Gas Tanks

Lubitz · 08-12-2020, 02:07 PM

Quick question: does anyone know if the gas tanks are full or partial full when you receive a new Redwood?

Ford truck guy · 08-12-2020, 02:33 PM

That is all DEALER, nothing to do with the manufacturer..... Any and all dealers SHOULD have them full at time of sale...

travelin' texans · 08-12-2020, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubitz

Quick question: does anyone know if the gas tanks are full or partial full when you receive a new Redwood?

I assume you mean the propane tanks?
If so, as Joe said it depends on the quality of the dealer you bought from. If the dealer is a good'un they'll be full & you'll have 2 good quality name brand deep cycle batteries. If the the dealer is cheap you'll have empty tanks or only 1 full & 1 cheap'o marine type starting battery & 1 empty battery box.

Lubitz · 08-12-2020, 07:59 PM

Thank you for your feedback. I bought my fifth wheel a couple years ago and have hardly used it. We are planning a trip to Yellowstone and wondered if I needed to refill my tanks. I will check with my dealer. Thanks again.

Ford truck guy · 08-12-2020, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubitz

Thank you for your feedback. I bought my fifth wheel a couple years ago and have hardly used it. We are planning a trip to Yellowstone and wondered if I needed to refill my tanks. I will check with my dealer. Thanks again.

Forgive me for being forward..... WHY check with the dealer? they will have no idea how much you used LP over the last few years...
If in doubt, remove the tanks and have them TOPPED OFF .....

travelin' texans · 08-12-2020, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubitz

Thank you for your feedback. I bought my fifth wheel a couple years ago and have hardly used it. We are planning a trip to Yellowstone and wondered if I needed to refill my tanks. I will check with my dealer. Thanks again.

Remove them & take to your local Tractor Supply store, your local propane distributor or anywhere selling bulk propane, some charge by the tank & some by the gallon, by the gallon is best. It's not necessary to go to the RV dealer unless they'll do it free to those that purchased RVs there.
Unless you've used the furnace quite a bit you're probably good, it's the biggest gas hog on the RV.
Open the valves slowly on each tank, if you open them too quickly it'll shut off the flow, then move the lever on the regulator to each tank, if both are green you should be good. Point the lever to one of them, when it empties it will turn red, move lever to the other then remove & fill the empty & replace, when the regulator turns red on that tank repeat the process.
In 2 years it's doubtful you've used 2 30lb tank (7 gallons each) fulls unless as I said you've ran the furnace a bunch. We lived full-time in ours & wouldn't use 1 tank full in a year unless we were in cold weather

Lubitz · 08-12-2020, 10:03 PM

No, no, no! That’s too funny. I wasn’t expecting them to know how much I’ve used. I know the answer to that, very little. Just wanted to know how much I started with. I was trying to save the trouble of having them checked.

Ford truck guy · 08-12-2020, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubitz

No, no, no! That’s too funny. I wasn’t expecting them to know how much I’ve used. I know the answer to that, very little. Just wanted to know how much I started with. I was trying to save the trouble of having them checked.

Got it.... for the record, I am betting that they will say they filled them no matter what they actually did..

I use one of these - https://www.amazon.com/LevelCheck-Pr.../dp/B07B5TSRJT

It is scary accurate ! better Safe then Sorry

Lubitz · 08-12-2020, 10:47 PM

Thanks for all the info.

Lubitz · 08-12-2020, 10:48 PM

Your probably right.

xtasee · 08-13-2020, 12:03 AM

+1 on the Truma level checker. It is one of the few things that work. I also installed one of these on each tank.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Propane...ag=googhydr-20

Ford truck guy · 08-13-2020, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtasee

+1 on the Truma level checker. It is one of the few things that work. I also installed one of these on each tank.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Propane...ag=googhydr-20

How accurate do you find those? I have been thinking of adding them for ease of use but do to want to add if they are only so so...

travelin' texans · 08-13-2020, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford truck guy

How accurate do you find those? I have been thinking of adding them for ease of use but do to want to add if they are only so so...

Unless they've improved the last several years, the ones I had were like the changeover regulator, they indicated full then empty, nothing of any useful information in between.

Ford truck guy · 08-13-2020, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelin' texans

Unless they've improved the last several years, the ones I had were like the changeover regulator, they indicated full then empty, nothing of any useful information in between.

Thant is exactly the reason i am asking.... my last run in with them was just that... showed full, till I was empty then it switched to RED . . BUT, that was several ( ok, many ) years ago...

xtasee · 08-13-2020, 11:04 PM

I have the Camco on mine that I provided the link to. As you can see, they are temp sensitive as any propane pressure gauge will be. I have had them for over 2.5 years and my opinion is they work very well. I can just open the LP door and know if they are getting low. It is much better that relying on running one out. Is the word "accurate" an absolute?? When you look at the gauge it has room for some error. From their description "Will not read levels immediately: begins working when propane is flowing".

The other thing I do is to make sure the safety valve is open by opening the tank valve first then screwing on the hose second. The safety valve can stick and cause the tank to stop flowing before empty.

JMHO I would not be without them now the I have tried them. RMMV but they are cheap if you want to try them.

Ford truck guy · 08-14-2020, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtasee

I have the Camco on mine that I provided the link to. As you can see, they are temp sensitive as any propane pressure gauge will be. I have had them for over 2.5 years and my opinion is they work very well. I can just open the LP door and know if they are getting low. It is much better that relying on running one out. Is the word "accurate" an absolute?? When you look at the gauge it has room for some error. From their description "Will not read levels immediately: begins working when propane is flowing".

The other thing I do is to make sure the safety valve is open by opening the tank valve first then screwing on the hose second. The safety valve can stick and cause the tank to stop flowing before empty.

JMHO I would not be without them now the I have tried them. RMMV but they are cheap if you want to try them.

Thanks Larry, I may look harder at them... Sounds like they may have been improved since my last usage.

markw · 08-14-2020, 06:31 PM

Why not remove the tanks and weigh them. The empty weight will be stamped in the collar at the top.

Mark

Lubitz · 08-15-2020, 07:04 PM

Danny thanks for all your information. I decided to remove the tanks and have them topped off. Your right I had used very little propane. Now I am having trouble getting the top strap on both tanks to latch. Seems I must be doing something wrong. Any suggestions!
Thanks, Paula

travelin' texans · 08-15-2020, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubitz

Danny thanks for all your information. I decided to remove the tanks and have them topped off. Your right I had used very little propane. Now I am having trouble getting the top strap on both tanks to latch. Seems I must be doing something wrong. Any suggestions!
Thanks, Paula

Mine I had to lean the bottle back slightly to connect the latch.

Lubitz · 08-15-2020, 09:44 PM

Thanks, wiggled, jiggled and pounded finally got it to latch.

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