DIYbanter - View Single Post - auto-changeover propane regulator

Dan Lanciani

In article , (jamesgangnc) writes:
| On Jun 24, 5:41=A0pm, ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote:
| Are there auto-changeover propane regulators (or separate auto-changeover
| devices) for fixed (2x 1000 gallon) tanks? =A0The propane company putting=
| in
| my tanks had not heard of this, and Google searches turn up only ones for
| small RV tanks. =A0Ideally something with a remote indicator would be nic=
| e;
| I could arrange for the computer to email me to call for a delivery...
|
| =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Dan Lanci=
| ani
| =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 ddl@danla=
| n.*com
|
| Is there a reson you can't use the rv ones?

Yes, two reasons. First, as far as I can tell, the RV units are all low
pressure regulators. That is, they drop the pressure to the final ~11" WC.
I'm looking for a "first stage" regulator that drops the pressure to 10psi
for the longish pipe to the house and generator. Second, most of the RV
regulators have relatively low capacity. I think I found one that would
probably have been enough (if it wasn't a misprint) but it still had the
low-pressure output. The funny thing is that some (most?) of the RV units
appear to consist of dual regulators with the first stage high-pressure
switchover regulator coupled directly to the second stage regulator. It
might be possible to take them apart, but I suspect that would void any
safety listing.

| Are you using the same
| pressure? I've not seen any with remote indicators though.

The RV ones have remote indicators which is what caught my eye in the
first place. Unfortunately, after extensive additional Googling I've
come to the conclusion that what I want just doesn't exist in the US.
They are certainly available in the UK and I found a nice one in Israel,
but here again I'd be worried about safety listing and codes if I imported
one.

I may have to go back to the idea of a remote level readout. I initially
dropped this because the propane company said they used to do it but that
the product they used was no longer available. Now that I think about it
they may have been talking about a comprehensive service that alerted
*them* to the level in my tanks. I want to alert me.

It looks like I
should be asking for "remote ready float gauges" to which several kinds
of senders can be attached. I'd like something hard-wired and with an
output I can connect to a computer. The "residential" ones look to be
wireless with just a visual bar graph, but some of the "commercial" ones
look better.

Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com