Camco 59323 Two-Stage RV Propane Regulator | 160k BTU

Every propane appliance in your RV depends on one small part doing its job quietly in the background. The Camco 59323 is that part. It's a two-stage LP regulator built to take the high, variable pressure coming off your tank and step it down to the steady 11 inches of water column that your furnace, stove, water heater, and fridge actually want to see. Get this piece right and the rest of your propane system just works.

So why two stages? A single-stage regulator drops tank pressure to appliance pressure in one big step, which sounds simpler but leaves you fighting pressure swings as the tank empties and as the weather turns cold. The 59323 splits that job in half. The first stage knocks the high tank pressure down to an intermediate level. The second stage fine-tunes it to a stable 11 inch WC output. The payoff is fewer pressure drops on cold mornings, less regulator freeze-up, and appliances that light and hold their flame the way they should. It's the setup most RV builders spec from the factory for exactly that reason.

Capacity here is 160,000 BTU per hour, which is plenty of headroom for a typical RV load running a furnace, a range, a water heater, and an absorption fridge all at once. The inlet is 1/4 inch NPT and the outlet is 3/8 inch NPT, so it drops into standard RV propane plumbing without adapters on most rigs. That 3/8 inch outlet matches the copper tubing runs that carry gas back to the galley and furnace. Nothing exotic here, just the connections RV propane systems have used for decades.

This is the horizontal-mount version, and that matters more than it sounds. A propane regulator has a vent that needs to point down so water and debris can't collect on the diaphragm. Mount it in the orientation it was built for and that vent sits correctly. Mount it sideways or upside down and you're asking for trouble down the road. If your existing regulator sits horizontally on the A-frame or inside the propane compartment, this is the one that replaces it cleanly.

A couple of things to know before you order. This regulator ships without a hose and without a built-in shutoff valve. That's normal for a replacement two-stage regulator. Your pigtails or supply hose from the tank connect to the 1/4 inch inlet, and if you want a dedicated shutoff for leak testing you'll add one downstream. Most RVs already have the tank valves and pigtails in place, so a straight regulator swap is usually all you need.

Installation is straightforward for anyone comfortable working on propane, but do it right. Shut off the tanks first. Use a propane-rated thread sealant on the NPT fittings, never plumber's tape alone on the gas side. And once it's buttoned up, leak-check every joint with soapy water before you light anything. If propane work makes you nervous, have a tech handle it. It's a fifteen-minute job for someone who does it often.

Regulators don't last forever. The rubber diaphragm inside ages, and after enough seasons of heat, cold, and humidity it stops holding pressure as precisely as it used to. A ten-year-old regulator is living on borrowed time. Swapping it before it fails beats getting stranded with no heat on a cold night. Propane is one system where a small, cheap part quietly protects everything downstream, so it's worth staying ahead of.

Bottom line, the Camco 59323 is a solid factory-grade replacement for a tired or failed two-stage regulator on almost any travel trailer, fifth wheel, or motorhome. If your appliances have started running weak, your furnace short-cycles on cold nights, or you're just doing preventive maintenance on an older rig, a fresh two-stage regulator is one of the cheapest ways to make the whole propane system behave again.