REFILLING 1LB PROPANE TANKS

[dilleyo]

I was looking at Cabelas the other day and they have a fitting for a 20lb tank to fill the 1lb tanks. I was just wondering if anybody out there uses this. I was thinking it would be nice, but was also wondering how safe they are. Thanks in advance

[Ryan_V]

I think you may have stirred up a hornets nest. this has been discussed and you will get some pretty strong feelings on it. I personally have one of those adapters and do use it. I'll admit, in my old age, I'm getting more cautious, but used to fill several of these every winter. they don't get as full as if you buy them at the store, but you spend a fraction for lp. the adapter paid for itself for me in a month or 2 of ice fishing. I've filled hundreds of them with no problems whatsoever....that said, safety being a concern, there is a danger. I also didn't refill the small ones more than 10-15 times each before discarding them, there is a seal in the tank that will go bad.

good luck with your decision. if you're careful and do it by the instructions, you shouldn't have a problem and the adapter will save you on tons of those little tanks, which frees up money for.................................

[dilleyo]

I wasn't trying to stir up anything, but I was just trying to think about trying to save a buck or two and wondering if anybody else had any experience with them. Thanks for the response and I think I might get one just based on the reduction of waste as I burn through about 20-25 of the 1lb tanks per year.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I fill them and the previous poster was spot on. There may be a hornets nest a brewing.

Yes, be careful on how many times you fill the smaller vessels. The seals will eventually go bad. Also, putting the smaller empty vessels in the freezer overnight will speed up the filling process.

For me, the adaptor paid for itself in less than a month.

As with everything, be careful. Good luck.

[Weed Shark]

I was just thinking, I use to swear the green tanks would leak more after use than, for instance, the brown ones. But I haven't really noticed that lately so much. Maybe they improved their valves.

[Sonicrunch]

I am a re-filler also.

I buy 6 or 8 tanks in fall, reuse and refill thru the winter, and throw 'em away in the spring.

You will get your best fill if the big tank is warm, and the little tank is cold.

I don't mind buying the little tanks new though. They last a good long while in a little buddy heater.

[mhjohns]

I don't think this topic will open a can of worms I think it just comes down to common sense.

When you fill up your 20 lb talk you take it to the filling station and LP is transfered from a large tank to a small tank. During this process it's pumped. What is used to do this, an adapter that connects the tanks.

When you fill your 1 lb tank off of a 20 lb tank its the same process. The difference is there is no pump so the tank will never get as full as it did at the factory unless you have a way of opening the relief valve on the top side of your 1 lb cylinder.

As far as the seals go eventually they will wear out in your 1 lb cylinder just like any other cylinder. Someone that doens't know what they are doing though is more likely to take out the valve on the 20 lb cylinder by over tightening it.

There are 2 very important things that you do need to be taken into consideration.

1. It is not illegal to refill a 1 lb tank, however it is to transport it and this is marked on the bottles.

2. The LP that is originally put in the 1 lb tank is different then what you put in your 20 lb. The 1 lb tanks are filtered to a higher degree. This is why to connect your 20 lb tank to a Mr. Heater you need a filter. Most applications of 1 lb cylinders are on small sensitive pieces of equipment like lanters or heaters. These can wear out sooner or be damaged by the bulk unfiltered LP. Applications like small cook stoves have large passages and not at risk.

Propane by itself is not dangers. Expose the propane to an **** that has a way of igniting it and then there is a issue.

[Jeremy airjer W]

If you where supposed to refill them than the tank would say refillable and there wouldn't be a fine for transportation!

An empty 20 lb tank has the explosive potential of 1 stick of dynamite. Although for the most part the use and transportation of propane is relatively safe but accidents do accur.

A few winters ago I was able to witness first hand my neighbors garage explode. A leaky 20lb'er and a garage door opener apparently don't mix.

The above examples are given to show even the tanks we don't think twice about refilling/transporting/using have there issues!

Propane changes from a liquid to a gas at around -40F. I couldn't tell you how many times I have had frost byte on my fingers from filling refillable tanks.

My last point is propane expands from a liquid to gas at a rate of 270 to 1. Which means if a full 1 pounder leaks the volume of vapor is equivalent to 270 one pounders. Thats a lot of gas in the garage if one should happen to leak!

