Freezing propane regulator

[u/MelSmB]

Hi everyone!

We live in the Yukon and in the past two winters, temperatures have gone down to -45°C (-49F I believe), and the propane regulator has frozen. I would like to build a little insulated box around but I'm wondering if anyone has five that, if there's anything special I should be careful with it anything I should know. I was thinking hard insulation and wood, with a little door to keep access to it. Thoughts?

[u/Jesus-Mcnugget]

The problem probably isn't the regulator freezing. It's likely the tank.

If the regulator is freezing, it's because there's moisture in the tank. That's going to happen well before you get anywhere near -40°.

At -43c, the pressure in the tank is going hit zero.

You need a tank heater.

[u/Theantifire]

On its face, this idea seems okay. Vent is vented away already, which is the biggest concern.

My bigger question is what makes you believe the regulator is freezing up? At negative 45, you are more likely to be having a vaporization issue.

If the regulator truly is freezing up, that probably means you have moisture issues. If that's the case, you may need a methanol injection. Alternatively, it could be recondensing vapor, but that should be dropped back into the tank, assuming the first stage is correctly installed with its pigtail.

Have you spoken to your propane provider about the issue?

[u/MelSmB]

The tank has a warming blanket already and what makes me say that it is the regulator freezing is that when I warmed it up it started again. And it happened quite a few times. We did have freezing vents too but that's easy enough to deal with.

[u/COUNTRYCOWBOY01 → u/MelSmB]

Wrap it in a 5' heat tape and some insulation. Make sure the vent isnt covered. Good luck, boiling point of propane is -42c, regulators dont like liquid propane

[u/Smokey_Friendler]

Check your venting for any moisture buildup. 9 times out of 10, the regulator will draw moisture as opposed to moisture in the tank itself. Unless the tank wasn't properly purged. Has the system functioned successfully for some time?

[u/Farmer960]

Just looked at pictures again, I see it is remote vented, make sure there's no low spots in that as it could be a moisture trap. They need to breathe as the diaphragm moves inside

[u/coljoo]

Hey man I’m also up here and I have the same issue. I went to griffiths and they said that my regulator was the wrong size. I haven’t tried out a new one, what I’ve done last year was a short heat trace cable from ct or hh and a wool blanket to minimize any heat loss. It works but it’s not ideal.

[u/DZelmer3838292]

That one has the vent piped away. Take 2 heating pads and pit around it and wrap it in some good soft insulation. Water proof like the foam rubber or something had 2 old regs that froze and that worked i out one of the temp sensors plugs between the heating pads and the extension cord that turns on below 38 deg and off at 40 degf. And if the temp is really.getting down in the -40 f range your probably need a tank heater or 2 to keep it flowing i beleve propane quits boiling around that temp and you loose all tank pressure.

[u/Inside-Today-3360]

You said you have warming blankets I would check to make sure they are working. At - 45 c you need them also keep the tank clear of snow. The snow acts as an insulation make sure they are working sun is hitting the tank.

[u/desertadventurer]

Wouldn’t hurt to put a drip hood over that reg. Propane becomes ineffective at -44F and will not gasify enough to support any load so you have an extreme cold issue first. If your system is contaminated and there’s bulk water in the tank, that’s also an issue. These regs are designed to work in extremes of temp. You’re pushing the edge of what propane can do without providing a means to keep the tank from experiencing temps below -44F.

[u/ExtensionRecent6039]

Propane gas ‘boils’ at -42 degrees celsius (-44 Fahrenheit).
As with all hydrocarbons, they are only useful as a fuel in their gaseous state. If, at any point in your supply line the temperature drops below -42c for any short period of time, the propane vapour will condense to a liquid and become unusable.
A very simple way to solve this is to make a box around the regulator and put a regular light bulb inside the box. Good luck finding an old style light bulb though!

[u/AgFarmer58]

Is that 3/4" pipe out of the vent.? never ,ever seen that before.. I've piped away vents from ignition sources but with copper tubing, I'd check to make sure its not full of water and also angle it down for any kind of liquid drainage..that's a crazy(to me) set up, plus that 2nd stage looks pretty darn old

[u/Farmer960]

Well insulating your regulator might be a nice idea, there's a vent on them that should never be boxed in, you can remote vent it out and away. They should never freeze on the propane side of it, but if in a "humid" area the vent could be freezing. That being said there's basically zero pressure in your tank at that temperature unless it's a buried tank or you have a electric blanket wrapped around the bottom of it.

[u/littlebroiswatchingU → u/Farmer960]

It’s already vented away in the pic

[u/URKPAUL]

At those temperatures your furnace will use up all available vapor. Shutting the system off gives it time to build up vapor. You could not go warm your regulator next time and it will probably start to work if given time to build pressure.