Gas valve - blue cap popped off

[OtterCali]

Hi. I was just checking the gas cylinder in our 2015 SE and noticed the little blue cap has popped off the GOK gas valve.

I’ve just checked the instruction leaflet that came with the valve and it says “If the blue plastic cap is missing, it is possible that the safety valve has been triggered”.

Do I need to replace the valve, or can I just push the cap back on? The other question is, why did it trigger? The gas tap was turned off, and the cylinder is maybe half full.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Fishface]

It is a safety device - the spring loaded pressure relief valve behind it will vent gas if there is too much pressure in the cylinder ( over heat and or over fill). I do wonder about the quality of some of these valves and the seal could just be a poor fit. HOWEVER - you don't get second chances with gas leaks so I would replace the whole valve with a known good quality device.

 

[OtterCali]

Thanks. The valve is only a few weeks old, having just replaced the previous six-month old valve which had become stiff to turn on and off. I’ve pushed the cap back in for now but will order a new valve to be on the safe side.

 

[andyinluton]

2 failed regulators sounds like too much of a coincidence - is the bottle overfilled? Weigh it and compare with the stamped weight on the bottle.

 

[OtterCali]

2 failed regulators sounds like too much of a coincidence - is the bottle overfilled? Weigh it and compare with the stamped weight on the bottle.

It's not the regulator that's the issue, it's the brass Campingaz valve/adaptor. I'm also pretty sure the bottle isn't overfilled, as it weighs substantially less than another full bottle I have on standby. Possibly a hot weather issue, as all was fine until the recent heatwave conditions.

 

[andyinluton]

I didn’t mean to call it the regulator. But 2 valve failures, actually is it 3 failures? Why did you replace the previous one 6 months ago? when you very rarely get reports of them failing on here is extremely unusual.

Hot weather shouldn’t come into it, temperatures are no worse than you would expect in southern Europe.

I’ve had a faulty bottle before, when you wind down the knob on the valve all it does is push down a pin at the bottom & that presses on a sprung loaded ball bearing that’s fitted in the top of the gas bottle. If that ball is jamming it will make the knob stiff to turn. On our faulty bottle the ball was stuck and wouldn’t fully open, and leaked gas when the valve was removed.

I would suggest trying your old valve on the new bottle.

For clarity why did you replace the previous valve 6 months ago? and has the same gas bottle been used with all three valves.

 

[OtterCali]

I didn’t mean to call it the regulator. But 2 valve failures, actually is it 3 failures? Why did you replace the previous one 6 months ago? when you very rarely get reports of them failing on here is extremely unusual.

Hot weather shouldn’t come into it, temperatures are no worse than you would expect in southern Europe.

I’ve had a faulty bottle before, when you wind down the knob on the valve all it does is push down a pin at the bottom & that presses on a sprung loaded ball bearing that’s fitted in the top of the gas bottle. If that ball is jamming it will make the knob stiff to turn. On our faulty bottle the ball was stuck and wouldn’t fully open, and leaked gas when the valve was removed.

I would suggest trying your old valve on the new bottle.

For clarity why did you replace the previous valve 6 months ago? and has the same gas bottle been used with all three valves.

For clarity, we purchased the van 6 months ago from a VW dealership and it came without a valve. The dealer obtained a new valve from us from VW. That valve was fine until a couple of months ago when I noticed the knob was becoming increasingly difficult to turn. Out of an abundance of caution I purchased a replacement a few weeks ago which turns easily, as it should. This is the valve I am referring to, so only 2 valves in total. All has been fine until this morning when I noticed the blue cap had popped off. Same gas bottle used throughout.

Incidentally, on the valve I have, it doesn't push a pin when you turn the knob - the valve mechanism appears to be internal to the valve itself. The ball valve on the bottle opens when you screw the valve in and stays open.