learnt something about propane refilling

[flying kurbmaster]

So I went to get my two 5lb tanks filled yesterday, threw them behind the seat and did a few errands, came back to the van to notice a strong propane smell, opened up all doors and checked tanks all seemed good. Drove a bit and heard a hissing sound coming from the tanks and the smell of propane returned, stopped checked tanks no apparent leak, got back in drivers seat then noticed propane leaknig from safety valve, I drove back to the propane man and asked what he thought he said it shouldn't do that which I sorta knew, he weighed it and realized that he had overfilled one of them. He removed the excess then told me he was glad I came back, told me if I had connected it to the stove, it would likely have frozen the regulator and the stove wouldn't have worked.  
So the moral of the story is that if you come back from filling your propane tank and all of sudden you appliance is no longer working this would be the first thing to check. I was considering getting a scale to weigh my tanks so I would know how much is left but this would be another reason to have one to check and make sure the fillers scale is right or did not stick as in this case. Thought I would share that it was news to me.

 

[rvpopeye]

Some of them don't weigh , just fill X.X Gals.....
A scale is a good idea.......

 

[eDJ_]

I had the 500 gallon beside my house filled back in July (summer fill up special) an came home only a month ago to the smell of Propane.   It was over 100 degrees F that day.   So I walked over to the tank to hear a faint hiss
from the safety valve.  

I'm sure glad that they put that   ethyl mercaptan   in Propane so you can smell it so easily.

 

[highdesertranger]

even a properly filled tank can release propane if it's heated enough. I am surprised kurb the place you had them refilled didn't say something about you transporting in the passenger compartment. where I get mine refilled if they see you take them out of the passenger compartment they will not refill them. highdesertranger

 

[rvpopeye]

Yeah HDR is right , that IS kind of a no no....

 

[travlinman and wife]

a guy I worked with put his in the trunk of his car and drove around for two days . lit a cigar and every  thing went boom and no more car and he was ok bunt went to hospital with burns

 

[Willy]

What's so nice about my steppie running on propane is that my 'house' system is plumbed into one of my 2 50 gal tanks and it's one of the new auto-stop kind. It's also dirt cheap to run my heater in the winter too, and having a gauge makes for no nasty surprises (like running out of propane in the middle of a cold winter night). ..Willy.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

not sure where I could put the tank, I was in my Dodge Caravan the whole thing is passenger compartment in a way, there is no trunk, I strapped them in behind the passenger seat to bring back to the Kurbmaster, I didn't get a refund as he charged me for 5lbs I think his scale just got stuck, the guy is real knowledgeable about propane that is all they do, is fill propane tanks and sell propane related stuff he was not that happy about his mistake, hell of a nice guy. I remember when I was watching him fill it I felt that he was going on for a long time and I remember instinctively stepping back a few steps. there definitely was enough propane in the parked vehicle to perhaps blow I was concerned enough not to turn the key, I opened all the doors and vented first.

 

[highdesertranger]

a 5 gallon/20 lb tank is not supposed to be filled with 5 gallons or 20 lbs. I forget at the moment how much they take when empty. the most they ever got into mine was 4.8 gallons. this leaves room for expansion. oh wait I see they only charged you for 5lbs. sorry I was thinking 5 gallons. highdesertranger

 

[ccbreder]

5 pounds is a very small tank. The 5 gallon size, the typical BBQ bottle, are designed to hold 20 pounds. That leaves them with the proper head space. The exchange places fill them less, usually about 17 pounds, for safety reasons as they are transported and all that stuff.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

if you are just cooking 5lb tanks can last several months. It takes up a lot less space. I have two so I never run out. I found it very hard to find the small pancake 5lbs tanks I had to get a couple of expired old ones and have them re-certified. I was thinking of getting a 20bl tank for my heater but the problem is finding a spot for it.
That is right most places don;t fill them right up. I think that is common practice. The problem with having 5lb tanks is that the attendants don't like them as they are different and seem to puzzle them.

 

[TrainChaser]

A couple of days ago, I was following a motor home on the freeway, and it had a propane tank mounted on the back (I'll call it the bumper). I've seen this many times before, and wondered what would happen if they were rear-ended hard. Would it explode, or would it just break and leak?

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

Why would a refill place not fill a tank that was in a passenger compartment. Every time I've filled my BBQ tank I take it in my hatchback and have no problems. I know that RV's have to have the tank on the side but otherwise whats the harm transporting the tank in a passenger compartment?

