Propane Refill

[KanzKran]

Originally Posted by brobox

In my area Tractor Supply has the best price, $2.69 a gallon, U Haul the highest at $3.99 a gallon. LP is priced regionally, it is much less up north than FL.

I never paid much attention to price until I started reading this forum.

I used to pay $1/lb [$4.29/gal] at a local nursery that's conveniently close.

The local U-Haul is advertising $0.89/lb [$3.81/gal].

Found a BBQ grill store even closer that charges $0.80/lb [$3.43/gal].

Looking just now at the local Tractor Supply stores in my area (upstate NY), they're advertising $0.70/lb [$2.99/gal].

I doubt I'll find it much cheaper, but it pays to look around. I can't believe the wide range of pricing for the same stuff, either.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

There is NO expiration date on propane TANKS!


Potable CYLINDERS have a re-certification requirement 12 yrs after date of manufacture....not expiration but re-certification

Whatever people want to call it. U Haul will not fill it, and cannot re-certify. Their terminology, "this tank is expired and we cannot fill it. " Trying to find a place in FL to get a tank re-certified is not easy.....we don't use a lot of LP here except for BBQ's

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by KanzKran

I never paid much attention to price until I started reading this forum.

I used to pay $1/lb [$4.29/gal] at a local nursery that's conveniently close.

The local U-Haul is advertising $0.89/lb [$3.81/gal].

Found a BBQ grill store even closer that charges $0.80/lb [$3.43/gal].

Looking just now at the local Tractor Supply stores in my area (upstate NY), they're advertising $0.70/lb [$2.99/gal].

I doubt I'll find it much cheaper, but it pays to look around. I can't believe the wide range of pricing for the same stuff, either.

Hey! Keep checking pricing! At this rate, another 20 or so phone calls, and you'll find a place that pays YOU when they fill your tank.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

There is NO expiration date on propane TANKS!


Potable CYLINDERS have a re-certification requirement 12 yrs after date of manufacture....not expiration but re-certification

Originally Posted by brobox

Whatever people want to call it. U Haul will not fill it, and cannot re-certify. Their terminology, "this tank is expired and we cannot fill it. " Trying to find a place in FL to get a tank re-certified is not easy.....we don't use a lot of LP here except for BBQ's

Chuck, I have to agree with Old-Bisquit, are you speaking of a "cylinder" that you remove from your RV? If so, U Haul is correct in the policy you state, although a pic is not required by law, but if they are refusing to fill a TANK that permanently installed in your RV because of age, that is their right to refuse, but they are WRONG by calling it expired. They need to be re-educated. Probably not worth the trouble though. Go to TSC, which in our area (Kentucky) has consistently had the lowest price in my casual research.


We've only filled our propane tank twice in the 3+ years we've had it. Stove and oven, water heater when not on electric, residential fridge, and some furnace usage, but not a lot. Good luck with your rig!

[Gavenger]

Paid $2.49/gallon at my local Costco this past weekend, the nearest CW is $3.49/gallon for members. I don't think the Costco had a hose long enough to reach a permanently mounted tank on an RV though.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Hit_the_Rhod

Chuck, I have to agree with Old-Bisquit, are you speaking of a "cylinder" that you remove from your RV? If so, U Haul is correct in the policy you state, although a pic is not required by law, but if they are refusing to fill a TANK that permanently installed in your RV because of age, that is their right to refuse, but they are WRONG by calling it expired. They need to be re-educated. Probably not worth the trouble though. Go to TSC, which in our area (Kentucky) has consistently had the lowest price in my casual research.

Yep, I have an all electric coach, so it make no difference to me, but fill lots of bottles annually because of hurricane preparedness.

In this area it is getting harder and harder to get bottles filled....Snowbirds take warning, get your tanks filled at home, lot less hassle. Because of U Hauls new policy, I now go to the new Tractor Supply that just opened. I can get a bottle filled in 1/2 the time.

[twinboat]

Motorhomes have propane TANKS, bolted to the chassis. Built with thick steel and no expiration date. You need a lot of room to get the MH near enough to the fill station to hook up a hose. Not all places offer that avalability. They have a FILL port for propane in only.

Trailers, 5th wheels and BBQs have portable cylinders. You often carry them to the filling station. They must be disconnected to fill. They have expiration dates stamped into them that should be inspected.


