Tioga propane light blinks green, heater not functioning

[RV_Harvey1]

Greetings from an Autozone parking lot. I’m Harvey and I bought a nineteen foot 1998 Ford Tioga in pristine condition two weeks ago. In order to best explain the problem in full, I’ll need to start at the beginning. A day after I bought the vehicle the carbon monoxide detector started to intermittently beep occasionally in about 30 second intervals. I noticed it periodically during the week I spent planning for my big adventure, occasionally stepping in the vehicle and hearing the sound. When it was finally time to hit the road I went to turn on some lights but they would not go on. The short story with that is that the two Interstate GC2 house batteries had drained completely and could not even be resuscitated. So then I went out and bought two Interstate deep cycle GC2-ECL-UTL 6 volt batteries (an upgrade) on my way to my first state park. I turned the propane on via the Pre-Tell 2 LP Gas Detector, eventually noticing that, unlike before, the green light did not stop flashing, did not turn a solid green. But the lights now worked, and the stove worked, so I figured everything was OK. Cut to 2 days into my trip into the cold desert, and I gradually found that the heater would basically not work - it would blow cold/normal air, or occasionally blow hot air for a very short while, then turn cold. Also, the fridge/freezer seems to have a mind of its own, getting cold quickly or very slowly or not at all. Additionally the bathroom light stopped working altogether. Eventually I googled the issue of the flashing green light and… It signifies something to do with… the current/ flow/electricity not being properly conducted. I had the batteries tested and the AutoZone man says they’re in perfect health, along with the hood battery. Meanwhile, all the electrical functions in this RV worked fine until the old batteries died and were replaced - so are somehow these deep cycle batteries the wrong fit for this rig?? Incidentally, regarding the carbon monoxide alarm, I’ve had to wonder whether it was actually broken or was just responding to a dying battery (it lights up green, but I’ve actually tested it using the tester button, and it doesn’t work - but it’s no longer broken in the sense of intermittently beeping). I am providing all of this information because basically I can’t figure out why the green light doesn’t stop flashing, and I associate the flashing with all the mentioned problems I’m having with the appliances. Because apparently the propane is not getting the proper signal/electricity/current/flow. Although I am also confused with how the heater actually works - I thought it ran on propane, but even when I turn the propane off, when I turn the heater on via the Coleman Mach controls, the air still turns on (although almost never hot, as mentioned).

So, I need help in solving the flashing green light issue. I’ve cleaned and tightened the various terminals associated with the house battery, and also removed and reinserted certain fuses, checked the hood battery (it’s fine) but no luck. Mr. Goodly AutoZone Man also took a good long look, but couldn’t uncover the issue. He recommended I get on this forum so here I am. Any help would be much appreciated.

[dougrainer]

IAMICHABOD wrote:

RV Harvey wrote:
Hey. Thanks for all the helpful tidbits, all good to know. I have learned something else, potentially nearly a bombshell within this little soap opera melodrama. Someone told me that if the RV came from CA and the propane was filled in CA (yes, yes) then it has butane in the propane and the furnace will not work when the temp gets in the 30's because of this. That would explain a lot. Has anyone else heard this, and if so, what does on do to stay warm with a propane heater in CA?

If the above was/is true, then there is virtually no problem with the RV, short of having a fill of unideal propane/butane mix in the tank.

I believe that practice was prohibited back in July 2019 When I asked my Propane dealer that is what he quoted.

This regulation has to do with ADDING A REQUIRED ODORIZING AGENT TO THE BUTANE. LP and Butane in most states(Texas is one) requires that an odorizing agent be installed in the Liquid LP/Butane for safety. What the Reg states is that there MUST be the odorizing agent in any product that uses Butane.
Ethyl Mercaptan is the odor agent added for LP and Butane. Doug

[dougrainer]

If you still think the butane is the problem. DRAIN the tank and have it filled with Propane. Simple resolution. Doug

[dougrainer]

RV Harvey wrote:
Hey. Thanks for all the helpful tidbits, all good to know. I have learned something else, potentially nearly a bombshell within this little soap opera melodrama. Someone told me that if the RV came from CA and the propane was filled in CA (yes, yes) then it has butane in the propane and the furnace will not work when the temp gets in the 30's because of this. That would explain a lot. Has anyone else heard this, and if so, what does on do to stay warm with a propane heater in CA?

