Replacing propane tank regulators every dozen years? Where?

[Alex Gunderson]

To those of you who *own* your home heating propane tanks
how often do YOU replace your first & second stage regulators?

My red R522H regulator (5.5-10.5 psi) is dated from 11-02,
and my gray R532 regulator (9.5-13 IN. WC) is dated 11-99.

I'm scoping out replacing them all.
Having never done this, I have noob-style basic questions.

Is that the begin date (or the end date?).
The other two brown and gray regulators are not dated, so,
does that mean that they're not normally replaced?

How often do you replace your first and second stage regulators?
Where do you buy parts if you own your own tank?

Note: I called Fisher Controls International at the number on their
manual below 800-588-5853, but, sadly, it turned out to be "America's
hottest hotline" and the other number isn't in service 469-293-4201.
http://www.documentation.emersonprocess.com/groups/public/documents/instruction_manuals/d450023t012.pdf

[Alex Gunderson]

On Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:13:49 +0000, Alex Gunderson wrote:

> My red R522H regulator (5.5-10.5 psi) is dated from 11-02,
> and my gray R532 regulator (9.5-13 IN. WC) is dated 11-99.

More details.

The number on the red regulator is R522H-JGJ, which, according
to this PDF is a 2,600,000 BTUH regulator 1st stage regulator.
http://66.18.210.80/manuals/Fisher/R522a.pdf

The number on the gray regulator is R532-JFF, which, according
to this PDF is a 1,100,000 BTUH two-stage regulator.
http://www.equipgas.com/pdf/Fisher/lpcat%20fisher.pdf

A new one sold on Ebay for $30 but the gas company won't sell
one to me (they'll only install it for about $300).
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Fisher-LP-Propane-Regulator-R522H-JGJ-/181199592242

Do you have experience with buying & replacing these?

[DerbyDad03]

Call them at 800-5 five 8-5853, as shown at their website.

Tell them the number in the manual is wrong.

http://www2.emersonprocess.com/en-US/brands/fisherregulators/AboutFisherRegulators/ContactFisherRegulators/Pages/ContactFisherRegulators.aspx

[Alex Gunderson]

On Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:39:29 +0000, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> Call them at 800-5 five 8-5853, as shown at their website.

Ah, what a big difference by the transposed number 5!
I called, and left a message, as these guys are in Texas.

Will try to ask Emerson / Fisher tomorrow:
a. What is the replacement period?
b. Where can they be purchased?
c. Where can I find DIY instructions?

Their sales-office locator shows the closest office in Fresno:
http://www.regulators-emerson.com/salesofficelocator/

So I'll try them, even though they're very far away:
559-485-0979

I'll let you know what I find out.

[nestork]

I don't know about propane regulators, but there are people that repair
the pressure regulators used on Acetylene and Oxygen tanks here in
Winnipeg that work out of their basements or garages. If you go to any
of the welding supply places in your area, you should be able to find
some business cards on the counter or advertisements on a bulletin
board.

If you can't get new regulators at a reasonable price, I'd give the
places that repair pressure regulators for the welding companies in your
area a call, and I wouldn't be surprised if they can repair your
existing propane regulators.




--
nestork

[Alex Gunderson]

On Thu, 03 Oct 2013 01:09:12 +0000, Alex Gunderson wrote:

> So I'll try them, even though they're very far away:
> 559-485-0979

I called but it was too early for them (they're in California).
So I will call back in a few hours and ask for Brett Bailey to ask the
questions.

[Alex Gunderson]

On Thu, 03 Oct 2013 04:52:11 +0200, nestork wrote:

> If you can't get new regulators at a reasonable price, I'd give the places
> that repair pressure regulators for the welding companies in your area a
> call, and I wouldn't be surprised if they can repair your existing propane
> regulators.

Actually, there's nothing wrong with my regulator other than a date stamp!

I don't know the laws, but, Amerigas' web site says they replace THEIR
propane regulators every 12 years (whether they need it or not). One of
mine is past that date and one bumping up against it, and two don't have
a date stamp.

But, all four are working fine.

I just want to stay compliant on my tank, and, I have no qualms about
replacing the four regulators myself, as long as I know what the legal
lengths are for replacement.

So that's why I ask:

[DerbyDad03]

Alex Gunderson <Al...@mail.is.invalid> wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:39:29 +0000, DerbyDad03 wrote:
>
>> Call them at 800-5 five 8-5853, as shown at their website.
>
> Ah, what a big difference by the transposed number 5!

There was no transposition. You can't transpose a single digit, since a
transposition is a reversal of 2 or more items.

The "588" in the manual vs. the "558" at the website is nothing more than a
typo or (not likely) a number that has since changed.

[Alex Gunderson]

On Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:10:01 +0000, Alex Gunderson wrote:

> will call back in a few hours and ask for Brett Bailey

Turns out this phone number is NOT Fisher or Reco;
it's meter.com (Meter Equipment Company) in Fresno
California.

