Outta gas…

I’ve been waiting for this. Seen on this morning’s walkie…


Propane bypass regulators will be old news to anybody who ever dealt with any RV but possibly there are homesteaders who never encountered them. The idea is simply that you connect two propane bottles to the regulator but it only draws from one of them at a time. Then when one bottle is empty it automagically switches to the other, and…


…flips an indicator to let you know. I’ve used several varieties of regulator over the past – oh, hell, parts of three decades – and some have proven more durable than others and I can never tell if I’ll be happy with a new one. But on this particular application, which is the propane station at Ian’s Cave, I wanted one with an indicator sufficiently clear that I could tell its status at a distance, as Tobie and I stroll past. And so far – roughly a year in service – I’ve been happy with this one.

Ian’s cave doesn’t use much propane. It has an inline water heater with no pilot and an oldfashioned kitchen stove that normally has the gas turned right off. And I have four of these little BBQ bottles for it, one of which has been empty since January. So I noticed the change this morning with something approaching pleasure because now I have two little bottles to take to town for refilling. One alone isn’t worth the bother but I like when they’re all full.

About Joel

You shouldn't ask these questions of a paranoid recluse, you know.
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5 Responses to Outta gas…

  1. Robert says:

    Joel: would you happen to know off the top of your head the make/model of the bypass regulator of which you speak so non-disparagingly?

  2. Joel says:

    Joel: would you happen to know off the top of your head the make/model of the bypass regulator of which you speak so non-disparagingly?

    It’s this one.

  3. Malatrope says:

    Mine actually points to the empty tank. It isn’t at all clear how this one indicates which one is full?

  4. Jim Price says:

    “It isn’t at all clear how this one indicates which one is full?”

    Look more closely. There is a prominent protrusion on the knob pointing at the selected tank.

  5. Robert says:

    Joel: Thank you.

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