Propane smell

DocBrown

DocBrown

Member
RV LIFE Pro
Joined
Sep 14, 2024
Posts
12
Location
howell mi
I’ve got 2020 2600rb. I’m getting a smell of propane inside ,sometimes.
I’ve checked all connections I can find but no luck. Seems to be most noticeable around the stove. I’ve checked the main connection to stove as well as fittings on top, don’t see anything.
Any ideas as to some places to look?
How does the inspection cover for the furnace come off? I took four screws out but seems something still holding it on.
 
When we bought our Momentum, the oven did not work. Dealer replaced it. Apparently when the tech tightened the main infeed propane line he overtightened it and cracked the flared line. Only way we found it was using soapy water on the fitting. When checking we had to run the burners on the stove to get all of the air out of the line first. Re-flared the line and all is good.
 
You will smell it around the bottles or regulator when the bottles get low. Check and see if it's stronger there.
 
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I bought one of these from Amazon while redoing our kitchen and moving gas lines around. Worked great in finding leaks. The only thing better is my wife's nose....
 
These are very helpful tracking down small leaks:

www.homedepot.com

HOME-FLEX Electronic Gas Leak Detector 11-810-001 - The Home Depot

The HOME-FLEX Electronic leak detector is designed to detect even small gas leaks. Built-in microprocessor easily detects natural, liquid propane, butane and methane gases. Red and yellow lights illuminate
www.homedepot.com

Also, be sure to check your battery compartment if you have a lead-acid battery. A failed battery emits a similar odor.
 
DocBrown said:
I’ve got 2020 2600rb. I’m getting a smell of propane inside ,sometimes.
I’ve checked all connections I can find but no luck. Seems to be most noticeable around the stove. I’ve checked the main connection to stove as well as fittings on top, don’t see anything.
Any ideas as to some places to look?
How does the inspection cover for the furnace come off? I took four screws out but seems something still holding it on.
Click to expand...
As others said - find the source. I think a sniffer is a pretty good idea. But soapy water can work.

If there is an external cut off for the gas to the stove/oven maybe turn it off and see if the smell persists.
 
traveldawg said:
As others said - find the source. I think a sniffer is a pretty good idea. But soapy water can work.

If there is an external cut off for the gas to the stove/oven maybe turn it off and see if the smell persists.
Click to expand...
If I turn the tank off it goes away.i
Heading out for the first trip of the season in a few minutes . Hopefully it’s not cold enough to run the furnace.
 
DocBrown said:
I’ve got 2020 2600rb. I’m getting a smell of propane inside ,sometimes.
I’ve checked all connections I can find but no luck. Seems to be most noticeable around the stove. I’ve checked the main connection to stove as well as fittings on top, don’t see anything.
Any ideas as to some places to look?
How does the inspection cover for the furnace come off? I took four screws out but seems something still holding it on.
Click to expand...
I had 2 propane leaks on my new 315rlts in the first 2 summer seasons.

The first was a cracked tee in the line under the trailer that supplied the quick disconnect for the grill. The crack was very tiny and the smell faint and intermittent, but I was eventually able to find it with a spray bottle of soapy water right at the end of our trip.

After I contacted GD about it, I found out it was a recall the dealer reported “fixed” before I took delivery of the new trailer. During the off-season, GD sent me a new tee and I replaced it. (Don’t get me started on RV dealers.)

There are several of these tees under my trailer for branches to the furnace, hot water heater, and kitchen slide. They are worth checking (spraying with soapy water) as they can be cracked by over-tightening or the connections can leak.

The second was a failed valve/regulator on one of the front propane tanks. This was a more significant leak but still hard to find as it only seemed to leak in the afternoon when the sun warmed the tank and increased the internal pressure. The breeze carried the propane away from the trailer most times so the smell was very intermittent. For some reason the leak attracted some sort of little wasps in the area I was staying, and I finally snapped to why they were hanging out around the front tanks every afternoon. I bought a replacement assembly with hose and all from a local RV store which eliminated the problem (and the wasps).

Bottom line is propane leaks are a serious issue that should be addressed immediately, especially if you smell propane inside the trailer. Any ignition in a confined space will create a deadly explosion.
 
traveldawg said:
As others said - find the source. I think a sniffer is a pretty good idea. But soapy water can work.

If there is an external cut off for the gas to the stove/oven maybe turn it off and see if the smell persists.
Click to expand...
I ran into an issue with a leaking regulator where soapy water didn’t show the leak. It was coming out the vent hole on the regulator so there wasn’t enough pressure there to bubble. The sniffer caught it immediately.
 
I use a sniffer twice a year, all around camper, both inside and out, to reduce risks--as part of regular maintenance.

I use sniffer at home about every three years, and have found leaks many decades after home was built.
 
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For propane connections that are difficult or time consuming to get real near when testing for leaks, I hold detector as near as possible to test area and it still will catch leak issues. I take a little effort to ensure that the leak detector adjustment is set as low as I can to make tester more sensitive. I adjust it outside RV to ensure air is gas free.
 
jkwilson said:
These are very helpful tracking down small leaks:

www.homedepot.com

HOME-FLEX Electronic Gas Leak Detector 11-810-001 - The Home Depot

The HOME-FLEX Electronic leak detector is designed to detect even small gas leaks. Built-in microprocessor easily detects natural, liquid propane, butane and methane gases. Red and yellow lights illuminate
www.homedepot.com

Also, be sure to check your battery compartment if you have a lead-acid battery. A failed battery emits a similar odor.
Click to expand...
Late to the party but as stated above, this device works very well. We use it in both the camper and in the house. Also works great on the BBQ. Excellent bang for the buck IMHO.
 
So I got my sniffer and it seems to point to the inlet regulator on the furion oven. I can’t see any bubbles with leak detect but the sniffer goes off when it gets near regulator.
Ordering a new one tomorrow and see what happens
 
DocBrown said:
So I got my sniffer and it seems to point to the inlet regulator on the furion oven. I can’t see any bubbles with leak detect but the sniffer goes off when it gets near regulator.
Ordering a new one tomorrow and see what happens
Click to expand...
Very much the same as my experience. Hope you have it fixed.
 
Well…. New regulator installed thought I had it, sniffer didn’t detect at first. After a few minutes sniffer went off. Doesn’t seem as bad as it was but not passing wife smell test.
Seems maybe leaking from pipe connections. Used pipe thread sealant.
 
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