I spoke with Brett Baily at 559-485-0979 who said they'd
be glad to sell me a regulator.

It would be $71.58 for the red single-stage R522H-JGJ
(replacement part number is R622H-JGJ).

And it would be $111.86 for the gray two-stage R532-JFF
(replacement part number is R632A-JFF).

He said my second-stage regulators would be about the
same price.

More importantly, he knew of no laws defining a mandatory
replacement period, and, he said they last 20 to 25 years.

He also said they don't sell replacement parts for the
regulators themselves, and that anytime air is introduced
into the system, a bleeding and safety check has to
be done.

Does anyone know what the bleeding procedure is?

[Alex Gunderson]

On Thu, 03 Oct 2013 19:52:21 +0000, Alex Gunderson wrote:

> Turns out this phone number is NOT Fisher or Reco;
> it's meter.com (Meter Equipment Company) in Fresno California.

Ooops. I then went to the Fisher web site and ended up at
http://www2.emersonprocess.com/en-US/brands/fisher/Contacts/NorthAmerica/Pages/North%20America%20Addresses.aspx#caltrol
Which showed my representative to be:
Caltrol, Inc. at (702) 966-1999
But, when I called Caltrol, they said the official distributor is
Meeder Equipment (not meter!) 559-485-2223 • 800-448-6817
Which explains why the Fisher PDFs had the Meeder (wrong) number on them.

There's even a picture of Brett Bailey on their web page!
http://www.meeder.com/meeder_fresno.htm

These Caltrol guys said the regulators last 30 years, and that
they can be rebuilt.

So, end result:
- I can find no law that says they need to be replaced every X years
- I can easily buy a regulator for less than $100
- When I shut off the gas & replace it - I need to bleed the system somehow

Anyone know how to bleed a propane system?
(Is it just like anything else?)

[Alex Gunderson]

On Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:38:45 +0000, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> The "588" in the manual vs. the "558" at the website is nothing more than
> a typo or (not likely) a number that has since changed.

Well, it was a nice dating porn site or something like that!

:)

[nestork]

Alex Gunderson;3129694 Wrote:
> He also said they don't sell replacement parts for the
> regulators themselves, and that anytime air is introduced
> into the system, a bleeding and safety check has to
> be done.
>
> Does anyone know what the bleeding procedure is?

Since propane is heavier than air, it seems to me that all you need to
do to bleed the air off is release some propane from the tank. The air
should come out first.

If the air mixes with the propane, then you can't remove the air without
also removing the propane. However, I doubt if there'd be any concern
about a little bit of air getting into the propane tank. That's because
there are both lower and upper explosion limits. At a propane content
below the lower explosion limit, there isn;t enough propane to keep
combustion going. At a propane content above the upper explosion limit,
there isn't enough air to keep combustion going. It's only when the
propane concentration is between the lower and upper explosion limits
that there's the possibility of the propane in the tank burning if it
catches fire somehow.




--
nestork

[Danny D.]

nestork wrote:

> Since propane is heavier than air, it seems to me that all you need to do
> to bleed the air off is release some propane from the tank. The air
> should come out first.

I should have mentioned that the tank is a few feet lower than the
residence.

It seems to me that bleeding would be a minor event, simply because
once reconnected, the pressure of the propane, which has to rise
twenty feet to get to the kitchen, would *push* out any air in
the lines.

So, it seems to me, that the lines are *self bleeding*.

But, I'm sure many people in the past thought many simple things
about much and that's how they win the Darwin award.

> I doubt if there'd be any concern about a little bit of air
> getting into the propane tank.

With the propane tank under pressure, and with it being lower
than the house by a few feet, I think we're not worried about
air in the tank - but about air in the lines to the house.

But, again, it seems to me, with the tank under pressure,
once reconnected, there doesn't appear to be any danger from
air in the lines once reconnected.

But, again, not wishing to win a Darwin Award, that's why
I ask.

[Alex Gunderson]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 09:59:07 +0000, Danny D. wrote:

> So, it seems to me, that the lines are *self bleeding*.

Methinks the bleeding of the lines is the same as when you
replace your hot water heater .

Googling for bleeding propane lines, I find this article
Bleeding a propane line
http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=59645
which pretty much says there's no need to bleed.

[saman]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 10:20:24 +0000, Alex Gunderson wrote:

> bleeding of the lines is the same as when you replace your
> hot water heater .

I don't think you need to bleed the lines.

If the flame on your kitchen burner is orange, the propane
has air mixed in with it, but that should go away in a few
minutes on its own.

[Eddie Powalski]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 10:26:11 +0000, saman wrote:

> I don't think you need to bleed the lines.

Couldn't the lines blow up if you had air mixed with
propane in them?

[k...@attt.bizz]

No.

[Eddie Powalski]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 09:23:57 -0400, krw wrote:

>>Couldn't the lines blow up if you had air mixed with propane in them?
>
> No.

Why not? Isn't that the big danger of unbled lines in the first place?

