problems down the road with your direct fired burner and barbecue etc.....
Any doubts contact your supplier for the water heater on comments.
Have a great festive season and keep up the great fabrication.
Hey, If you want to do that right. Add a hose or pipe to the vent of the regulator. It needs to end about 10 feet (I think) from a ignition source (the electrial conpartment of the Condensor). There are contactors in there that spark a little when they open and close.
Wishing you all a happy Christmas
Same to you!
I only WISH that your attention to every detail was mirrored in the mainstream manufacturers' factories... SINCERELY doubt it... Cheers from Canada, and Happy Holidays!!
Thank you Robert We always love hearing from you.
Great vlog. My only concern would be up and down movement of the propane tank going down the road. You might look into something to apply downward pressure on the tank, to lock any up and down movement. I’ve seen that type of strapping used on horizontal propane tanks, but they still have something to prohibit forward and backward movement of the tank.
Thank you Randy I had not really considered that but I see what you are talking about. I will have to think on that some - thank you for bringing it to my attention.
I recommend a spare tank it is nice and makes things easy
Great job as always. Safety should be highest priority. QC-5 should go looking for a new job without putting other people's lives at risk.
I agree!
Couple of nice tags now indicating propane shut off inside and outside would be great.
Thank you Yo Slick - excellent idea - I will have to find some
Very precise as always. Can never be too careful with propane. Lots of ruined trips, dreams and fatalities because of propane. Happy Holidays from Queensland
Thank you Stephen - We are trying to keep everything as safe as possible. Happy Holidays!
Going the extra mile will certainly give you "A I did it right" piece of mind. Great Job. :-)))) :-))))
I've watched your whole build and have learned something from every video. I really appreciate how you document not just your build, but the reasoning behind your choices. Thank you!
Thank you so much - We really enjoy sharing what we are learning and we learn a ton from the comments section as well.
Fun watching the kids in the back ground working their own project. (Something with a wheel barrel).
My 7 year old is convinced that he is going to be a miner when he grows up. He is completely fascinated by it and has now taken to watching people in real mines explain what they are doing and how they are doing it (on RUclips). The other day I walked in on him watching a guy rebuild an engine for a piece of mining equipment. "Well I might have to do that one day on my own mine" he told me with all the confidence in the world.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning my goodness that’s awesome! Such drive and intensity. 😉
Tape or dope not both. And Remember to put the LPG letters on outside of that bay door for the FD
Why not both
Great video as always.
Hope that you all will have a great Christmas and that you'll enjoy the first stay in the bus.
Not sure if it has been mentioned before but when connecting a lpg tank you really should use a bronze spanner as this will prevent chances of sparking.
That was a lot of information great job.
Nicely done!
Thanks!
Another great job as usual!
I appreciate that
You guys are amazing!
Thank you Hakuna Matata so glad to have you with us
Great work, great videos 👍
Thanks 👍
That was another informative and well done video. My wife and I can't wait to have you visit us in 2021 when it is all safe. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Stay in touch and stay safe.
Glad to see you back
He never left :-)
Hi Both, Just another great job, really enjoyed your videos this year between all the misery in the world at the moment. Best wishes to you and your lovely family for Xmas and hopefully a better new year! 🏴
Thank you Mike! We have enjoyed making them and at least having a really good distraction from all that is going on right now. We are so excited to wrap this thing up and finally start traveling! Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
I am so impressed by the fact that you learn and teach as you build. Thank you.
Thank you Barabara - we are getting there! Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
Great video on propane, hopefully people will take it to heart that this stuff needs to be properly sized and installed. Teflon tape rolls can make a guy feel like he has two left hands sometimes😂
Thank you Ricky Teflon tape does it to me every time! LOL
Merry Christmas one and all.. from Devon UK
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
Good job
Thank you Derek!
Impresive as always! Feliz Navidad para toda la familia!
Muchas Gracias Manuel Feliz Navidad a usted y su familia tambien!
