Bulkhead gas regulator failure

Canalsman said:
Do not overtighten the connections. Each end of the pipe is fitted with a gas compatible washer which will crush if overtightened.

The dealer who helped me yesterday told me this is the biggest cause of gas leaks. The fitting should be hand tightened, then nipped up about a quarter turn.

He told me that there is a Truma tool which is made of plastic which will break if you try to overtighten the connections!
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Very important advice when using compression joints. I also use ptfe tape on the male screw thread for added integrity. But you would seriously have to over tighten to cause a leak, and under tightening can lead to the connection eventually working loose. The torque setting for Mobile gas settings are normally a bit higher to allow for this.
 
Fisherman said:
Very important advice when using compression joints. I also use ptfe tape on the male screw thread for added integrity. But you would seriously have to over tighten to cause a leak, and under tightening can lead to the connection eventually working loose. The torque setting for Mobile gas settings are normally a bit higher to allow for this.
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This is a usually unmentioned additional benefit of refillable gas systems as opposed to calor bottle type exchanges....
Fit the bottle once and then don't need to mess with connections.
That in itself as a key benefit IMO.
 
wildebus said:
This is a usually unmentioned additional benefit of refillable gas systems as opposed to calor bottle type exchanges....
Fit the bottle once and then don't need to mess with connections.
That in itself as a key benefit IMO.
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I was talking about fitting a reducer David.
 
Fisherman said:
Very important advice when using compression joints. I also use ptfe tape on the male screw thread for added integrity. But you would seriously have to over tighten to cause a leak, and under tightening can lead to the connection eventually working loose. The torque setting for Mobile gas settings are normally a bit higher to allow for this.
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Don't let Charlie hear you mentioning ptfe tape with leg fittings.
 
Okta said:
Without the crash regulator you should turn the gas off when travelling. The excess flow protection will not switch the gas off if you have a break in the pipes or a leak in the habitation area. Flow protection only detects leaks in the high pressure pipes between the cylinder and the regulator but nothing after the regulator. You need both parts of the protection system.
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I don't see how a crash regulator protects in any circumstance other than a crash.

If a gas leak occurs whilst travelling on the low pressure side this can only be avoided by turning off the gas at source before travelling.

I am happy to travel relying on the excess flow protection in the event of an accident.
 
Canalsman said:
I don't see how a crash regulator protects in any circumstance other than a crash.

If a gas leak occurs whilst travelling on the low pressure side this can only be avoided by turning off the gas at source before travelling.

I am happy to travel relying on the excess flow protection in the event of an accident.
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The excess flow device and the crash regulator are both designed to protect the vehicle occupants and rescuers from a gas escape in the event of an accident. If you only protect the high pressure bit between the bottle and the regulator a ruptured pipe in the living area will not be protected in a crash. The flow device is the wrong side of the regulator to react to a gas leak in the cabin. The flow device pressure is about 7,000 mbar whereas the other side of the regulator is a mere 30 mbar. This is like expecting a fuse in a power station to blow if your toaster shorted out.
 
Received my new Bulkhead Regulator today (y)
Bought via eBay but from a major retailer. eBay price with a discount code was both cheaper than their own on-line shop AND their trade portal annoyingly.
Manufactured in 2023 which is good (TBH, this is why I chose a seller I recognised and trusted. Didn't want to buy old stock).

Already got virtually the same leak detector as Canalman (I have the PT210 rather than his PT199 - https://amzn.to/48ZNtmL) so will be putting that to good use when swapping the Regulator over and then keep the old one as a spare.
I get the idea of just waiting in case the old one fails and then swapping, but makes sense to me to do the swap now and pre-empt the inconvenience of a failure. (there is no issue at the moment, but the regulator WILL have seen a lot of gas passing through it over its 16 years of life).
 
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