Propane tank blues... and fire balls!

[Gus]

Last month during our bitter cold spell I had my 11 lb pancake tank filled. Immediately on the way home I started to smell gas. The tank continued to weep liquid propane for hours. I'm pretty sure that something went wrong while filling and it was overfilled. It does have the new style valve on it so I thought that should be impossible? Anyway, normally after a fill I can still slosh the tank just a bit, well after this fill I could not slosh anything. I think it was 100% full of liquid propane. The tank was weeping from the valve stem that you screw in and out. I let it bleed for a weekend and then tried to hook up my mr heater. FIRE BALLS! Woah! bad idea! I had liquid propane spitting out I'm pretty sure which equated to some nearly soilded drawers! So I let the tank sit outside for the last few weeks and yesterday I decided to try and bleed off some of the propane and see if the tank was still ok. I hooked up an old MR heater hose and cut the end off hoping it could just crack the tank valve and expunge some propane. (Don't worry I don't smoke!) Well when I opened the tank all I got was a very slight hiss and then some very small drips of liquid propane. I would have expected more of a rush of propane? Anyone familiar with what should have happened? There was no regulator on this line. I'm thinking this tank is shot? Please, let me know what you guys think. I really like this tank size... hate fork out 50 bucks for a new one if I don't have to. Not interested in becoming a fire ball on ice either...

[boatfixer]

This is proof why tanks need to still be filled by weight. YOU ARE NEVER TO FILL RELYING ON THE OPD!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, that is the way some places do it and it is not right. It should always be filled at a facility you know has competant and trained employees.

Now, if it were my tank, I would have it looked at by someone at a propane plant. How you get it there is up to you. BUT DO NOT TRANSPORT THIS THING IN A CONFINED SPACE!!!! I would also be making some dicordant phone calls to the place that filled it suggesting they come to your house and transport a dangerous tank for you. How you handle that part is up to you but I'd be less than genial.

[Sandmannd]

Wow, that doesn't sound good. Did you ever take it back to the folks that filled it for you and have them look it over?

[Ice Chicken]

There is a check built into the valve that will kick in if a line breaks shutting off the flow of gas. To reset valve turn tank off for a few seconds and open it slowly. You will have to figure how much to open valve and let some gas out without the valve checking again.If it does start over. The valve is replaceable but the tank has to be empty.Sometimes if you open the valve all the way it will stop leaking from around the valve stem.

[Gus]

I never did take the tank back to the gas station that filled it. I figured it would be a waste of my time and I'd just end up in a he said she said arguement.

Unfortunatley I had to sell my pickup and get a minivan not too long ago so transporting this thing is going to be a challange.

I think I'll just try to bleed out all the gas and take it to a propane shop. Last propane shop I went to was in Coon Rapids, which is a bit far from me now. Anyone know a competent place near Wyoming, Forest lake?

[Sandmannd]

Maybe Frankies can help you out. Not sure if they work on tanks but sell propane. They might know who to go to if they can't help. Give them a call.

[Black_Bay]

Try the Lakes Gas in North Branch or Federated Coop in Scandia.

[river runt]

Ice chicken is right abought the safty shut off valve. I think theres a bleed off screew on the valve some where I did it once for a over fill but dont recall the details.

[john.wells]

By all means, let the people who filled the tank know that you have an issue!!!! Don't be afraid of hurting anyones feelings, or feel that nothing will be done. The only way they will know they are not doing the right job is if someone tells them they have an issue. When it comes to something like propane, you can't be too careful.

[leech~~]

It seems like every time I go to get mine filled the "KID"is scratching his head, looking all over the tank for the weight number, adjusting the weights on the scale back and forth!! I never know if it's filled right or not. It never seems to feel the same when lifted each fill! I had one kid fill it until the bleeder kicked in and liq, shot out. He said oh that's the way we do it now, but he was the only one to do it that way!!

[boatfixer]

That bleeder is a fixed 80% liquid level guage and is absolutely fine for filling.

[Jeremy airjer W]

That bleeder is a fixed 80% liquid level guage and is absolutely fine for filling.

Not necessarily, our propane supplier had told us that there is a straw on the other end of that outlet inside the tank. It is possible for the straw to become dislodged or fall off.

[bbqhead]

You are exacly right Airjer! The straw or dip tube can

break off from the sloshing around of the propane. The only

right way to fill a tank is to weigh it.

randy

[Ice Chicken]

Cylinders should be filled with a combination of weight ,80% bleeder and opd on tank. Stop filling when scale zeros out, liquid shoots out of 80% bleeder or when valve automatically shuts off.(whichever occurs first) By using all three a tank should never be overfilled.

[boatfixer]

I guess the word "absolutely" was a bit extreme. I'll go back to my original statement that they should be filled by weight. Sorry

[opsirc]

it should not be that hard for some one to fill a tank by weight. But some of the people filling them should not be doing so! U-Haul here in Duluth, how does it by gallons, not sure if that is a good idea or not. you save because you only pay for the gas put in.

[leech~~]

Gal? Huum? Never heard anyone doing that. I thought it had to do with a combo of tank weight, and Liq, put in? But that does sound good that you just pay what they put in. I have had a few guys tell me when I just wanted to top it off to make sure I didn't run out on the lake. That a fill price is a fill price, if I have to come out here to hook it up it's a full fill price!!

[bbqhead]

What get me is, they will let anyone fill these tanks..

i would think they should have to be certified. These

tanks are dangerous if nor filled properly.. I got certified

by a national propane something or another and not a federal

or state thing. Ant thoughts on this?

randy

[opsirc]

most of the places here in Duluth, do just that, they give the employees very little training and send them out to fill tanks.

[Hemlock]

I'm a gas station owner and a propane authorized dealer. I would absolutely want to know if my "kids" were not filling LP tanks properly.

Call the station and let them know. If it were me, I'd personally go out to the propane and make sure it's right.

I would also weigh it. Grab your bathroom scale or whatever scale and see how much it weighs. You should see a stamp on your tank that reads "TW" which is Tare Weight. That is what your tank weighs empty. If it weighs more than 10 or 11 pounds more than the TW weight, then you are still overfilled. If it weighs right around the TW then you are about empty. Just so you know what's in the tank. Every tank that comes in here we weigh it first, then set the scale to Tare plus whatever.

I wish it were simpler for some of my staff, but it's still better to go by weight (as mentioned before) than to turn it off when a valve kicks in/out.

Note: Our attendants all take an 8 hour course, and then I go over with each of them until everyone is comfortable. Also, we only charge for what we put in. If 20 lb tank is half full, then you only pay for 10 pounds.