I'm watching this video a little late, so Happy New Year! Great content! Your channel removes the mystery of technical DIY time after time. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Mark. Happy New Year to you also. We are always glad to share what we have learned.
Great video, extremely thorough as usual. I suspect that a motor home coming out of a factory does not get that type of “quality” control. The factory is more like that regulator inspected by #5, it says it was inspected but was inspected like your going to put your family in the motor home. Gods job guys, enjoy your videos and hope to see you guys on the road sometime.
Very good job well done again!! The Mechanicals of your bus look almost done. Merry Christmas from Florida to your family.
Thank you Dennis - I believe this was the last major system in the bus :). Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
Nice job that is the best tester Soap and water use it all the time you guys stay safe thanks for the video Happy Holidays
Happy holidays!
I had zero doubt that this would be perfect because you and your family take no chances what a great Christmas present. I have never seen so much testing but if you didn't you would have wondered if it leaks. Thank you for sharing your video with us. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year we could all take a break from 2020. Ed
Thank you Ed! We really enjoy having you along for the ride! Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
Well that was a very important instal, propane is dangerous, well done guys and a happy new year.
Thanks so much. Happy New Year!
Great job on the propane installation. You can't be too careful with propane. A lot of the big RV manufacturers like Marathon have gone away from it completely, using just diesel and electric instead. You must be getting close to "end of job". I hope you and your whole family have a Merry Christmas. Take care and stay safe!
Thank you Bryce - I had intentions of the "all electric" coach when we first started building the bus. I just couldn't make the math work for heating water and air. We are almost there and we will report back on how the systems are working as we start to live on the bus. I can totally see the appeal of not using propane - maybe I will revisit that if this setup does not work well for us. Happy Holidays!
@@BeginningfromthisMorning Webasto and Aqua-Hot make diesel heaters and hot water tanks. They might be more expensive than the propane units though. The best thing is that you don't have a propane refrigerator.
Merry Christmas you guys!
I was kind of happy that you had a leak...just to confirm that the tester actually worked.
Had it not had a leak I would have given it a false positive (turned a valve on) to check the checker :)
I will definitely be getting one of those brand of tester myself.
Thanks Gregory for $25 I was surprised at how well it worked! Way easier than getting out the soapy water too :). Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I like the way you did that, can't be too safe when dealing with flammable gas.
Thank you Jerry - Happy Holidays
Well done! I see a MQ2 propane gas detector sensor in your future linked to Home Assistant to monitor the bay for potential leaks ;-) Thank you for making these videos.
Thanks Freddy - you know me too well. It got cold here in Arizona (for us anyway) so we started running some Diesel heaters - as soon as we started running those heaters we installed CO, Smoke, and flammable gas detectors - sadly they are not connected to home assistant yet ;)
The internal threaded fitting at the tank is far superior for anything that has vibration like forklifts and RV's. Those other type is barely good enough for grills but the have a tendency to leak because they are junk. Really nice work and extremely thorough.
Thank you Rodney - I do feel much better with the internal threaded fitting - it even just "feels" more solid. Happy Holidays!
Nice work HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Same to you
So many jokes when measuring the water column... Good job on your plumbing. Gas fittings are a challenge.
Wow !! We’re coming over to have a leak check done 😆
I just got schooled !!! Thanks guys !!
LOL Thank you Josh - been enjoying your updates as well. I can't wait to hear that new engine roaring in your bus!
Another awesome job well done - so, you don't have to do it, again!
Thank you Richard - one more thing off the list :)
did you see they have 2 types of black pipe?
I think its important for others to know.
For Propane, I would have used some nice Flex Copper and polished it up.
I found that most Ace Hardware stores have some of them or specialized Plumbing fixtures and I even found a plumbing store that is awesome Ace Hardware store in Mesa I think it's right around the Southern and extension or something like that
Thank you Marchal - we always have a heck of a time finding fittings!
Nicely done. If ever you seen propane exploded scene you never uck with that again. I know.
