ARHunter
Texarkana, Arkansas
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Can someone explain exactly how this thing is supposed to work? The manual I have says to place the lever toward the service tank and it switches over to the reserve tank when the service tank runs out. What is the center position for?
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Learjet
Louisiana
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That lever is for the indicator only. The indicator shows the empty tank, when it goes red you switch the lever over to the full tank to monitor it. I didn't see a middle position on mine, unless you just leave the lever half-way.
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Chris Bryant
DeLand, Florida, USA
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It's basically 3 regulators- 2 first stage regulators and a final stage. The 2 first stages are one for each hose, and the lever (or sometimes knob), simply adjusts the regulator springs, changing the pressure. The regulator on the "service" side (where the lever is pointed to) will be set to a higher pressure (I believe around 10-20 psi), so the "reserve" tank regulator will "lock up" because the pressure is higher than the set point) and not allow any LP to flow until the tank pressure on the service side falls below ~10 psi, at which point the indicator pops up and the reserve tank is used.
With the lever in the middle position, you are just using LP from both tanks.
Probably more than you wanted to know  .
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smkettner
Southern California
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There is no center position. When it shows red it is pointing at the empty cylinder. Switch it over to the other side and fill the empty bottle. Repete as needed and you will never run out.
If you feel some sort of detent or friction in the middle that is just the mechanism switching the primary draw to the other bottle. Don't leave it in the middle position or you defete the functionality of the regulator.
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ARHunter
Texarkana, Arkansas
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Chris Bryant wrote:It's basically 3 regulators- 2 first stage regulators and a final stage. The 2 first stages are one for each hose, and the lever (or sometimes knob), simply adjusts the regulator springs, changing the pressure. The regulator on the "service" side (where the lever is pointed to) will be set to a higher pressure (I believe around 10-20 psi), so the "reserve" tank regulator will "lock up" because the pressure is higher than the set point) and not allow any LP to flow until the tank pressure on the service side falls below ~10 psi, at which point the indicator pops up and the reserve tank is used.
With the lever in the middle position, you are just using LP from both tanks.
Probably more than you wanted to know .
That's exactly what I wanted to know and that's how I thought it worked. So if left in the middle position, both tanks are connected? If this is so, will they equalize pressure?
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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Learjet wrote:That lever is for the indicator only. The indicator shows the empty tank, when it goes red you switch the lever over to the full tank to monitor it...
Best to leave the lever alone and show the red as a reminder until you can get the first tank filled. If you move the lever over it shows green and you might/will forget the other tank is empty and end up with two empties.
Since by the time you can get the first tank filled the other is partially used, you move the lever over to that one when putting the re-filled one back in, so your now "second" tank is the full one.
Some advise to leave the tank valve on the second tank closed so you will notice when you run out of propane in the first tank, and then not run out the second tank too. This is great until it happens at 3am and the furnace quits so you have to go out in the dark and rain in your jammies and fix it. Best to leave both tanks open and make a habit of checking if it has gone red every morning.
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Chris Bryant
DeLand, Florida, USA
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The pressure will equalize, but there won't be any real transfer of LP, just a bit of vapor.
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Gene&Ginny
North Kingstown, RI
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ARHunter wrote: ... So if left in the middle position, both tanks are connected? ...
No, the lever is just for the red/green indicator.
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Retired Phone Man
Covington, Louisiana
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Gene&Ginny wrote:ARHunter wrote: ... So if left in the middle position, both tanks are connected? ...
No, the lever is just for the red/green indicator.
Not true. The lever selects which tank to draw from when both tanks are full. The system will auto switch when the selected tank runs dry. Then switch the lever to the full tank and when the empty tank is refilled it will continue to draw from the selected tank until another auto switch occurs.
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Gene&Ginny
North Kingstown, RI
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Retired Phone Man wrote: ... Not true. The lever selects which tank to draw from when both tanks are full. . It doesn't do that on mine.
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