[k...@attt.bizz]

First, to get an explosion, the air-fuel mixture has to be in a very
narrow range. That isn't likely. Second, there is no ignition source
inside the line. Third, even if it were ignited, there wouldn't be
enough pressure to make it out of the pipe. If this stuff were that
dangerous, none of us would be around.

[chaniarts]

the reason to bleed lines is because the slug of air in the line may put
out pilot lights, and some homeowners don't know to check, or how to
relight.

[Eddie Powalski]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 11:07:26 -0400, krw wrote:

> If this stuff were that dangerous,
> none of us would be around.

OK. I am not the expert here.

So why bother to bleed the lines then if it's not a
safety issue?

[Paul Drahn]

Good Grief, people! Don't any of you have an RV with propane tanks? You
turn the tank off before traveling and turn it on when you stop for the
night. Every time you turn the gas back on you have to bleed the air out
of the gas line. Sometimes it can take a whole minute!

Paul

[Alex Gunderson]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 09:47:45 -0700, chaniarts wrote:

> the reason to bleed lines is because the slug of air in the line may put
> out pilot lights, and some homeowners don't know to check, or how to
> relight.

If that's the case, it's not so "dangerous" then.

The propane company makes it sound like the house will lift off its
foundation if they don't replace the regulator themselves.

If it's just that a pilot light can go out, I can easily solve
that. In fact, the furnaces don't have pilot lights. The
stove doesn't have a pilot light. The pool doesn't have a pilot
light. The generator doesn't have a pilot light...

So, about the only thing that has a pilot light is probably
just the hot water heaters (and even that has some kind of
mechanism to light it by pressing a button down or something).

So, is it this simple?
A. Shut the valves in this order ...
... the pool (which is furthest from the tank)
... the hot water heaters (which is next furthest)
... the house (which is outside at the foundation)
... the generator (which is closest to the tank)
B. Replace the two tank regulators
C. Open the valves in this order ...
... the pool
... the hot water heaters
... the house
... the generator
D. Check the hot-water heater pilot light.

Is "bleeding" that simple?
Or did I miss a step?

[Alex Gunderson]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 11:26:02 -0700, Paul Drahn wrote:

> Every time you turn the gas back on you have to bleed the air out
> of the gas line. Sometimes it can take a whole minute!

How do you actually do the bleeding?

[chaniarts]

there may be a bleed screw that needs to be opened, like when they
refill bbq tanks. i haven't seen every regulator there is, although i
didn't notice one on my 1st stage regulator that i took apart.

[chaniarts]

no, not everyone who owns a house has an rv with heating.

this is probably a requirement by the weevil lawyers, so they can't
easily be blamed for houses blowing up when a homeowner, who may never
have lit the pilot on their water heater, doesn't discover that it's not
lit. it may also be leftover from many years ago when there were not
self-igniting heaters.

[Alex Gunderson]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:12:53 -0700, chaniarts wrote:

> there may be a bleed screw that needs to be opened,

Well, luckily I have the PDF for the regulators, and, I'm sure
a *new* regulator comes with instructions (for your $100), so,
the bleeding of the regulator I'm not worried about.

It's this magical? bleeding of the gas lines.

Seems to me, there is no real bleeding step - but then -
why did the gas company make it seem like it was illegal
for me to replace my own regulator?

The darn things just screw off and screw on for heaven's
sake.

There's just this question of bleeding ... ... ...

[dpb]

It is a safety issue, just that the primary problem is that if there's
an air pocket the flame may go out and potentially let gas flow. Of
course, this is far less of an issue now since thermal valves are in
ubiquitous use; in the days of "wild pilots" that was serious.

--

[k...@attt.bizz]

As others have said, it'll blow the pilot light out and you have to
relight it. It's not a big deal. The gas, itself, will bleed the
line.

[Paul Drahn]

According to the instructions: Turn on the fan over the gas stove. Turn
on one of the burners and begin pressing the lighter. When the air is
out of the line, the gas will light. Do the same with the other burners.

The oven is the same way, except it does have a pilot light that will
stay lit after there is gas and not air.

the gas water heater will attempt to light automatically for a short
time while waiting for gas. It no gas, you have to switch it off and
then back on. Usually lights on the second try.

The gas fridge is the same way as the water heater.

The gas furnace is the same way.

All but the kitchen range is vented outside, so you have to be sure the
fan is running when you purge the air.

Paul

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

Only if you get a spark inside the line and the mixture is within
the explosive limit.

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 11:26:02 -0700, Paul Drahn

Never had that problem -if you REMOVE the tank, possibly - but not
just shutting it off

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

When bleeding is required, you just open a valve and let some gas
through. When you connect a bottle to a new BarBQ you open the valve
and start clicking the lighter. When the air is bled and the gas hits
the burner, it lights.

[Shawn bukovitz]

15 years is recommended time

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/replacing-propane-tank-regulators-every-dozen-years-where-765045-.htm