Scissor stalker at 6:50 made me laugh
LOL as soon as you pointed that out that is all I can see in that section now ... for some reason the "Jaws" music starts playing in my head
Bottom is most a ring that lpg tank sit in what you did ok
Nice job! I just wonder how hot it will be in that compartment during summer? I don't know if your gasbottles are rated differently, but here in Finland limit is +40C (104F).
I was wondering the same thing. Can you put stretched metal in the door to create more flow in summer, then close it in winter?
Our ambient temperature here in AZ is VERY often over 104F. This year was the hottest recorded summer in the history of Arizona with over 145 days over 100 F. Many of those days were 110-115 (and just brutally hot). I think most tanks are rated to 120 F (49C) here in the states. If you notice we have a fan in some of the shots were we are near the a/c. We do this to try to keep the heat out of that compartment. We will likely at a heat shield as well - if for nothing else to increase the efficiency of the air conditioner.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning SHshhshh!!! Thats far too hot for me! I did see those fans, but for some reason assumed that they are there only installation time.
You are doing really good work!
I searched for LazyTown Fun and this was the first video
Thanks for sharing. Like #88.
Thank you too
👍👌🇨🇦❤🎄☃️🎅, Merry Xmas guys,
Merry Christmas to you as well! I hope you are staying safe and warm!
G'day guys,
Kevin here from Australia.
Great video looks like you've done an awesome job installing the gas system however i would put rubber insulation between your gas tank and the bus floor. Just some rubber matting should be ok.
And there was a problem with filming when doing the leak down test Michelle didn't yell uncle when the gauge reached 20.
Q. Given your bus is hurtling down all sorts of roads and probably vibrating and things may come loose. Do you need a fixed hard wired gas detection alarm.
Anyhoo have a great Christmas guys and lets hope for a better 2021.
✌ Peace guys 🌲
Thank you Kevin - I was hoping she yelled Uncle too ... but OK works too ... I guess. We do have detectors inside the living area already but someone suggested putting them in the bays as well which I think is a great idea! A piece of rubber matting makes a lot of sense! I will look into that - thank you for the suggestion. Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
@@BeginningfromthisMorning i think a detector in the bay area is great you could run warning lights to your driver control panel plus an alarm you carn't be too careful when a person's life is involved .
✌ Peace guys.
Your process makes me wonder if manufacturers are doing a similar process to ensure the proper PSI
Well we know that QC5 definitely did NOT do their job right!!
I would hope they are, but that first regulator was so bad. I didn't even bother sending it back for fear that someone else might get it.
I would get a Propane detector inside of the bus
Nice video and nice work. I suggest you reconsider how you arrived at your test pressure. The requirement of 20% of full gauge travel is to ensure readability of the pressure. Attempting to read 2 psi on a 100 psi gauge would probably return spurious results. However reading 2 psi on a 10 psi gauge would yield good results. For your system you stated the operating pressure is 11 inch water colum or about 1/2 psi. You also wanted to test at 3x the operating pressure. The test pressure would be 1.5 psi. You tested to 20 psi because you had a 100 psi gauge. What if I had a 1000 psi gauge? Doesn't make sense does it. Thanks for making the video. Good stuff!
Thank you Pete - what you say makes perfect sense.
I've been following your channel since you took the bus to be painted and am amazed by the quality of your build. That being said my nature as being a very nosy guy guy would be to ask now much would you estimate this build will cost by the time you's are finished? Maybe you coud do a video on it. Merry Christmas
Thanks Riker - when we first started the build we had the book keeping down to an art. If we bought a screw - we documented where we bought that screw, where it went and how much it cost. Unfortunately that lasted about 6 months and we are now 3.5 years later ;). I would really need to crunch some numbers and look back through our accounts to give a reasonable figure. I will consider it for a video but it sounds awfully painful to do ;) Merry Christmas to you as well!
