Hi Chris,
LP will boil (vaporize) at -44° so until your ambient temperature is
below that it is vaporizing. Heating the tank will increase the liquid
and vapor pressure in the tank but it is still liquid, not vapor, that
is plumbed to a cold regulator, or vaporizer if they have one, where the
vaporization takes place for the engine. I can't see that increase tank
temperature would solve the issue.
In 1981 I bought a truck with dual fuel capability. The J-valve
regulator had liquid heater lines from the coolant system to heat the LP
liquid at the point of vaporization. The tank was in the bed and never
heated. In very cold weather I had to start the engine on gas then
switch to LP after hot water hit the regulator. All worked well with a
warm regulator.
Larry
On 4/3/15 10:56 AM, Chris Mason wrote:
Heating the regulator won't help if the propane is not vapourizing.
You would need to heat the tank.
However, you do not need to heat it very much, just enough to let it
vapourize. Think about putting it somewhere with a little heat, or
burying it.
On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 1:51 PM, Larry <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
About the carb heat idea...LP is a liquid at -44°F. The liquid
does not combust, it must be vaporized. As the ambient temperature
drops closer to the LP liquid temperature, there would be a
reduction in how fast liquid is vaporizing and therefor a
reduction in volume. What you need in cold weather is enough
volume to maintain at least 11" wc while cranking or running the
engine. You can test the vapor pressure with a manometer while
cranking to verify if this is the problem.
If this is the reason the engine does not run, my thoughts are
that heating the LP regulator would be much more economical from
an energy standpoint, than heating the whole engine block. Perhaps
an insulated enclosure with silicone heaters appropriately
attached would work. They are available in many DC or AC and at
various voltages.
Larry Crutcher
Starlight Solar Power Systems
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