[mhjohns]

The garage incident is probably a good example of why tanks are marked not to store indoors and the 1 lb tanks are marked not to store in living areas.

Do you know how much pressure is actually in say a 20 lb tank? I've seen people that have metal caps they screw on the valve in place of the rubber cab as extra protection in case of a leaking valve. Just curious what kind of pressures your looking at.

Thanks

[hanson]

This is another clear example of folks picking and choosing the laws they wish to follow.

Day in and day out on these forums, you read about people who are mad at those who break the law. Whether its gross overlimits, "targeting" fish out of season, wanton waste, fishing to close to my ice shack, 4 wheeling on management land. Shoot... the list goes on and on and on.

More enforcement! Not enough COs! Throw the book at them! Publish the serious game violations list!

And then we sit here discussing and giving step by step directions on how to do something that is extemely dangerous, not to mention illegal when you put one of these little tanks in your car or truck to go to the lake fishing.

All for what? To save a couple bucks per tank. I know it adds up but when you consider the consequences, is this really the right thing to save a few bucks on???????

[fishermann222]

Hanson I agree with you, but I am going to ask one question of you as well. When driving, do you drive over the speed limit even a few miles an hour to get there just a tad faster? That is also a law that was meant to be followed.

Again hanson I am not picking on you, just wanted to post something for people to think about. I know when I lived in Minnesota I almost always followed the speed limit exactly, and boy oh boy, were people mad at me everyday for driving to slow.

[Surface Tension]

Transporting refilled 1 lbers is illegal.

Refilling in itself is dangerous when not done properly.

Some of the hazards are, overfilling and leaking seals.

If you've overfilled that tank chances are its going to start leaking at some point in time. If thats in the truck of your car it'll be a ticking time bomb.

Another scenario is having the pressure relief valve go off either by being overfilled or just being old while hooked to a heater in your shack. You'll be in a flaming inferno. Yes it happens.

So we've taken the stance here as not to promote refilling 1 lb tanks.

This sort of leads into other do it yourself stuff. I'll refer to reloading ammunition. This isn't something you just decide you'll do one day. Much reading and learning is involved before getting started. Same is true for refilling 1 lb tanks.

[mojocatt]

I'm a little surprised they can even sell the refill adapters legally.

I can't give any real reason, but I don't trust them. I'd rather spend my money on a LP hose for the Buddy Heater and just hook to the 20 pounder that was professionally filled.

[mhjohns]

I completely agree with you. I use the 1 lb cylinders for my lantern and for my Mr. Heater when it's not possible to use my 20 lb with hose and filter. The cost of filling a 20 lb cylinder has went up a lot in my area in the past year. The cost of the 1 lb cylinders has stayed the same and are really quite reasonalbe when on sale. I wouldn't want to ruin my lantern elements or my Mr. Buddy by using the unfiltered LP from a refilled 1 lb cylinder.

[Bob/Mn]

Quote:

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I was looking at Cabelas the other day and they have a fitting for a 20lb tank to fill the 1lb tanks. I was just wondering if anybody out there uses this. I was thinking it would be nice, but was also wondering how safe they are. Thanks in advance

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I don't promote filling 1 lb tanks as it can be dangerous.

If you decide to do so here are a couple of things that may be helpful.

Weigh each empty tank and make sure you do not over fill the tank. Fill only to 1 lb.or less.

After filling check for lesks by filling the necks with WD40 or LPS 1. and check for bubbles. Remove the liquid before using.

Do your filling and storage in a safe place.

[McGurk]

**Rant On**

Convenience has never been, and will never be, cheap. What bothers me about it is the fact that there are easily hundreds of thousands of these little green bottles filling up landfills due to the fact that one is not supposed to refill them. Whereas the 11/20/40/100 lb tanks are being refilled over and over and over again, to a point of being better than recycling, IMHO.

As far as the legality of doing it and buying the adapter, I'd compare it more to pot. One cannot buy pot legally (please don't quote exceptions here), but you can get almost any type of paraphenalia associated with it legally, as long as it is not used for smoking pot. One can legally fire, reload casings, and refire ammo (today, anyway). LP is legal, the adapter is legal, refilling them is legal, using a refilled tank is legal, transporting them is not. Sounds like a LP loophole to me.