@@BeginningfromthisMorning thanks for the quick response, I’m amazed at the quality of your build and find your channel one of the best on RUclips.
That was cool I've never seen someone test the water column before my on demand hotwater heater is bigger it puts out almost 7 gallons a minute and my range is a full size house range but I'm going with 3/4 black Iron pipe but I'm thinking I should be adding up both appliances so I've got a big enough regulator right?
Merry Christmas to you and the family you should do a picture of the whole crew in the bus for Christmas.
Just a thought.
Thank Brian. All your LP appliances should give a BTU rating that you can use those tables to figure out your pipe size. I can't imagine you need to go bigger than 3/4" but as you mentioned you may need a bigger regulator. Merry Christmas to you and your family as well. The kids actually insisted on staying at the bus Christmas Eve!! So Christmas Eve should be our first ever overnight at the bus!
@@BeginningfromthisMorning If he think a house gas The presser is Inche and need bigger size pipe. LPG gas most RV use 1/2 in black pipe
Do A/C fan motor make any spark If yes (MOVE THAT Tank ) Boom if you have a leak.BLEVE - Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion or fire If NOt may be ok
This one should not - it is d/c brushless motor and all solid-state electronics in there.
Great job as always. Why did you choose black pipe over CSST tubing?
Thanks Yvan - We saw a few bus guys mention CSST tubing on the BCM forums and found it interesting but a few things kept us from using it. First one is that the majority of this pipe is going to be in our "garage" bay (The one we use to store all our stuff). We felt that the black pipe would be able to withstand any abuse that might come as a result of pulling things in and out of the bays a bit better. Our runs are also simple enough that we didn't feel we could not do it safely with black pipe. Lastly is that CSST is not really mentioned in the NFPA 1192 Standards for use in RVs.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning thanks for the reply. In our case we have short runs like you, but they are mostly in the house portion, not the basement . Our local gas company suggested CSST over black pipe( our GMC we did in black pipe) citing vibration concerns.
Curious do you need a DOT approved propane tank? We have family with a 5th wheel trailer and they have 2 33's but I was wondering since its a powered RV versus a trailer if its required to have a DOT approved tank? I too was trying be to ambitious with a strictly diesel/electric conversion but when it comes to cooktop and water heater... most 3+ burner electric cooktops are 220v... which we dont have. Plus the water heaters are inefficient and expensive for pure electric. So I will be adding propane to the list of "to-dos". Love the channel keep up the great work.
Thank you Derek - it is my understanding that any propane tank mounted on a moving vehicle must either be DOT certified or ASME certified. Our tank is DOT certified. The ASME tanks are typically non-removable and bolted to the frame of the RV while the DOT tanks are removable. The downside is with DOT tanks you have to keep getting them recertified periodically (I think its after 10 years then every 5 years after that) the plus side is that we don't have to move our RV to get the tanks filled. We can just take it in our tow vehicle to get filled.
Question could there be an issue with the tank being so close to your AC unit? No risk of a spark.
Thanks Jorge - I don't think there is much risk for spark - the electronics are all solid state and motors in these units are all variable speed brushless motors so the chance for spark should be extremely low.
Why did you not choose for a diesel fed water heather? You could have dropped the propane at all.. (maybe you answered it yet, sorry for asking)
Thank you Jaap de Wind - When we first started the project I had ambitions of being an all electric coach. We quickly found out that the math just didn't work very well especially with heating either air or water (even with a huge solar array and battery). We did eventually go with Diesel heaters for air and that has proven to be a solid choice (we are using them now). For water - we are a family of 6 - so we wanted something that could handle that level of use. The problem we keep running into with Diesel fed water heaters is the size and cost. Aquahot is probably the most popular brand in the bus community and when we checked they were very large and required plumbing into our coach water, coach diesel tank, installing water lines and pumps (for air heating). The cost was about $7000 when we were looking at them. Our little Girard on demand propane water heater was only $500 is very small. It delivers 42,000 BTU of heat for the water - it will make 115 degree water until the tank runs out of water. I would be very interested if you have found something that works really well for you. I will report back when we have had some time living with this setup.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning ok.makes sense like all your decisions 👍
Do you have a plan for how you are going to check propane tank levels?
