Propane heater not working?

[DDSBYDAY]

  I have a small gas heater for the permanent house.  It runs off of a 20lb tank.  The line has a regulator on it.  I open the tank go inside and press a button in to light the stove.  When I press the button in I can hear gas flowing.  I then hit the ignition button and it fires.   That is how it worked up until now.  Now I turn the tank on and press the button for the gas flow and nothing happens.  No gas smell, no gas flowing at all.  It has to be the regulator or the gas button right?  It of course was 20 below zero most of the week so there was not a lot I could do.  I did switch tanks (both full) to see if that was the problem.  Do those gas regulators freeze up or go bad?   That would be an easier fix than taking the stove apart.  Especially now.  That looks to be a summer project.  Anyone have any ideas?  I had a back up Buddy heater so I still got to fish.  It was enough to be bearable but not much better than that.   

[HD]

I've had regulator freeze up before.

[ray634]

Sounds like the regulator is bad. A full tank should work at -20. Some of the newer regulators (5-10 yrs) go bad quick.

[Boar]

Regulators can freeze up but that generally not the cause in these temps. More than likley yur 20 lb tank is the culpret. In these temp when. 20 gets down to half  theres not enough pressure cause the the propane can't vaporize to a gassous state. Hence no pressure. To remedy this ome needs to go to a largern tank.  And when yu have a large btu furnace say 30000 btu you should have no smaller than  a 30lb tank. I have a 100lber an am gona get riged up for that use in my castle. Yes regulator can freeze but this has ben a popular topic all over the net lately an I've no doubt the tanks are undersize.

[Boar]

keep a spare on had some pour hot water on it as a temp fix but dont realize that regulator have a vent hole an now theyve jusr foze it shut. take it inside, let it thaw out take it aprt if you can make sure all the moister is gone try it again.  even a 20000 heater with a 20lb tank can have probs because of pressure issue in these temps.

[glenn57]

how old is the regulator????? these new ones are junk. I have had these newer regulators not work in the middle of the summer on my gas grills and my cookers. also on my 3 burner stove. turns out sometimes you need to turn the propane tank on slowly????? most these new regulators are made over seas and are crap.

and of course there not union made........

[beeker]

stupid regulators.  they know how to ruin a good time.. had the same issue, changed the regulator and all was well

[DDSBYDAY]

  It's an old regulator.  I am sure the diaphragm is stuck in the closed position because I would get a wiff of gas when I turned the tank on outside.  I believe that is gas coming out of the vent hole.  I will be getting a new one.  

[DDSBYDAY]

   I replaced the regulator and on I got heat!!   In the mean time I picked up a Big Budddy heater for backup with the 12 foot hose with a quick connect.  I can not say enough about this heater.  My power at home went off on Friday before I left.  I did not dare leave until I knew the power was back on.  This Big Buddy would be a game changer if you lost your power for any extended period of time during the winter.  18,000 btu's.  I had looked online and at 2 different Fleet Farms.  They went as high as 164$ online.  Fleet Farm had them listed for 129 but had none in stock.  I stopped at Reeds in Garrison and they had 4 left.  On Sale for 109$.   The regular Buddy Heater is great for a small shack but in an 8x8 fish house in sub zero temps it didn't cut it.  

[glenn57]

I rounded up a couple older..good...regulateres for extras and always have an extra with. these new ones just don't cut it.

[DDSBYDAY]

  It is not a bad item to have a spare.  I have never had an issue before.  When stuff like this fails it is at the very worst time.  I don't have a gas grill but I read about a lot of problems with these low pressure regulators.  The new ones especially.  There are videos on how to reset them. 

[glenn57]

like I may have posted earlier, I think its key to SLOWLY turn the propane tank on.