Furnace and fridge not working together.

[tonyw4130]

Hello all new here..
I have a 2019 or 2020 Avenger travel trailer 20'. I only say 2019 or 2020 because when we bought it they said it was a 2020 but I think when we had it insured it was a 19 but anyway. the problem I have now (first to stump me) is the fridge and heater wont run together. We were out this weekend and it got cold one night, down in the 30's. I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed I was cold and the heater wasn't on. so I looked up at the fridge to see if i had ran out of propane because it has a light up there were you can change it from auto or gas and i had it on auto. well the light wasn't on but switched tanks anyway. once i got back in I reset the stat to the heater and then when the heater would turn on the fan. at the same time the light in the fridge would come on saying check meaning usually the propane tank is empty. then it would switch back and the fridge would start working again but the furnace would not. Once I got up for the day I started up the generator they would both work. Would this be a low propane issue or at power issue?

 

[Rollin Ollen]

Hello all new here..
I have a 2019 or 2020 Avenger travel trailer 20'. I only say 2019 or 2020 because when we bought it they said it was a 2020 but I think when we had it insured it was a 19 but anyway. the problem I have now (first to stump me) is the fridge and heater wont run together. We were out this weekend and it got cold one night, down in the 30's. I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed I was cold and the heater wasn't on. so I looked up at the fridge to see if i had ran out of propane because it has a light up there were you can change it from auto or gas and i had it on auto. well the light wasn't on but switched tanks anyway. once i got back in I reset the stat to the heater and then when the heater would turn on the fan. at the same time the light in the fridge would come on saying check meaning usually the propane tank is empty. then it would switch back and the fridge would start working again but the furnace would not. Once I got up for the day I started up the generator they would both work. Would this be a low propane issue or at power issue?

It sounds to me that maybe the propane regulator may not be functioning properly. Temps in the 30s are not cold enough to cause the propane to liquify and it sounds like you are not gett a good flow.

Darrell

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I would say power issue if on battery power. Depends on propane level and temperature if the propane is the issue.

 

[tonyw4130]

It sounds to me that maybe the propane regulator may not be functioning properly. Temps in the 30s are not cold enough to cause the propane to liquify and it sounds like you are not gett a good flow.

Darrell

Thanks for getting back to me. I was thinking it might be the regulator to but wanted to ask others what there thoughts were. it isnt the first time I thought the regulator was bad, wouldnt think it would be bad being only a few years old but I do know that new (ish) stuff can go bad out of know where.

 

[tonyw4130]

I would say power issue if on battery power. Depends on propane level and temperature if the propane is the issue.

thanks. The batteries are fairly new. like 2yrs old and in the winter I take them out and put them on chargers for the winter. While this all happened it was 40 in camper so possible colder outside im guessing but when I was trying to get the heat back on the fridge but say check like it was out of gas when the heater would try to run then the heater would shut down and the fridge would work again. I was thinking that maybe the fridge doesnt take much to run on gas but the heater does so if the tank was low it wouldnt let the heater run but allow the fridge to? I dont know it was just weird. but like Rollin Ollen said up above the regulator might be bad. wouldnt be the first time I questioned it.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

This is how it works!

During the warm season the propane mixture is different than the colder season especially in the north.

Using "winter gas" in the summer is no problem, but reversing that does! Why you ask? Well the formula used during the winter freezes at a lower temperature! This would be on par with D1 and D2 in your diesel engine.

Most people discount the propane smell associated with leaking fittings when the tank is running low. But in fact the last day the smell tells me to change out the tank.

When you're tank is horizontal your high pressure will change more after half full, but on a vertical tank that level is much closer to empty.

With a two stage regulator tank volume won't make much difference on pressure. 11 inch water columb is the pressure on low pressure side of regulator. On line you can find instructions on a DIY water columb gauge that won't break the bank! It simply slides over the stove valve with a burner removed.

I asked about temperature because if the tank is frosted up pressure can be a problem. The propane must be able to evaporate.

Larger tanks have less issues due to the volume of gas increases surface area to dissipate/ absorb heat from the atmosphere. The cure in colder climates is to fill the tanks locally as the mixture is correct for the expected temperature.