If the above was/is true, then there is virtually no problem with the RV, short of having a fill of unideal propane/butane mix in the tank.

Butane has a higher boiling point than PROPANE
Propane------ has a -43 degree boiling point
Butane------- has a 30.2 degree boiling point
That means at 32 degrees or lower, BUTANE will not boil(turn from liquid to gas), so renders it useless below 32 degrees
BUT- Butane has NOT been available in the USA for RV Tanks and DOT tanks for almost 20 years. MEXICO still has Butane dispensary's. The plain fact is, it is not cost feasable for USA Gas fillers to have BOTH Butane and Propane storage tanks as Butane is not a desirable fuel. Butane is used for Gas Lighters and such. The plain fact is, you are OVERTHINKING your problem. As I stated, IF the rest of your LP appliances are working(Water Heater/Oven Range), then you have adequate LP supply. A SIMPLE test to check the LP regulator, is to Turn the top range burners ON. Watch the blue flames. Then fire up the Water Heater and then the Furnace. IF the range Burner flames flicker slightly or fully diminish, you have a LP REGULATOR problem. Replace it. Doug

[IAMICHABOD]

RV Harvey wrote:
Hey. Thanks for all the helpful tidbits, all good to know. I have learned something else, potentially nearly a bombshell within this little soap opera melodrama. Someone told me that if the RV came from CA and the propane was filled in CA (yes, yes) then it has butane in the propane and the furnace will not work when the temp gets in the 30's because of this. That would explain a lot. Has anyone else heard this, and if so, what does on do to stay warm with a propane heater in CA?

If the above was/is true, then there is virtually no problem with the RV, short of having a fill of unideal propane/butane mix in the tank.

I believe that practice was prohibited back in July 2019 When I asked my Propane dealer that is what he quoted.

[RV_Harvey1]

Hey. Thanks for all the helpful tidbits, all good to know. I have learned something else, potentially nearly a bombshell within this little soap opera melodrama. Someone told me that if the RV came from CA and the propane was filled in CA (yes, yes) then it has butane in the propane and the furnace will not work when the temp gets in the 30's because of this. That would explain a lot. Has anyone else heard this, and if so, what does on do to stay warm with a propane heater in CA?

If the above was/is true, then there is virtually no problem with the RV, short of having a fill of unideal propane/butane mix in the tank.

[RLS7201]

Your CCI Pre-Tell2 7719 propane detector is working as designed. When you turn it on, it goes beep beep beep beep beeps. Once past its start up phase, you may hear the solenoid valve go clunk, then it quits beeping and starts flashing green.
I have the same detector in my 95 Bounder.
For more detailed info, contact Larry & ccirepairs@gmail.com. CCI went out of business in 2008 and Larry went into the CCI repair business.
The solenoid valve on the propane tank has a 9 volt DC coil. So do not apply 12 volts to it for a prolonged period of time.
It's a shame that CCI went out of business. Their detector will shut off a propane leak even when your coach is unattended. All the other detectors only give a audible when a leak is detected.
Safe-T-Alert offers a replacement system for you CCI system. It's not a efficient as your CCI. You CCI system draws 0.168 amps when on and the Safe-T-Alert system draws 1.0 amps when on.

Also, when the propane has been turned off, most of us light the kitchen stove to clear the air out of the propane lines. Even at that it may take a couple of tries to get the refrigerator, furnace or water heater to light.

Richard

[D_E_Bishop]

RV Harvey, while I did not read this thread and respond to it earlier, I will for the other responders say, "You are welcome. We were all newbys at one time and it takes awhile to learn the jargon and learn how RVs work.

Your heater may be a bit of a mystery to you, it is, however, a really simple appliance. The secrete to understanding one is doing what we men are accused of not doing, reading the manual. Learn how it is supposed to work and then learn how to trouble shoot a problem when it doesn't work.

Something I learned awhile back is, turning the propne on and off to save money is counter productive. Turning the propane off when in storage is very smart. Owning a RV and saving money is an elusive goal for most of us.

So when you have a problem that exceeds your current ability to correct first read the manual and learn the jargon, then call on the community and when asking for help, include the age, make and model of the failed item. Second, be as concise as possible. I just received some very clear and concise information about my room extention hydraulics. I asked a follow up question about rebuilding a valve instead of asking if it was possible to have "someone" rebuild a valve which is what I wanted to know.

