dwh
Tail-End Charlie
If the truck doesn't leave North America, I'd say get over your propane aversion - there are just too many advantages for your situation.
After the regulator it's low pressure, and anyone with a propane system should be doing a full leak test as part of annual inspection anyway. In my Class B camper van, all the propane lines are copper with flare fittings, except for one rubber flex line from the regulator to the copper. That line is under the truck and tucked up nicely. First thing I did was replace that line with a new one, replace the old regulator with a new two-stage, apply a wrench to all the copper flare fittings to check for tightness and then pressurize the system and spray soapy water on every connection to check for leaks (the truck was sitting for 15 years when I bought it, so I was very concerned about leaks). No leaks.
Nor will there BE any leaks, if the lines are properly strapped down and secured. Copper lines don't just magically erode a hole and start leaking at low pressure. Nor do flare fittings loosen up if they are properly supported. The only real worry is that one rubber flex line, which is new and more or less protected. Still, I do keep an eye on it.
Cooking with gas is definitely better, except for condensation. So get a hood over the stove that vents to the outside.
Standard RV furnaces are horrible for dry camping - they eat propane and battery power like candy. But a catalytic heater (preferably vented if condensation is an issue - and it WILL be an issue when it's cold out) doesn't use any power and is much more efficient on propane. My truck has a 12k btu Suburban heater, and A) it's way too much heat for a van, and B) I never use it anyway because it's such a pig. I'm probably going to replace it with either a 3k btu vented cat heater, or more likely a Propex, which is very popular with the Westy crowd:
http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=4349
One of the dealers here on ExPo is a Propex dealer. Unfortunately, I can't remember offhand which dealer it is.
Heating water with propane is quick and reasonably efficient. My truck has a Suburban 3 gallon water heater with a pilot light - and every time I forget to turn off the pilot before I drive, it blows out (not a leak issue - it's got a thermocouple just like any gas water heater). I definitely want to replace it with one that has electronic ignition so I can just flip a switch inside to fire it up instead of having to light the pilot every time I need hot water.
As a bonus, Suburban makes a 6 gallon unit that fits the same cutout, but is about 3 inches deeper than the one I have (plenty of room for it), that not only has electronic ignition, but also has a 120v electric heating element for use with shore power or generator. That I want.
As for the generator, this is an extremely sexy setup:
A 1000w Yamaha Inverter gen with a propane conversion. They do other sizes too if you needed a bigger gen or want electric start. U.S. Carb's setup doesn't void the warranty and you can still run it on gasoline if you need to:
http://www.yamaha-propane-natural-gas-generators.com/
Propane is awesome for generators, because it doesn't gum up the carb if it's left sitting for a while (gasoline starts going bad very quickly) and doesn't have the issue that diesel gens sometimes have of carbon buildup if they are run for extended periods at less than 50% load.
And good luck finding ANY generator quieter, lighter and more fuel efficient than a Yamaha inverter gen. All you need is a quick-connect hose to your camper's propane system and you're good to go.
As for the fridge...meh. I'm not really a fan of ammonia absorption fridges for mobile use. I think a good efficient DC fridge is far superior. But my camper does have a Norcold 323 3-way fridge and it works so I haven't bothered to replace it. It has no electronic control board to fail, but also has no thermostat. The temp is controlled by the pilot light. Pilot light on high, and the fridge is colder, pilot on low, and the fridge isn't as cold.
I generally run it on low pilot, since it tends to freeze things if I run it on high. On low, using nothing but the fridge and cooking 3 squares a day, 5 gallons of propane lasts about 5-6 weeks. On high, fridge and stove will use up 5 gallons in about 3 weeks.
My truck has a horizontal tank permanently mounted under the floor next to the frame. If I had my druthers, I'd have a pair of standard 5g vertical tanks and an RV auto-switchover regulator in a compartment. Then I could just take out whichever tank was empty and have it filled...or trade it in, but trade-in is a horrible deal. 30 bucks for 5g of propane! I can get 5g at my local propane yard for 11 bucks.
Unfortunately, with a van there is no place for a propane compartment, so I'm stuck with what I've got. I am on the lookout for a larger 11g tank though. It'll fit and last twice as long between fill-ups (or the same amount of time if I use a small propane heater).
Okay, you lose the heat exchange between engine and camper. Yea well...every rig is a set of compromises.
The only other issue, is engine pre-heat. Glue one of these to the oil pan and run it either from the aux battery (they make them in AC or DC) or the generator:
http://www.padheaters.com/description.html
Problem solved. And very little complexity.
While you're at it, get one for the engine battery as well. It's only 60 watts:
http://www.padheaters.com/battery_heater.html
And don't forget a heated fuel filter.
