On a Sunday afternoon, I had an idiot at the KOA in Sacramento, CA blow out the check valve on my propane tank while filling it. It started blowing propane out when he disconnected the hose. So he took a steel screwdriver and stuck it in the fill hole! I retreated very quickly. Unfortunately the fill station is right at the entrance to the park. So the park called the fire department who came and wanted to evacuate the park. No can do, the entrance is blocked by my motorhome spewing propane. Why are parks allowed to place their tanks is such dangerous locations I wonder?
At the same time, the park manager remembered that the propane supply company had given her a brass attachment that was designed to screw over the damaged fill system and itself, becomes the new fill point. (This happens all the time to forklifts and other propane-fueled rigs.) She had no idea what it was but it stopped the leak.
The fire department advised me to park the motorhome and have it towed to a repair facility. When I called CoachNet the tech rep could not tell me whether the 'fix' was safe and he informed me they would not tow the motorhome to a repair facility. I talked to a supervisor who backed up the rep. The contract states that if the motorhome is not drivable, they will tow it. Great help!
So I drove the motorhome off the park property and parked it along a public road off in the dirt. The brass attachment continued to hold and no more leakage occurred. So after an hour of sitting there, I secured the brass attachment to prevent it rotating off the fill connection with some Gorilla Duct tape (very strong) and drove home. Turns out it sort of locks into place and there was no danger of it coming loose.
On Monday I called a propane supplier and explained the problem. They said the brass attachment is a normal fix and it was OK to leave it installed forever. One of these days when the tank is empty, I'll remove it and take it in to the propane supplier where they will bleed it empty, replace all the tank attachments and re-certify the tank. BTW, I could not find anyone who would capture the propane in the tank to empty it. They said to use the propane up until appliances would no longer operate and then they'd vent the tank to atmosphere. Hmmm.
I also called the tank manufacturer in Canada. Turns out most motorhome tanks are custom made and would cost a lot of money (over $1,000) to buy a new one. But they gave me all the part numbers to bring the tank up to modern standards.
I also called CoachNet and threatened to report them to the California Insurance Commissioner about making false claims about their insurance. They backed down very quickly and said it was all a mistake. I still pay their premiums and they've helped me before this but next time I will be more than politely insistent.
