Propane usage and where would go.

[GWAYGWAY]

On my Hymer I have two 11kgs refillable bottles, what is getting me is the fact I go through a full bottle in two days with only fridge and hot water heater, it just seem to use it up, the fridge flame is correct and steady so unlikely that
It has been checked for leaks with a manometer, and leak spray and an electronic sniffer. It holds it pressure on the water tube manometer fro hours , there are no smells, no bubble leaks and the sniffer tester is fine. The fridge runs at 3 lights on the control and the water heater only runs when we need it. The heater for the hab area is off.
I fitted a new bulkhead regulator , , two new braided steel hoses and new seal though out the systems. I know that the gas is going as it is costing me a full tank every time as I only run one bottle at a time the other being off. I did have a new tank valve fitted at the tank suppliers as the seal around the main tank appeared to leak and it is fine now.
Has anybody any ideas as to what is going on as it is bloody expensive at 99.9p a litre now. How much would you expect a bottle to last, when I was away abroad it seemed to last for a long time in the winter with snow and the heater going well at 20 degrees.

 

[Sidders]

Our hymer would last a long time just on 3 way fridge and occaisional hot water, we did have a dodgy seal on the filler neck internal seal but a jab with a screwdriver cleared the crap out, seem to think 3-4 weeks on a pair of 11 s

 

[Canalsman]

I have a similar setup. My two 11Kg bottles last for four weeks using fridge, water heater in the evening, and cooker for boiling kettle and evening meal.

Typically it is 1.4Kg per day.

 

[DTDOG]

Can't help, but like the others have commented, it does seem very excessive. Even in Winter when I'm using the heating I'd expect at least a week out of one cylinder (also using it for the fridge, cooking and water heating).

 

[Tonybvi]

We have been travelling in France for 8 weeks now. I just topped up my refillable cylinder today before taking the ferry back to UK. Since leaving home I have used 36 litres of LPG which works out at around 19kg if my conversion is correct. We have used the lpg for fridge, water heating (on for an hour in morning for shower and same at night for washing up). Cooking, boiling kettles, etc all done off the inverter. Very occasional heating such as when we travelled down from Scotland to ferry port. Your usage seem very high compared with this and I believe we have similar vans (Hymer Mli570).

 

[barryd]

Something wrong there. Just come back from 17 days away. Used a full 11kg Gaslow bottle so 21 litres over that time off grid. Fridge on 24/7 and a fair bit of heating as the weathers been crap. Normally in summer we get three and a half to four weeks with no heating on and the fridge on 24/7 and we hardly move the van so it is literally on gas all the time.

 

[Nabsim]

Give Charlie a ring and see if he can suggest something, its the Autogas 200o number.

 

[Canalsman]

I have a similar setup. My two 11Kg bottles last for four weeks using fridge, water heater in the evening, and cooker for boiling kettle and evening meal.

Typically it is 1.4Kg per day.

Typo there.

1.4 litres per day!

 

[colinm]

Our fridge lasts for weeks on a bottle, even with cooking and kettle boiling for cups of tea we get several weeks. Heating seems to use a lot more, hot water heating seems to burn through the most gas.

 

[r4dent]

Couple of checks that may help.

The first question is do you have a leak or a faulty appliance?
Test a - With the fridge and water heater switched off but valve at bottle and all manifold valves open.
Does it use propane over a couple of days? (This will tell you if you have a leak).

If you do have a leak repeat the test with bottle valve closed and all manifold valves closed. if yes then the leak is between bottle and manifold.

If no then open one manifold valve at a time to narrow the search.

Test b - If no leak the you probably have an appliance that is using far to much LPG.
Run one appliance only at a time and check the daily use.

 

[rugbyken]

to get a static reading from a manometer you must have all appliances off this will test the system up to the valves but you could still have a leak on the appliance itself or even on the valve so turn them on one at a time not forgetting that lpg is heavier than air so use the sniffer underneath any suspect points ,
i only use lpg for hot water & fridge and average 1 litre a day so as you surmise you must have a serious leak somewhere

 

[GWAYGWAY]

to get a static reading from a manometer you must have all appliances off this will test the system up to the valves but you could still have a leak on the appliance itself or even on the valve so turn them on one at a time not forgetting that lpg is heavier than air so use the sniffer underneath any suspect points ,
i only use lpg for hot water & fridge and average 1 litre a day so as you surmise you must have a serious leak somewhere

11kgs ? Yes to get rid of that much gas it should be very obvious to everybody in 50 yards , I have never smelt anything. It is not inside and the pipes do not run outside the dropdown gas points do not smell either the openings for the fridge exhaust and inlet don’t smell but I do have two small fans on the outlet to improver the exhaust and element cooling . I was looking for an actual pressure gauge to go in the piped system .