As far as refilling these goes; don't do it, or do it right and don't load them up in your truck, exposing others to the potential of it leaking on public roads. If there is a question of it leaking, you could always just screw it into whatever you are using it in immediately. One on a lantern, and 2 in the Big Buddy; should last you most of a day, anyway. Or find a metal cap or something with an additional valve that you control the opening and closing, and screw that on immediately, too.

**Rant off**

Also, I was under the impression that the grade of LP fuel is not what gunked up the heaters and lanterns, but the high pressure gas forcing a residue out of the rubber fuel lines, then clogging stuff up. But I have been wrong before, and I'll be wrong again.

[Shack]

McGurk brings pot into this .

I have had tires blow in my face a couple of times now, I am skittish when filling things up with out a stopper valve to stop inward pressure at a certain point.

I guess having one blow up on you or blow up your garage throws any saving down the tubes.

Funny how these things get into a hot topic on FM.

[hanson]

Quote:

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Funny how these things get into a hot topic on FM.

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Here's why I think it is a hot topic.

There are pretty much 3 groups of people reading this:

1- Those that have refilled these tanks for years, successfully, without incident. They are careful and take the necessary precautions to minimize accidents.

2- Those from the previous group that have had something go wrong. Leaking flammable gas is nothing to fool around with. If you have read the forums over the years, there are some folks here who have shared their horror stories.

3- Those who have never done this before and are looking for advice and feedback on these 1 lb refill adaptors.

My choice is still to point out alternatives such as small 5 or 10lb tanks with accessory hoses to supply gas to lanterns, heater/cookers, buddy heaters, etc.

Lets face it, a Buddy Heater or a heater/cooker does not work very well on these 1 lb tanks anyway. You'll get a couple hours of good burn and then the tank starts to lose pressure and you lose heat.

LED lighting is also a superior, and easier to use, alternative to running a Coleman lantern on a 1 lb tank.

If you don't like throwing 1 pounders away, don't buy them. There are alternatives like I previously mentioned.

My goal is to help Group #3 not become a part of Group #2.

[McGurk]

All very good points, Hanson, and I am on the tank and hose bandwagon myself. Now, to get these metro gas stations to give a guy a price break on filling a "non-standard" tank, and not look at you like you are nuts!!!

[polarsusd81]

Quote:

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All very good points, Hanson, and I am on the tank and hose bandwagon myself. Now, to get these metro gas stations to give a guy a price break on filling a "non-standard" tank, and not look at you like you are nuts!!!

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That's what I am thinking right there. I used to have a little 5 lb tank that I loved to have with me cause it was small enough to fit just about anywhere and I could take it out on early ice and not worry much about the extra weight. Now though, they charge you the same price to fill the 5 lb'er as they do the 20 lb tanks. Same goes for the pancake 11 lb'ers. I typically use the one pounders for heat on early ice and bring the 20 out when I either feel like pulling it in the sled and I have a buddy along, or when we can drive out. I don't like filling up the garbage heaps with the little green 1 lb'ers, but would rather be safe than sorry.

Oh and for lights, do like hanson suggested and get yourself a couple led strands. You will be surprised at the amount of light they put out. I have one led rope light and it is plenty to tie up and rebait, and I have a led headlamp for when I need to pack up. I have had the headlamp for 3 years now and with the three triple a batteries, I have not once had to replace them.

[Augusta]

Do I hear buzzing......

[MOBY RICHARD*]

Anyone know if there are adapters that would allow filling the 5 or 10 pounders from a 20 pounder???

[Ryan_V]

Hanson and others talk over and over and over about the legality. does anyone have a statute number to refer to?? I just want to see where it is and how it is worded, I haven't been able to find it. Thanks

[Pleasant]

Okay I was going to stay out of this one, but oh well.

(Contact Us Please) 39 cylinders are not intended to be refilled because they are not made out of heat treated steel.

Yes, a person can refill them

Yes, you can buy and sell adapters to refill them.

It is not legal to sell or transport refilled (Contact Us Please) 39 Cylinders on any federally funded road (which is all of them) (49 U.S.C. 5124)

Personally I would never refill one, why? they are not made for it.

[dilleyo]

Thanks all for the useful info that has been said. I think I am going to shy away from this purchase and stick with buying brand new 1lb tanks. My intent wasn't to make anybody angry, I was just wondering about the adapter and I've gotten pretty much all the info I will need. Thanks again.