Crisis -LPG overfill in VW Westfalia?

tuppence

Hi all,
Last week we bought a 1990 reg VW Westfalia California and are delighted that we did but today we had a real scare. Had just put the baby into her car seat ready to head out on our first overnight stay in the van and were really looking forward to it. However i got a distinct smell of gas which was really unnerving. We immediately opened the plastic cover on the lpg system underneath the van and could smell and hear the gas coming from the safety release valve. The red plastic cap had blown off it. Naturally we panicked as we are new to campers and how they work.
When we bought the van initially we were told that the LPG tank was actually empty. Therefore we went to the local supplier to put some in and almost immediately the gas pump clicked and the van wouldnt take any more. The attendant said the van was either full or there was some other problem. The gauge was reading as empty so we assumed there was another problem.
Anyway after the pressure valve blew today we rang a gas plumber who advised us to leave the safety valve uncovered, let the gas run out of it, throw water on the tank, and then run the heat in the van to run the gas down even more. He reckoned because it was a relatively sunny day here and that the van must be so overfilled that the safety valve blew.
Anyway we are extremely apprehensive about what to do now as we are new to campers and have 2 young kids.
If the tank is so full that a mildly hot day in Leitrim caused the safety valve to pop should we and is it possible to have an engineer manually release some of the LPG. Or should we just let the heat run another while. Should we risk starting the van to move it from the front of the house in case it ignites something.
Secondly we were informed that as the safety valve was used that this may need to be replaced/reset but the person was fairly sure this only applied to older Westies and not our 1990 one. Any ideas on this?
Sorry if some of these questions sound naive but we are new to the scene and would love some advice from more experienced campers. Right now we have the van outside with the heat running.
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice
Tuppence (worried)

demoreino

hi tuppence,
we have the lpg gaslow system in our motorhomes.when we connect to the filling pumps to refill, the pump automatically stops when the cylinder is full.
i would have thought it impossible to overfill a cylinder (when its full,its full)
regardless of the age of the van.

kev. www.iwmotorhomes.ie

tuppence

Hi demoreino,

As far as im aware the VW Westies have a mechanism that only allows you to fill to 80% of the tanks capacity which allows 20% for the expansion that comes with LPG. From what i can see is our van doesnt have that and allowed us to fill it to a higher level which then caused the pressure valve to pop. Ive been told that this can be a regular occurrance in countries with a much hotter temperatures that causes gas to expand but should not happen here unless the tank was full to the brim and thats the concern. The gauge isnt working so we didnt know its level at the beginning and still dont.

Does anyone know any mechanics in Ireland/ North Ireland that provide services to for the VW Westie and are familiar with the gas system and give it a thorough check over?.

spaceHopper

It might be a VW thing and if you ask on type 2 ireland you might get somebody who has the same system and can tell you.

http://www.type2ireland.org/forum/index.php

tuppence

Thanks a million Spacehopper for that link. Will try it.
The good news is we are still around today to tell the tale anyway. Not front page in the Leitrim Observer..... yet. :eek::p

Laducar

There's a mechanic in Westport who specializes in vw's. I have his number in my bus so will pm u it later. He may be able to help or put u in the right direction. Also do try type2ireland . Alot of very knowledgable vw people on it

tuppence

Thanks a million Laducar.