I am sending you a PM(personal message) so check your PM notice.

Have a great time RVing and welcome to the forums.

[RV_Harvey1]

Thanks again!

[RV_Harvey1]

Dear RV friends,
Very sorry for my disappearing act after all the generous help I received. As soon as the problem got resolved, I headed off-grid into the boonies for boon docking.
I am quite embarrassed to give a report on what I’ve learned. It seems there was much less or much different a problem than what I first reported, born out of a bunch of separate ignorances colliding at once.
Firstly, the seller of the RV had told me (and later doubled down) that the propane detector light should always e a solid green. I took that as on authority, and it was even confirmed by google searches whereby people spoke of the continually-flashing-green-light as an indication that it wasn’t receiving a clean signal. This mixed with the fact that the heater was intermittently putting out actual heat (and not just reg’lar air) allowed me to assign the blame to the green light issue. Which in turn I thought must have something to do with the change in house batteries that happened just before I left for my trip. Additionally there was the fact that both the fan and light in the bathroom were not working. AND the fridge/freezer seemed…temperamental/unpredictable/unreliable. All of this I assigned to the blinking green light as source.

Well, here’s what I got wrong. Firstly, I was assured by forum people that the flashing green light is the norm. That was interesting. Okay. But what about, say, the fridge issue? It was suggested that the….fridge fritz phenomena…was caused by the fact that I was turning the propane on and off (suggested by the seller, to save money). In fact when I didn’t turn it on and off, there were no lulls in its effectiveness. And what about the bathroom light/fan? Simple: there is a small separate switch that turns on the bathroom power, a switch the owner must have turned off after his demo, and I never paid mind to it afterwards. Finally, what about the heat? I am still not sure about that one. It was definitely not giving heat (mostly) when I was camped at the cold, cold desert my first two days on the road. Later, when I didn’t actually need it due to warmer climes, the times I tried it, it worked. So maybe there’s still an issue there, maybe it can’t actually cough up heat in certain temps?, which is frustrating and mysterious.

So you see, much of the various inputs from you all have been wrong-headed, due to my initial wrongheadedness regards diagnosis and lack of bird’s eye comprehension. It was a real relief to understand the problem was not as bad and unsolvable as I originally thought. But I feel stupid for wasting you guys' times. I really appreciate the attempts to help though.

Merry Christmas to all!

[dougrainer]

IF other LP appliances work, then the LP detector and system is functioning. The OEM's stopped installing the 12 volt solenoid LP detectors almost 20 years ago. You remove the 12 volt shut off solenoid at the LP tank and just install a standard LP detector. Doug

[mr__ed]

Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Wizard. In that case, my first post still stands; one defective 12 volt battery of two wired in parallel caused my propane detector issues.

[MrWizard]

He mentions both devices, the CO detector and the lp control Pre tell, the CO detector does not control anything but misbehaving indicates a problem, I think he has 12v power problems, I think the house batteries are not getting charged , and low voltage is his problem needs to check and clean house battery negative main ground, maybe replace cable, check and make sure the house battery is charging when engine is running,
Don't know why a 19ft RV with out OEM built in generator would have a CO dectector

[mr__ed]

Now I'm also confused. I thought we were talking about a propane detector, not a carbon monoxide detector. If it's a CO detector, scratch my previous post about replacing a house battery. Sorry for the misconception. I had a senior moment! 😮

[MrWizard]

Does your 19ft RV have a built in generator ?
That is the primary reason RVs have a CO detector
MORE likely to get CO from generator exhaust than from the LP burning applances,
The pre tell (tale tell) I my 97 Bounder will sound off and shut off the LP, if I leave the 460 engine idling too long while parked, or if I leave the entry door open while warming the engine for an oil change etc..
The CO detector mounted on the wall in the bedroom will go off if the somebody else is running a generator and I have an open window, it's bad and needs replacement,
I tried a brick house one from home depot, but it was a pain, it only worked when 110v was on, shore or generator, it would alarm when powered up, then chirp chirp as a working indicator, the only 12v CO models are marine or RV, $$ have Not found a nice battery operated quiet one, to hang on the bedroom wall