Propane refueling locations

[Rollin]

Thinking about the advice I read about to use a larger propane tank&nbsp;instead of the disposable green ones.<div><br></div><div>This got me wondering as to how&nbsp;easy it is to find places that refill tanks.</div><div><br></div><div>I found this site www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/propane_locations.html</div><div><br></div><div>Is finding propane that hard to&nbsp;locate for those of you who&nbsp;travel alot?&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Also is the price comparison worth the extra effort of getting the larger tank?</div>

 

[owl]

<P>Propane is sold everywhere. Propane suppliers, gas stations, campgrounds, hardware stores. Bulk is certainly cheaper than the small bottles.</P>

 

[Rollin]

Thanks owl&nbsp;that's&nbsp;what I was thinking. I know I'm a greenhorn&nbsp;<img border="0" align="absmiddle" src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif">

 

[Willy]

Easy to find propane, but can be a pain if you have a propane fueled vehicle. The little green disposable tanks can be refilled with a 'cheater', though I don't bother (and there are questions of legality). What I have is a 10 lb tank as a reserve/emergency tank and a 25 lb (or thereabouts) frame mounted auto propane tank, that's been mounted in my camper, as my main tank. There are a number of benefits to using the auto propane tank, these being: price (1/2 of 'barbecue' propane), a working guage (never get caught short), much stronger steel, doesn't expire after 10 yrs, no tanks to haul around by hand, harder to get ripped of.. at the pump and by thieves. ..Willy.<br>

 

[Rollin]

I will check in to that Willy thanks.

 

[newtothis]

Thanks willy, what is a cheater?

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;It's a setup used to fill disposable cylinders from barbecue style tanks. ..Willy. <br>

 

[newtothis]

Thanks, has anyone got pictures of this type of setup?

 

[Les H]

Harbor freight, tractor supply, and northern tool all carry the refiller ( cheater) device. About $5.99-7.99. I went this way with mine- I use a 20# tank with an adapter to fuel my camp stove and buddy heater. . The tank goes into a fuel guage ($20 @ walmart) then into a "T" fitting and then a hose with an adapter to both appliances. I like the 20# tank because if you find a fueling station, it's about $11-15 to refill it . If not, drop-n-swap at dollar general, home depot, ace hardware, mom and pop stores, gas stations, loves, garden centers, truck stops, geez, just about anywhere, usually between $17.99 and $22.99. AND larger Home depot stores have a 24 hour credit card/debit card drop-n-swap , which is perfect in case you want to BBQ at 3 am, or if the wife is cold and you have run out of propane&lt;img src="/images/boards/smilies/nono.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"&gt;
For longer stays, buy a spare tank and keep it with you, full

 

[Phantom Blooper]

<A href="http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-bottle-refill-kit-45989.html" target=_blank>http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-bottle-refill-kit-45989.html</A><br><br><A href="" target=_blank></A><br><br>Here is what Les is saying from Harbor Freight<br>

 

[SoulRaven]

I have two 1gal propane tanks and am finally free of the green bottles... Each tank last me at least a month and because of their small size are easy to stow... I bought mine new off E-Bay...<br><br>Adding most U-Haul places have propane also...<br>

 

[SoulRaven]

Willy I looked into this and what stopped me was that you had to put the green bottle into a freezer before filling, would not work for me... But I like the idea that they can be refilled, I just hated throwing them into the landfill... Man its gonna take many moons to be rid of those and all the other throw away stuff in there...<br><br>Come to think of that would be a great company to start, a propane refueling station that also re-filled and sold those green bottles... Hmm to old and to broke to start another company...LOL<br><br>

&nbsp;It's a setup used to fill disposable cylinders from barbecue style tanks. ..Willy. <br>

 

[Rollin]

Thanks for that info. After checking prices it looks like refilling the green bottles would be the way to go. Buying a small bag of ice in the summer should work to cool the green bottles and you&nbsp;wouldn't have any trouble in the winter. I also like that you don't have a lot of hoses laying around that can get damaged. Only problem I can see is if you were using this method to use in conjunction with the Mr.Heater as I&nbsp;believe the gas needs filtering.&nbsp;Maybe you could rig a filter inline?&nbsp;

 

[SoulRaven]

Man you are singing to the choir on this point... There is a fuel filter that connects to the Mr. heater, then the propane line/bottle to that filter... I destroyed a Mr. heater by not using the filter and ran into some bulk "dirty" propane without the filter and that killed it fast... I returned the Mr. heater looking innocent and they replaced it, bought a fuel filter also and have not had one problem...<br><br>Looking into this it seems part of the price of the green bottles is a filter system that removes any impurities... So if re-filling the green bottles via bulk tank, buy a fuel filter for your Mr. heater, costs like $10-$20 bucks and well worth the protection of the unit and you...<br><br>As for any of my other propane using toys they did not have any problems, just the Heater...<br><br>""Only problem I can see is if you were using this method to use in conjunction with the Mr.Heater as I&nbsp;believe the gas needs filtering.&nbsp;Maybe you could rig a filter inline?""

 

[Rollin]

Yeah the Mr.Heater is on my list of things to get. If I'm looking at it right, It looks like all you would need to do is couple the filter in between the refill adapter and the green bottle. Do these filters last a long time? Thanks again to all of you. This information is greatly&nbsp;appreciated !&nbsp;

 

[SoulRaven]

I read on the Mr. Heater fuel filter package that&nbsp; the filter should be changed once a year... No mention about useage though, so I guess you would have to make that call on a individual basis...<br>

 

[Rollin]

Looks like the filter is $11.00 .&nbsp;Replacing it once&nbsp;a year seems pretty&nbsp;reasonable. &nbsp;