 

[maingate]

Any Gas Engineer (Plumber) should have the gear to test for leaks.

 

[rugbyken]

not any plumber or gas fitter lol lpg is a seperate element in the corgi discipline different pressures and characteristics to natural gas , i did the element almost 30 years ago only lasts for 5 years and i couldn’t persuade my boss to let me retake it , the main things that stick are that lpg is heavier than air and it takes 5 mtrs to dissipate , so graham unless your boiler is roaring away the gas is going somewhere

 

[GWAYGWAY]

I Have solved the gas usage problem. I removed and serviced the fridge} and replaced the thermal paste which was solid acracked.blew it and cleaned the exhaust and refitted it with two computer fans at the top vent. We went off on a trip and used 8 litres only but from the second bottle only.
Then today I checked in the gas locker with solution and the electronic sniffer nothing untowards found UNTIL it moved the first bottle pigtail and found it was finger tight. It is one of the flat type with a rubber ring a not a cone type, the rubber ring which was a new one had settled in and allowed a leak when on the move . I checked the ring and tightened the nut harder which stops any movement. It must have been leaving a trail of gas behind us all the time we were moving. Another thing as a clue was along strip of mould or bugs on the bottom of the door step it was greyish green and look like it fed on the gas leaking.
The resulting gas usage was 8 litres for a week away.

 

[Geek]

On my Hymer I have two 11kgs refillable bottles, what is getting me is the fact I go through a full bottle in two days with only fridge and hot water heater, it just seem to use it up, the fridge flame is correct and steady so unlikely that
It has been checked for leaks with a manometer, and leak spray and an electronic sniffer. It holds it pressure on the water tube manometer fro hours , there are no smells, no bubble leaks and the sniffer tester is fine. The fridge runs at 3 lights on the control and the water heater only runs when we need it. The heater for the hab area is off.
I fitted a new bulkhead regulator , , two new braided steel hoses and new seal though out the systems. I know that the gas is going as it is costing me a full tank every time as I only run one bottle at a time the other being off. I did have a new tank valve fitted at the tank suppliers as the seal around the main tank appeared to leak and it is fine now.
Has anybody any ideas as to what is going on as it is bloody expensive at 99.9p a litre now. How much would you expect a bottle to last, when I was away abroad it seemed to last for a long time in the winter with snow and the heater going well at 20 degrees.

I have an 70 litre underslung tank that holds 28kg of LPG.

In really cold winter, with the heating on 24/7, the (large) fridge freezer on and using hot water it lasts about a month.

In summer it lasts about one summer, unless we use the (LPG powered) generator a lot to power the roof aircon.

I would say that your bottle of 11kg ought to last a week or two in winter, a month or two in summer.

So you probably have a leak, a fault or exceptionally ooor insulation in your motirhome.

 

[cromwellbay]

On my Hymer I have two 11kgs refillable bottles, what is getting me is the fact I go through a full bottle in two days with only fridge and hot water heater, it just seem to use it up, the fridge flame is correct and steady so unlikely that
It has been checked for leaks with a manometer, and leak spray and an electronic sniffer. It holds it pressure on the water tube manometer fro hours , there are no smells, no bubble leaks and the sniffer tester is fine. The fridge runs at 3 lights on the control and the water heater only runs when we need it. The heater for the hab area is off.
I fitted a new bulkhead regulator , , two new braided steel hoses and new seal though out the systems. I know that the gas is going as it is costing me a full tank every time as I only run one bottle at a time the other being off. I did have a new tank valve fitted at the tank suppliers as the seal around the main tank appeared to leak and it is fine now.
Has anybody any ideas as to what is going on as it is bloody expensive at 99.9p a litre now. How much would you expect a bottle to last, when I was away abroad it seemed to last for a long time in the winter with snow and the heater going well at 20 degrees.

Speak to Charlie at Auto gas 2000, he might swear at you though he gets angry with lots of things. Just agree with his answers whether it is right or wrong and you will be fine