what to do with old 1lb propane containers?

[bigminnow]

Cleaning the Garage this weekend, I tosses out 8 recenlty empties coleman propane tanks. Is there anywhere that takes them as an alternative to tossing them in the garbage? I know a number of you guys talk about refilling them.

bigminnow

[Lynno62]

My supervisor at work told me her husband bought a attchement to hook up to a 20#tank to refill the 1# tanks i will ask her were they got it at. She said it works really well.

[brian6715]

Before refilling them, make sure you do a little research and know what you are doing. I have heard of a few bad stories of it not working out to well and that it can be very dangerous if you do it wrong. Thats just my 2 cents, brian-

[bigminnow]

Brian I don't want to refill them, for two bucks a pop I'll just pick up a case at Fleet and farm a couple of times a year. I would hate to have a valve fail.

bigminnow

[computerboy]

It looks like you can bring them to the recycling center in Bloomington MN for no charge. I found this on the Hennepin County recycling information site:

Butane and propane non-refillable, small one pound cylinders (look for DOT-39 on the label) are accepted at the Bloomington facility only for no fee.

I'm sure most everyone knows this already, but refilling 1lb tanks is both dangerous and illegal. Those little DOT39 tanks are not heat treated so they aren't nearly as durable as refillable tanks. Most people I have heard from that actually refill these tanks 'only have problem with leakage'. That's a problem I would rather not have.

Recycle those bad boys...better safe than sorry.

[dsludge]

Save at least one to throw at irresponsible, inattentive pet owners. LOL

[Jeremy airjer W]

just contact the county hazardous waste. They will give you all the info you need to properly dispose of them.

[computerboy]

You just HAD to go there, didn't you dsludge?

Don't let dsludge get the best of you...after all, his neighbor has him convinced that a 25-cent compass is just as good as a GPS.

[dsludge]

I bring my recyclables to the recycling center just off highway 169.

It is true that I am convinced that a compass is a reliable device to find pre-determined locations, not to mention that batteries are not required.

I am also convinced that a carefully placed projectile will gain attention better than skillfully projected expletives.

Go Fish,

dsludge

[Jim Bob]

I have a nephew and his dad that just spent 3 days in the Hospital because they were using one of these so called adapters! I got to see them 1st hand in the emergency room, 3rd degree burns on there hands and faces. They're real lucky they are still here. At 2 bucks a bottle thats cheap compared to the alternative. There is a reason they say "Do Not Refill"

[Gissert]

We refill, but only in elk camp where we have limited space for packing stuff in. Even then, we only fill them about half way.

For ice fishing, I always go with new pounders.

[The_Duckslayer]

OK... So, I just bought the refill adapter. Lets hear from some of you guys that have talked about refilling them in the past. Are there some tips you can pass along? Is one brand of canister better than another for refilling? 1 pound cans are over twice as much buying them as refilling them, I would sure like to go that route. Lets hear it guys... whats the scoop? Thanks and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[say_der]

How did the empties get back to your garage? I thought we were supposed to leave them on the ice.

Kidding of course. We picked up over 15 of them in the past month - all empty & left on the ice. Our county recycling center takes them.

I store them up & bring them in when I bring in my used oil for recycling.

3 years ago with all the ones we picked up on the ice from the inconsiderate individuals that left them we had over 100.

Haven't found as many as years past, which is good. I've been out more this year too so maybe people are realizing they are easy to recycle.

[ice_shack]

Quote:

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OK... So, I just bought the refill adapter. Lets hear from some of you guys that have talked about refilling them in the past. Are there some tips you can pass along? Is one brand of canister better than another for refilling? 1 pound cans are over twice as much buying them as refilling them, I would sure like to go that route. Lets hear it guys... whats the scoop? Thanks and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

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I don't any more but I used to fill them all the time and I'm still here. LUCKILY!!!

There were times I would open the back of my truck and thats all you could smell. Now imagine that with a cig in my mouth.