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

A couple of days ago, I was following a motor home on the freeway, and it had a propane tank mounted on the back (I'll call it the bumper).  I've seen this many times before, and wondered what would happen if they were rear-ended hard.  Would it explode, or would it just break and leak?

I'm considering a hitch cage for the back of the van to transport an LP tank, a Jerry can or two of gasoline and maybe a couple of water.  I was planning on a sign that reads "Tail gate at your own risk".  

I've also seen lp gas tanks attached at the top of back doors to get them away from likely rear end collisions.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

A couple of days ago, I was following a motor home on the freeway, and it had a propane tank mounted on the back (I'll call it the bumper).  I've seen this many times before, and wondered what would happen if they were rear-ended hard.  Would it explode, or would it just break and leak?

It's actually against the fire code:

"ANSI A119.2/NFPA 1192 STANDARD ON RECREATIONAL VEHICLES (1999 Edition)
2-2.3 Location of LP-Gas Containers. LP-Gas containers shall be in accordance with the following:
(a) LP-Gas containers shall not be installed nor shall provisions be made for installing or storing any LP-Gas containers, even temporarily, inside any recreational vehicle.  Containers shall not be mounted on the exterior of the rear wall or the rear bumper of the vehicle."

I don't know why so many people apparently get away with doing it.  Are the various Highway Patrols not authorized to enforce it? 

I have also seen at least one reference on the Internet (so take it with a grain of salt) to a family of five that was killed when somebody rear ended their motorhome and the tanks on their rear bumper exploded.

 

[vanman2300]

I use to fill propane tanks. 1) If they aren't using a scale don't even bother going there. There is no other way for them to know if they filled it up too far because they don't know what's left for gas in the tank before filling it. 2) The industry standard for how far to fill a tank is 80%. Propane has a really high expansion rate 11 to 1 if I still recall correctly. So when it changes temperature the gas expands and contracts quite a lot hence the need for a 20% buffer to be absolutely safe. 3) I'm not sure if an overfilled tank would freeze the regulator because propane will only freeze something if it releases rapidly so a frozen regulator would be the least of your concerns at that moment. It's like a CO2 cartridge that freezes as the pressure releases ( read Boyle's Law if interested). Delivery drivers always ran into bees at the tank because they're drawn to the smell. The drivers had a trick for killing them and the nest by spraying it with the propane and freezing them to death. 4) If you find the newly filled tank isn't working the most likely problem is you have an airlock formed in the regulator. Just shut the tank off open an appliance using it, shut the appliance off and then very slowly turn the tank back on. 99 times out of a hundred that cures it.

Oh, two other things if the valve handle on the tank is not triangular get rid of the tank. Second, never let the guy filling the tank use anything that causes metal on metal contact because of the spark/explosion possibility. Believe it or not some will misthread the nozzle to the tank and then use a hammer to get it off.

Sorry for the long story but just in case someone is interested in knowing a lot more than they really need to

 

[ccbreder]

The modern 20 pound bottle valves prevent over filling. My propane dealer puts 20 pounds into the bottle. I have checked the weight of the bottles after I returned home. He is regulated and licensed so I think he is doing it right.
The reason to NOT have propane bottles in the vehicle is they all have a pressure/safety release valve that opens momentarily to relive gas pressure. The bottle is cool when filled and then is heated in the vehicle. If the bottle is on it's side, it will release liquid propane that immediately goes to gas. as above post, 11 to 1 if not more. What a fire ball!
I wonder what the 1 pound bottles could do in a sun heated car?

 

[bLEEp]

This would NEVER happen at Strickland Propane under Hanks watchful eye.....
Sorry, it's all I had to add today
bLEEp

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Do propane tanks have to be the shape they are? I always hated the way they pack, they're not efficient users of space....jerry cans pack much better. I assume it's probably the strength of the cylinder shaped tanks to handle the expansion but does anyone know for sure why they are shaped the way they are?

 

[bonnieE350van]

one way to keep the tanks from falling over due to the round shape is to find some plastic milk crates and put the tanks in them...they are just the right size for the tank to fit into and can be transported more safely/easily...
I kind of wondered if it was safe to have the tanks in the vehicle, but as there is no other place to carry them for us we have no choice at this point in time...something else to reconfigure as time goes by and we get better set up...for now I pray that God will protect us as we travel along...have done this for almost 5 years now...