Clogged propane regulator and possible solution?

I started to get some 'No ignition' errors on my Independence, which indicates that no temperature rise was detected upon ignitor and gas being turned on. I could hear the ignitor clicking away as well as the gas solenoid clicking on, so that left the propane path. Upon investigation, I found some residue on the inlet port of the regulator (see yellow circle below):



I don't have a picture of the actual regulator and residue, this is just a picture to show where it was. I cleaned the residue out with a toothpick but it would still occasionally have an error. Then this morning, I found it with the error again, and no amount of retries would get it to ignite. Upon googling how to clean gas regulators, apparently you just dunk the whole thing in a detergent solution. So, with nothing to loose, that's what I did. Basically soaked the whole regulator in a detergent solution for a bit, with lots of agitation, and then rinsed it out with clean water, several times.

I then connected it back up to the tank and tried it out again. It still failed to ignite for the first few times, but after that, it started to work again, and I've tried it now periodically over a period of 6 hours now and it has continued to work correctly.

Time will tell if this is the actual problem and solution. It COULD still be an internal issue with the solenoid mechanism, but I was too lazy to disassemble the unit at this time, so I'm hoping this is the problem. I also found this replacement regulator that should screw into the existing fittings, but at about $50, I will have to eliminate the solenoid before resorting to buying a replacement regulator.

This replacement looks pretty expensive for what it seems to be. I ended up with the same inexpensive IGT regulator used on the Patriot, which has worked well so far. I believe it needed an adapter to attach to the original hose. The $50 replacement might seems to come with the right length hose and fitting. I was having mysterious problems, and I didn't trust my original regulators because of suspected contamination via the air vent hole and mechanical wear after many years of service uncovered, so a replacement was indicated. See the blog entry regarding regulator comparisons, plus and earlier and later entries for the full story.

After looking at that $50 regulator as well as my own Independence, it appears that the fitting that screws into the solenoid valve assembly is a 1/8" NPT M fitting, and there are numerous 'Weber' regulators on Amazon that have that 1/8" NPT M fitting. They also appear to be at 11" WC pressure, so it appears that any of those regulators should work for the Independence and Patriots. The older Liberty has an crimped fitting, so those won't work on it.

My 'washed out' regulator is still working ok for now, but if it starts to act up again, I will probably try one of those Weber regulators, which go for about $15-$20. At that price, I may see the same variations between regulator brands as you did, so maybe that $50 regulator is worth it to get a more consistent performance....