rooster63 Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 My daughter and husband recently travelled into France using Eurotunnel. On arriving at their first aire they found their gas wasn't working. Went to motor home repairer and were informed that the regulator had failed due to changing air pressures going through the tunnel. They have ordered new regulator, collected it yesterday and hope to fit it today. They converted the van themselves but had an external tank professionally fitted, not sure what brand. Has anybody heard of anything like that happening? The gas was installed about 6 months ago and they have used it no problem in UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teccer1234 Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 rooster63 - 2021-09-30 10:15 AM My daughter and husband recently travelled into France using Eurotunnel. On arriving at their first aire they found their gas wasn't working. Went to motor home repairer and were informed that the regulator had failed due to changing air pressures going through the tunnel. They have ordered new regulator, collected it yesterday and hope to fit it today. They converted the van themselves but had an external tank professionally fitted, not sure what brand. Has anybody heard of anything like that happening? The gas was installed about 6 months ago and they have used it no problem in UK. we've been through the tunnel dozens of times, have had to switch off gas before loading, never had any problems, I think maybe the regulator was faulty and nothing to do with the changing air pressure in the tunnel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 It sounds unlikely as I've never seen it posted before, maybe something was 'lost in translation'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 Assuming that the motorhome’s LPG tank’s outlet-valve had NOT been turned off before boarding Le Shuttle, there would be a considerable pressure (say 100psi) at the regulator’s inlet at around (say) 60F ambient temperature, and that pressure might rise to 140psi at 80F or fall to 70psi at 40F. So a regulator needs to tolerate quite significant pressure changes on its high-pressure (inlet) side. I suppose there’s the possibility that diving through the Tunnel MIGHT have caused the regulator to fail - though there seems to be nothing online to suggest this might happen. Pressure changes are mentioned in this Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel Trains travelling at high speed create piston effect pressure changes that can affect passenger comfort, ventilation systems, tunnel doors, fans and the structure of the trains, and which drag on the trains. Piston relief ducts of 2-metre (7 ft) diameter were chosen to solve the problem, with 4 ducts per kilometre to give close to optimum results. Unfortunately this design led to unacceptable lateral forces on the trains so a reduction in train speed was required and restrictors were installed in the ducts. But, as people and animals don’t noticeably expand or shrink when travelling through the Tunnel, I would have thought a gas regulator should easily tolerate the Tunnel’s pressure variations. It would be interesting to know what explanation for the regulator’s failure the French motorhome repairer would have suggested if they had not known that Eurotunnel had been used (or had been told that the motorhome had travelled on a ferry). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 teccer1234 - 2021-09-30 10:45 AM we've been through the tunnel dozens of times, have had to switch off gas before loading, never had any problems, I think maybe the regulator was faulty and nothing to do with the changing air pressure in the tunnel Yep I would second that. Done it loads of time yearly and having to turn the pressure off I fail to see how any air pressure variation could occur. That is the purpose of isolating the system by closing the stopcock. Faulty regulator would in my opinion be the most likely cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 I may be missing something, but as neither side of the regulator is open to the atmosphere I can't see how changes in pressure could have any effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simian Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 The human eardrum and internal workings must be more delicate than a gas regulator I would suggest. Added to which I haven't seen any sign of an enterprising bod setting up a hearing aid sales kiosk @ the tunnel terminals. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocsid Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 aandy - 2021-10-10 12:02 PM I may be missing something, but as neither side of the regulator is open to the atmosphere I can't see how changes in pressure could have any effect. The regulators are exposed to the atmosphere via a vent to the opposite side of the diaphragm, as the 30mb controlled pressure is refenced to the prevailing atmospheric pressure. [ Edit: it has to be as barometric pressure ranges from below 900 to over 1000 mb] However, I have no confidence at all in the operative's diagnosis of the failure cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 In the old days it was virtually unheard of for a gas bottle fitted regulator to fail, then along came progress with the bulkhead mounted regulator and lots of failures followed, some for good reason where the regulator was incorrectly fitted but far too many for no known reason. Whether the early days failures have been reduced by improved design I know not but reguator failure was always one of the joys of touring and we learnt the wisdom of carrying a spare regulator. We too used the tunnel a few times without regulator issues and I suspect it may be coincidental rather than causative? We too learnt to suspect coincidence but it would need to happen twice to confirm? I would replace the regulator and carry on but with the back up of carrying a spare regulator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simian Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 aandy - 2021-10-10 12:02 PM I may be missing something, but as neither side of the regulator is open to the atmosphere I can't see how changes in pressure could have any effect. The low pressure side is open to atmosphere, if sealed then there would be compressible air contained in a small volume, this would be subject to temperature change and we're all aware of Boyles Law aren't we. Anyway this variance in pressure would I suggest upset the spring setting sensitivity which would affect the pressure and flow rate. Most of these flammable gas regulators are sealed, and rightly so. I've angle grinder cut open a couple just to see why they had failed, the spring had corroded/weakened, or the diaphragm had split, I seem to recall. The regulators used with inert welding gasses (argon C02 can be dismantled I have found, which allowed polishing up of the valve seating to cure a small leak. Mind you this was all years ago, and I wasn't a Corgi gasman ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooster63 Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 Son in law has fitted new regulator and everything has worked fine for the last 2 weeks or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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