You can buy 1 lb refillable tanks (at least I think you still can). Got mine at a propane supply store. I think they go for about $15 so I guess that means you need to fill it 15 times for it to pay for itself. But if you are going to do it, do it OUTSIDE, not in the garage. After you get done filling them let them sit for about 15 min and then smell them. There will always be a little residual smell but you will be able to tell if its leaking. I used to keep a brand new one around to compare the weight.

[gman2002]

Quote:

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I have a nephew and his dad that just spent 3 days in the Hospital because they were using one of these so called adapters! I got to see them 1st hand in the emergency room, 3rd degree burns on there hands and faces. They're real lucky they are still here. At 2 bucks a bottle thats cheap compared to the alternative. There is a reason they say "Do Not Refill"

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duckslayer did u not jusr read this ?? my suggestion is to get rid of the adapter, period. is it really worth it when they are 2 bucks a bottle ?

[FZ]

I bought the adapter from Fleet Farm this year. I followed the instruction and did the leak test on each of refills. I refill each can once and thrown them away afterwards. So far so good (20+ refills). I only use refilled ones while fishing, and use a new one in the sleeper.

[Fishing-Around]

I guess I'm with GMAN on this one. I'm a manager for an equipment company and all I can say is LIABILITY, LIABILITY, LIABILITY!!!!!!!!!! If you loose a hand, fingers or worse your family or yourself has no recourse. For two bucks a can I'll let Coleman carry the liability on anything going wrong. It would be awfull tough to fish with out fingers!!!!!

[cwmn]

I use a 5 pound tank, fill for $2.50 to $5.00, I use a hose that fits where the diposables fit. This is cheaper then buying diposables and MUCH MUCH MUCH safer than re-filling. Saving a couple of bucks by re-filling isn't worth getting burned or worse.

[freighttrain50]

i refill and have had no problems, knock on wood. i follow the directions and have had no leakers so far. my girlfriends dad does it too. he has about 15 or so that he refills and doesn't seem to have a problem. my recommendation would be to follow the directions.

[Jarrod32]

If you're gonna refill propane containers, why the %#!! would you bother messing with one-pounders? Just go buy a five-pound tank (if not a 10 or 20)...make it worth your trouble to refill it.

[gman2002]

yea no kidding, i dont even wanna hear a 5 lb tank is a hassle. u must bring 2-3 1lb tanks with u anyway. just not worth it in my book

[Rip_Some_Lip]

Here is what I do. I buy a couple 1 lb containers as backup. I have a propane "tree" that hooks up to a 20 lb cylinder. I can hook my lantern to the top, a mini sunflower heater and my cooking stove when I cook. I wish I had a picture to show. Its really slick and saves money buying 1 lb cylinders. I only have used a couple of pounders all winter, and that has been for cooking stove. They cost about $30 and work great for portable or big house. Everyone that sees it says they have to get one.

Do a search on the coleman HSOforum for"propane distribution tree"

[abens1078]

You guys are taking another small chance by saving those canisters......there's a certan group that seems to think those are handy for carrying Anhydrous Amonia if I'm not mistaken.

I get rid of mine ASAP. I'm not interested in taking the chance of wrong place wrong time in rural areas.

I know it's a slim chance but I've heard of a few guys getting asked about it.

[bigminnow]

Thanks for the recycling location information. After a couple more ice outings I will drop what I have off at the recyling center off 169. I don't think refilling is a good idea. I have had a copuple of instances where when I take the canister off the mr heater/ cooker, the thing stills continues to leak, So I don't think I would too motivated to try to refill with some of the leaky valves I have had in the past.

Thanks again,

Bigminnow

[bobO]

why would you waste your time refilling little bottles. you have to change them all the time while your fishing and worry about bringing extras with you and they cost twice as much as getting a big tank filled up. The 1 lbers are a lot more work then a bigger tank and a lot more dangerous not to mention. So you buy them for 2 bucks put the tank on your heater in the cold when you get out fishing. if you leave them on you heater they leak out. You get it on your heater and 2-3 hours later you have to change it with another one. then you have to throw them in the bottom of your shack and then get rid of them at the recycle center when yoru done. or just have a 10 or 20 and get it filled once or twice a year. I did the 1 lbers for about the first two weeks I started ice fishing and it was terrible.