Gas Leak

gatvol · Mar 17, 2012

Just picked up the van. Have my full camping gaz bottle. I bought a little brass tap that has a rubber seal on the bottom that seals against the camping gaz bottle. That works fine.

But where the california's regulator seals against this new tap there is a leak. I tested with soapy water and was a little downhearted to see a leak. The appliance is meant to be hand tightened, so I gave it a minor tweak with a wrench. Still leaks

Am I perhaps missing a seal here as there is no rubber seal between the regulator and the brass tap ? Alternatively that means either the regulator supplied with the california is defective or the brass tap I bought from the camp shop is defective

Any help very gratefully received

Thanks

jts46 · Mar 17, 2012

have you a seal (rubber) between regulator and new tap? the regulator on my cali had a tap on it from vw.

CaliforniaDAN · Mar 17, 2012

Hi

Is your Cali a brand new one or used? If brand new it should have a connector from the gas bottle to the regulator supplied with the van and you should not have to buy one.

If it is a "pre loved" van then it may have been lost by previous owner or the dealer if you purchased from them. The dealer should have at least supplied one or pointed out the lack of a connector. If you have bought privately then you will have to sort out your own connector.

One thing struck me and that is the connector that you bought was it in the open position when you connected. If so that would explain the leak.

Maybe if you could upload a picture of the connector we can then confirm if you have the right one.

CaliforniaDAN · Mar 17, 2012

Just had another thought.

I think the connection is a "left" thread i.e. to connect to the brass tap you screw on anticlockwise.

california180 · Mar 17, 2012

gatvol said:
Just picked up the van. Have my full camping gaz bottle. I bought a little brass tap that has a rubber seal on the bottom that seals against the camping gaz bottle. That works fine.

Hi, I feel that the brass valve that you bought may look like this (as you managed to obtain it easily) :?: ....if it does it is the wrong valve for the Cali and cannot be made gas safe :bomb

gatvol · Mar 17, 2012

Thanks for the advice. I collected a new van.

The picture of the valve is exactly what I bought earlier today.

It looks right and the threads match up correctly - but it does not seal properly. soapy water reveals the minor leak

It sounds like I need to go back to the dealer as I am missing something that should have been supplied with the van :headwall

california180 · Mar 18, 2012

Below is a pic of the correct valve for the Cali gas system......hope this helps :thumb

gatvol · Mar 18, 2012

many thanks. that is extremely helpful and could save the missus and I from beating each other to death !

barry · Mar 18, 2012

save your joint energies for beating the dealer whose sold you an incomlete van

gatvol · Mar 18, 2012

It was an instore demo van with no miles on it, so I am accepting of a few niggles as it did save me quite a few grand when compared to a new one

I checked loads of things before driving it away, the missing table though does seem to take the biscuit

norfolkcali · Mar 26, 2012

My 8-month old 60 plate facelift was supplied in July last year by the dealer minus the gas tap, I ordered one of the brass taps off the internet, so it's bit of a worry to find out now it's the wrong one! I did put a rubber washer between the valve thread and the regulator to get a good seal, and for safety's sake most of the time the valve on the bottle is turned off. Are the correct ones readily available from dealers? Or anywhere else?
By the way, the supplying dealer promised to reimburse my costs for the other tap, but never did. I bought it a long way from home and it's now looked after by another VW dealer.

CaliforniaDAN · Mar 26, 2012

Hi go to your new dealer they will be keen to keep your good will.

gatvol · Mar 27, 2012

My dealer is going to supply me with the correct one as the gas tap should have been included when I bought the van.

When I went to the dealer I looked in the gas compartment of his demonstrator model and the gas correct tap was in there in a plastic bag - this has a rubber washer cut into a recess in the brass to help make the seal.