Inline air regulator or pressure gauge?

[GK]

Hello fellow spudders.

Just been researching various different propane meter setups and had a couple of questions.

1. Using an inline regulator vs a pressure gauge? I have read that inexpensive regulators may not work very well at low pressures causing the psi to fluctuate. Would I be better off to use just a pressure gauge in my meter?

2. Using PVC braided hose. I was thinking of using some hose in between the tank and the ball valve. (To have the tank sit on the ground) The working pressure of some of the hose is 140 psi and 700 burst. My concern is 140 psi safe? Even though I will be working with low pressure.

Any suggestions or advice would be great.
Thanks

[MrCrowley]

1 - There may be some truth to that but you can easily fix it by unthreading the standard gauge and putting a higher quality one on. I'm not sure how accurate a gauge you would want for a standard combustion but an error of 1.5% F.S. or 2% F.S. should be fine depending on your meter size. If you only need 40PSI of fuel in your meter, it might be better to find a gauge that only reads 0-60PSI instead of 0-140PSI (or similar) as the error should be less on a lower reading gauge if it is measured by F.S. (full scale) error.

2 - 140PSI should be safe enough for a standard combustion running on propane or MAPP. I think propane hits about 150PSI at 90*F, but you shouldn't need pressure anywhere near that high so if you are careful when opening the propane tank valve you'll be able to keep the pressure well below that by just limiting the flow. That being said, if the burst pressure is 700PSI you have nothing to worry about.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

I would go with a gauge, as MrC suggested use one with a maximum pressure reading close to the one you intend to use and you should be fine.

[GK]

Thanks for the advice guys..