questions about copper stove lines

[jkallo]

The PO of my van removed the damaged propane tank and had a nice little pigtail adapter which allows one to use a 1# canister screwed into the line on the outside of the van. Works great unless it's pouring rain and you run out of gas etc. Yeah, if I was full-timing it, this would less than ideal.

I'd like to follow the lead of a few people here and basically plumb in that pigtail in the cabinet next to the fridge. I did some poking around in there last night, and I see that there is a joint in the line coming out of the back of the stove (which is perfect! I won't need to cut the line). I have two questions about that joint:

1. Does anyone know the size of the fittings at that joint offhand?
2. I put a wrench on it but it seemed reluctant to turn. Before I hamfist it, is that junction soldered or in some other way sealed?

Many thanks!
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I'm Joe
The bus is Gus, the 1982 Westy Diesel 1.6na

[danfromsyr]

it'll come apart, use 2 wrenches if you can. one on eaach side of the flare nut

iirc it's a 3/8" flare nut fitting, it's actually the same as standard american BBQ hose fittings.. you can in fact just hook a BBQ hose with regulator (and 1#) adapter to it.. well serious legal injury may occur.. so work and play within your safety zone.

you can even get them with a braided SS hose that'll resist rodents compromising the rubber. it's low pressure hose.
there's a thread in here someplace on this subject.

and change the tank fitting to this one. (I don't prefer to use adapters).
use GAS rated sealing tape/putty on the fitting to the regulator.
no sealing stuff required on the 3/8" flare fitting. just snug usually does it.

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[CanStan]

I can't recall the exact size of the fitting offhand, but it will be easy to figure out once you disconnect it. It seems to me it was a pretty standard size.
There shouldn't be anything holding the fitting together- although who knows what kind of crazy things have been done by PO's? You should be able to loosen it without too much effort with a 22mm(?) wrench. Good luck!

EDIT- Dan's got all the info you need above!

[danfromsyr]

there's a elegant and controlled way to put the pressure on the fittings w/o twisting the line. most (if not all) gas fittings have a nut shape on both sides.
use 2 wrenches that fit WELL. have the handles staggered (handles are off-set some *s) so that you can grip both in the same hand and give a nice squeeze. this keeps all the force only on the nuts and minimizes side load (deflection)
it's ok to hold both wrenches with both hands simultaneously and squeeze if that offers better grip/feel/control.

and make sure you're squeezing to loosen and not tighten..

well the same procedure is used to tighten them w/o twisting the pipes.
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[bluebus86]

becareful with propane tanks inside the vehicle. leaks can be devestating when contained in a vehicle. Seen an RV propane tank explode once, really bad, life flight helo had to evacuate the burn victims. Talk about a huge fire ball, I was supprised anyone needed evac, I figured the meat wagon would need be called. Can you vent to outside the cabinet you want to keep the tank in?
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[jkallo]

Thanks much all -- I think I have the info I need to get this done.

And thanks for the concerns about the dangers -- I definitely appreciate them. My plan is to only have the tank hooked up while being used and to keep the cabinet door open when in use.
_________________
I'm Joe
The bus is Gus, the 1982 Westy Diesel 1.6na

[Sodo]

[bluebus86]

[Sodo]

[Ahwahnee]

True that propane explosions seldom happen, but when they do they can be bad.

I recall this one in my hometown many years back:

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2014/01/15/coliseum-explosion/4495037/

[bluebus86]