After the regulator it's low pressure, and anyone with a propane system should be doing a full leak test as part of annual inspection anyway. In my Class B camper van, all the propane lines are copper with flare fittings, except for one rubber flex line from the regulator to the copper. That line is under the truck and tucked up nicely. First thing I did was replace that line with a new one, replace the old regulator with a new two-stage, apply a wrench to all the copper flare fittings to check for tightness and then pressurize the system and spray soapy water on every connection to check for leaks (the truck was sitting for 15 years when I bought it, so I was very concerned about leaks). No leaks.
Nor will there BE any leaks, if the lines are properly strapped down and secured. Copper lines don't just magically erode a hole and start leaking at low pressure. Nor do flare fittings loosen up if they are properly supported. The only real worry is that one rubber flex line, which is new and more or less protected. Still, I do keep an eye on it.
Cooking with gas is definitely better, except for condensation. So get a hood over the stove that vents to the outside.
Standard RV furnaces are horrible for dry camping - they eat propane and battery power like candy. But a catalytic heater (preferably vented if condensation is an issue - and it WILL be an issue when it's cold out) doesn't use any power and is much more efficient on propane. My truck has a 12k btu Suburban heater, and A) it's way too much heat for a van, and B) I never use it anyway because it's such a pig. I'm probably going to replace it with either a 3k btu vented cat heater, or more likely a Propex, which is very popular with the Westy crowd:
http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=4349
One of the dealers here on ExPo is a Propex dealer. Unfortunately, I can't remember offhand which dealer it is.
Heating water with propane is quick and reasonably efficient. My truck has a Suburban 3 gallon water heater with a pilot light - and every time I forget to turn off the pilot before I drive, it blows out (not a leak issue - it's got a thermocouple just like any gas water heater). I definitely want to replace it with one that has electronic ignition so I can just flip a switch inside to fire it up instead of having to light the pilot every time I need hot water.
As a bonus, Suburban makes a 6 gallon unit that fits the same cutout, but is about 3 inches deeper than the one I have (plenty of room for it), that not only has electronic ignition, but also has a 120v electric heating element for use with shore power or generator. That I want.
As for the generator, this is an extremely sexy setup:
A 1000w Yamaha Inverter gen with a propane conversion. They do other sizes too if you needed a bigger gen or want electric start. U.S. Carb's setup doesn't void the warranty and you can still run it on gasoline if you need to:
http://www.yamaha-propane-natural-gas-generators.com/
Propane is awesome for generators, because it doesn't gum up the carb if it's left sitting for a while (gasoline starts going bad very quickly) and doesn't have the issue that diesel gens sometimes have of carbon buildup if they are run for extended periods at less than 50% load.
And good luck finding ANY generator quieter, lighter and more fuel efficient than a Yamaha inverter gen. All you need is a quick-connect hose to your camper's propane system and you're good to go.
As for the fridge...meh. I'm not really a fan of ammonia absorption fridges for mobile use. I think a good efficient DC fridge is far superior. But my camper does have a Norcold 323 3-way fridge and it works so I haven't bothered to replace it. It has no electronic control board to fail, but also has no thermostat. The temp is controlled by the pilot light. Pilot light on high, and the fridge is colder, pilot on low, and the fridge isn't as cold.
I generally run it on low pilot, since it tends to freeze things if I run it on high. On low, using nothing but the fridge and cooking 3 squares a day, 5 gallons of propane lasts about 5-6 weeks. On high, fridge and stove will use up 5 gallons in about 3 weeks.
My truck has a horizontal tank permanently mounted under the floor next to the frame. If I had my druthers, I'd have a pair of standard 5g vertical tanks and an RV auto-switchover regulator in a compartment. Then I could just take out whichever tank was empty and have it filled...or trade it in, but trade-in is a horrible deal. 30 bucks for 5g of propane! I can get 5g at my local propane yard for 11 bucks.
Unfortunately, with a van there is no place for a propane compartment, so I'm stuck with what I've got. I am on the lookout for a larger 11g tank though. It'll fit and last twice as long between fill-ups (or the same amount of time if I use a small propane heater).
Okay, you lose the heat exchange between engine and camper. Yea well...every rig is a set of compromises.
The only other issue, is engine pre-heat. Glue one of these to the oil pan and run it either from the aux battery (they make them in AC or DC) or the generator:
http://www.padheaters.com/description.html
Problem solved. And very little complexity.
While you're at it, get one for the engine battery as well. It's only 60 watts:
http://www.padheaters.com/battery_heater.html
And don't forget a heated fuel filter.
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