Is the Propane regulator found inside a camper the same as one you find on a gas grill?

I have a leaky one on the camper and a good one off the gas grill but I don't know if they flow different.

If the grill was set up for propane it should be the same. If it was set up for natural gas it would have too small an oriface in it to work properly.

LB

Do the camper ones flow better?

I took one off a grill and put it on my camper, and now my oven pilot won't stay lit if I'm running my furnace. :confused:

Do the camper ones flow better?

I took one off a grill and put it on my camper, and now my oven pilot won't stay lit if I'm running my furnace. :confused:

They should be the same. 11" WC.

Well, the one I have looks like this.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/propane-two-stage-regulator/26059

I guess it's a 2 stage.
I don't know how important that is or is not.

I guess a BBQ one is only single stage.

Well, the one I have looks like this.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/propane-two-stage-regulator/26059

I guess it's a 2 stage.
I don't know how important that is or is not.

I guess a BBQ one is only single stage.

2 stage = more consistent flow. But really shouldn't matter. Some grill's come with 2 stage even.

They are NOT the same. An RV runs at 11" WC. That is about 6 oz of pressure per square inch. BBQs will be 10, 20, 30 PSI etc. You must use two stage regulator on an RV, a single stage is illegal.

...BBQs will be 10, 20, 30 PSI etc...

:shaking: Unless you're talking smokers, fish cookers, or other high pressure devices....

Most consumer-grade grills you'll find at Lowes/Home Depot run on the same 11" WC (albeit single stage).

The one off the grill will not keep up on your rv, the furnace pulls some serious flow. You probably want to stay with the two stage regulator. You really don't want to experiment with propane....

could you use a 2 single stage regulartors? one for the stove,one for the furnace?

The one off the grill will not keep up on your rv, the furnace pulls some serious flow. You probably want to stay with the two stage regulator. You really don't want to experiment with propane....

The regulator has nothing really to do with the amount of flow. I've run my home 10K watt standby generator (156,000 btu/hour consumption rate) off of my 20 lb propane tank and regular old grill regulator... Runs fine... Not long mind you, but runs fine.

could you use a 2 single stage regulartors? one for the stove,one for the furnace?

You could.. But that would be impractical.

I don't know about Motornoggin's commen about using single stage as 'illegal'... I highly doubt there's any law about it.. There is the RVIA which has codes to which RV's are built... But as far as I know compliance is voluntary, as well as membership in the organization. Largely I see it as a self-governing, lobby organization. Given that 98-99% of RVs sold have the RVIA seal on the side, anyone building RVs would be foolish to not want to become a member or comply.

Anyway.. the merit of the two-stage comes when you have multiple appliances with different rates of consumption turning on and off at different times. The two-stage keeps a much more even flow when these events occur.

Anyway.. the merit of the two-stage comes when you have multiple appliances with different rates of consumption turning on and off at different times. The two-stage keeps a much more even flow when these events occur.

That explains a ton. :smokin:

Great, looks like I am going to try and find a camping store that stocks one now :(

:shaking: Unless you're talking smokers, fish cookers, or other high pressure devices....

Most consumer-grade grills you'll find at Lowes/Home Depot run on the same 11" WC (albeit single stage).

Ok, so I'm not a BBQ pro. :laughing:


I don't know about Motornoggin's commen about using single stage as 'illegal'... I highly doubt there's any law about it.. There is the RVIA which has codes to which RV's are built... But as far as I know compliance is voluntary, as well as membership in the organization. Largely I see it as a self-governing, lobby organization. Given that 98-99% of RVs sold have the RVIA seal on the side, anyone building RVs would be foolish to not want to become a member or comply.


I will find the law.

Great, looks like I am going to try and find a camping store that stocks one now :(

Shouldn't be too difficult. They are pretty common. If you have a dual tank setup, the RV regulator will allow you to pull from one tank at a time, instead of both at once. If you can't fined one, PM me and I can get one shipped to you.

I put a bbq one on mine. Runs Fridge, stove, oven, heater with no issues at all.

I had the heat and fridge on, turned on 2 sides of the stove to cooks some eggs and fired up the oven for hashbrowns. No issues what so ever.

I have no idea what the different stages are for. I needed one quickly and the 11WC rating was the same so I tried it.

A two stage regulator knocks the pressure down in two stages. The first stage takes tank pressure down to about 30 psi. Second stage takes the pressure down further, to around 11" water column. That's it. A two stage regulator has abslutely nothing to do with anything else. It is true that they can "only flow XXX number of BTU's". (I put that in quotation marks because someone will argue it, and I don't feel like digging specs up surfing from my phone.) They can only handle so much demand. Don't you dare tell me you can run your big dog generator on one cause I know it won't work. The reason you can't run it long is because you are overworking the regulator and tank, and freezing them up. Single stage regulators are illegal for use on RV's, but you won't find any governing body that would write you a ticket for it. You can bet your ass that the court system would find you guilty if you blew something up and hurt someone.

For all with single stage regulators on RV's

Heres it is so all can suck a nut......:D

http://www.rversonline.org/02Propane.html

...Don't you dare tell me you can run your big dog generator on one cause I know it won't work...

Don't dare tell you? Ok. If the pic had sound, you'd hear it running... :shaking:

http://i45.tinypic.com/2cp9p3r.jpg

All post installation testing was done using a 20lb grill tank. It's first full hour it ran before we did any load testing. Load tested and auto-transfer switch testing completed as well.

Plumber ended up being scheduled for about a week later to run the natural gas line.

..The reason you can't run it long is because you are overworking the regulator and tank, and freezing them up..

Not the regulator. The tank.

With the tank, full it runs great... As it gets down to about 1/2 full, you can tell. As I understand it, it has to do with the rate of evaporation with the volume of remaining fuel.

The one off the grill will not keep up on your rv, the furnace pulls some serious flow...

This whole amount of flow conversation is off-topic and irrelevant anyway.

Bayouhazard threw this thread off-track with the above uninformed statement. Someone who says that has no idea about the BTU consumption of RV appliances.

The answer to the OP questions

Q: grill reg - will it work?
A: Yes. It is advisable? Probably not.

Hell when I was building my jeep chevy v8 on pane I moved the truck around on bbq tank. It would do fine til I blipped the throttle to about 3K and you would hear the safety valve on BBQ tank go click.

To much flow caused trip (safety valve in case hose shears or something)

The dual regulator is a safety factor so the 11" w/c valve doesnt take all the abuse of load. And yes there is different BTU ranges on these regulators you start exceeding btu loads and you get yellow tipping flames (Deadly) from low water column pressure.
I work with LP daily and would advise not to take cheap road on this subject at all, It can become a life/death situation very quickly.