okay to check propane lines with soapy water in winter?

[MissMac]

Hey all, just wondering what your thoughts are re: checking propane lines and valves on a 500gal tank in the winter with soapy water? Any issues with the water freezing around the connections causing issues, or is it okay to do the check? Thought i heard a hiss, and was catching a waft of propane smell when i checked the tank level, so went out and applied some soapy water. couldn't find any leaks, but then started to wonder if i'd potentially created an issue with the soapy ice formation that's now clinging around a few connections. Thoughts?

 

[Heatsource]

i think you'll be ok

 

[wooduser]

i think you'll be ok

I agree ----and it's a lot more important to check for a leak!


I take it you didn't find any leaks?

If you are having very cold weather, I'd consider pouring some warm water over the fittings you want to check to warm them up enough so that things aren't freezing up while you are checking for leaks.

By the way, you want to use perhaps a 50/50 mixture of dishwashing detergent and warm water when checking for leaks. You want a lot of detergent to produce bubbles if there are any to be found. No wishy washy mixture that you'd use to wash dishes! Paint it on with a small paint brush.

Any leak you can hear would be leaking a LOT of gas! That kind of gas flow can actually prevent bubbles from forming ---blowing them to bits before they can form. So use your ears to identify likely sources of a gas leak and look for bubbles that are being blown apart when you put leak solution on a part or fitting.

Let us know what you see and find. It's not a problem you want to fail to identify if it exists.

 

[MissMac]

Ya i put a super soapy mixture on with an old toothbrush. I’ve tested a lot of propane fittings over the years at my job, but that’s only been in fair weather. I didn’t detect any leaks. I’m sure it was likely just some of the smell that they mix in stuck on the regulator, or the regulator venting a bit. I thought i had heard something too, which was why i decided to test it with soapy water, but by the time i got back out there i couldn’t hear or smell anything. Thanks for your comments though. Glad to have the furnace running right now. It’s -48*C with the windchill here at the moment!