Nope. Not yet. LOL! We have researched a few options, but do have a recommendation?
@@BeginningfromthisMorning Not really. Some tanks do have them, Forklift tanks for example. What most folks with travel trailers do is have two tanks and an auto swtich over and just check the switchover so they know when 1 tank is empty.
should gas piping not be painted yellow? I personally don't care, black looks fine to me, and you know what it is, but i did see some references online suggesting that gases should be yellow.
Thank you Uli - I think most people leave it black (or unpainted), yellow might be a requirement for commercial or industrial use maybe? Yellow might have looked a little cooler :)
Just curious about your use of “liquid” propane pipe sizing chart. Your 1/2” pipe will probably be fine, but the fuel coming out of the tank is a gas.
The bottom of the chart references that it is gas.
Thanks. I noticed that later. Still think it’s a weird title for the table as there are devices that actually use propane in its liquid state.
There was a video on spending Christmas Eve in the bus for the first stay. It disappeared. Is that coming back? I didn't get to see it.
Hi Mark that was just a post we made in the community section. We did not release a video.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning Ah, okay. Thanks for responding. Happy New Year!
@@hemimaggie Happy New Year to you and your family as well!
Was really hoping to hear, “uncle”. 😉
I heard OK which might have been local for UNCLE
hahaha I was hoping she would say uncle too!
“The whole communication process has broken down” lol
@@GinosGarageUSA LOL!
Hi Juan and Michelle! Really impressed with your leak testing. I've always just used the ol' nose and soapy water test. What's the word on using both the tape and joint sealant? Is that kosher ? What's the purpose of painting the pipe? Is that just for looks? Good video. Getting closer..... :-)
To help prevent corrosion of the pipe and the possibility of leaks.
Thank you Mark - Well ... We did not have any leaks in our black pipe - So I am going to cautiously say that "it worked for us". The leak at the propane tank that we found with the detector was the only time we saw a leak (other than that ridiculous regulator we threw away). I saw so many opinions on tape vs dope that I think probably either would work fine if applied correctly. We painted the pipe to prevent it from rusting. We cleaned all the oil off the pipes and that left them pretty exposed so we went ahead and primed and painted them to help ward off rust.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning Makes sense. Yeah - the opinions about tape vs dope is a hot one. LOL. Those old school guys what touch the tape. Just like the Shark Bite copper pieces. I'm leery of those I will older sweat my copper fittings together. Looks great. you guys are probably going to have a bunch of people offering you loads of $$ for your bus. LOL
You need a better mix as in few videos now we cant hear you
I had no problem hearing them.
Sorry guys we did have a few wind noise issues and I tried my best to edit out the really bad parts but couldn't get them all. It has been extremely windy at the bus recently and we usually don't know until we are putting the video together.
@@BeginningfromthisMorning it's fine I have been watching your bus build right from day one and I'm looking at converting a double decker bus in UK
@@martinmiller196 wow a double-decker! I hope you document it!
@@BeginningfromthisMorning yes I'm hoping to I be living in it full time and hoping to travel the world in it so might see you on the road somewhere
2 problems with your installation. Both the vent on the regulator and the pressure relief valve need to be vented to the outside, especially since you have the tank next to a running electrical appliance (your a/c which may not have an explosion proof motor). Not hard to do but I would do it. You should also leak test with the water manometer to make sure the valve on the tank is completely closing and not letting pressure into the line when shut off. I’ve been a propane guy for 20 years...hold the hank hill jokes.
The panel is chicken wire and the floor is missing.
Ooooooo! Camping world is not our friend. 👎🏻
We generally try to avoid them (and quite honestly RV-specific parts altogether) but we needed a regulator and didn't want to chance another bad one on Amazon.