If someone is asking about filling a propane tank on a MH, as the OP is in this case, offering information about filling portable cylinders is just clouding the issue.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by twinboat

If someone is asking about filling a propane tank on a MH, as the OP is in this case, offering information about filling portable cylinders is just clouding the issue.

You are correct, I stand corrected.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by brobox

Whatever people want to call it. U Haul will not fill it, and cannot re-certify. Their terminology, "this tank is expired and we cannot fill it. " Trying to find a place in FL to get a tank re-certified is not easy.....we don't use a lot of LP here except for BBQ's

\


TANK....propane vessel permanently mounted ----Motorhomes have TANKS
They are ASME and do NOT have re-certification requirements
Any place saying so needs to be educated about requirements and should provide any documents when questioned....which they will NOT have


Cylinders.....'potable' propane vessel----trailers/5th wheels etc
Removable by owner....DOT jurisdiction and they have re-certification requirements which are easy to find

(DOT does NOT have jurisdiction over ASME TANKS)


Educate yourself so you know when someone is NOT providing service correctly and educate them.


Your MH has a TANK
Your BBQ grill uses a potable cylinder

[jherrin99]

Originally Posted by brobox

Whatever people want to call it. U Haul will not fill it, and cannot re-certify. Their terminology, "this tank is expired and we cannot fill it. " Trying to find a place in FL to get a tank re-certified is not easy.....we don't use a lot of LP here except for BBQ's

I have no idea how they do it in Florida, but here in Texas everyone exchanges their tanks. Every grocery store, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Sam's even General Dollar offer exchange tanks. Even a lot of convenience stores offer them. You give them your empty tank and they exchange it for a full one. It is a little more expensive than just filling the tank, but they do not check or care about the certification date on the tank you exchange. When I have a tank that needs to be re-certified, I take it to one of those places and exchange it for a full tank with a new date on it.

[FL420]

Originally Posted by jherrin99

I have no idea how they do it in Florida, but here in Texas everyone exchanges their tanks. Every grocery store, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Sam's even General Dollar offer exchange tanks. Even a lot of convenience stores offer them. You give them your empty tank and they exchange it for a full one. It is a little more expensive than just filling the tank, but they do not check or care about the certification date on the tank you exchange. When I have a tank that needs to be re-certified, I take it to one of those places and exchange it for a full tank with a new date on it.

Funny. I have had my 40 gallon ASME tank filled at Tractor Supply Stores all over Texas. If you are exchanging empty cylinders for "full" cylinders you are being fleeced in 2 ways. Firstly, you are probably paying a higher rate per gallon (or pound) than if you had taken it just about anywhere to be refilled. Secondly, no cylinder will be refilled to more than 80% of capacity to allow room for expansion of the liquid (LPG) and room for gas vapor to be stored under pressure at the top to flow out the valve and line. To my knowledge all exchange cylinders are purposely underfilled yet advertised as a "full" cylinder. IMHO, there is no other explanation than to increase profit at the expense of unsophisticated consumers.
My youngest son was one of those until this week. I borrowed his grilling tank as I needed one to operate my furnaces through an Extend-A-Stay as I can't drive the coach to get my almost empty tank filled until my coach is repaired and driveable.
He exchanged a relatively new cylinder and received an old cylinder dated 02-06 that was prettied up with a new printed wrapping. When I went to my favorite place to be refilled the 20 something manager refused to refill it as it was 2 years past its recertification date. I really needed it filled that night as I was pretty sure I was going to run out soon and the temps that night were going to be in the 20s. Fortunately, an employee about my age convinced her to let him fill it. The furnace shut down about an hour after we got back home to the coach.
Anyone who refills a cylinder more than 12 years after the date of manufacture or 5 years after its recertification date is violating the law. Anyone who exchanges tanks should not turn one in if it can't be legally refilled. Get it recertified or recycle it. Don't accept a cylinder without checking the date of manufacture and/or recertification.

[jherrin99]

Originally Posted by FL420

Funny. I have had my 40 gallon ASME tank filled at Tractor Supply Stores all over Texas. If you are exchanging empty cylinders for "full" cylinders you are being fleeced in 2 ways. Firstly, you are probably paying a higher rate per gallon (or pound) than if you had taken it just about anywhere to be refilled. Secondly, no cylinder will be refilled to more than 80% of capacity to allow room for expansion of the liquid (LPG) and room for gas vapor to be stored under pressure at the top to flow out the valve and line. To my knowledge all exchange cylinders are purposely underfilled yet advertised as a "full" cylinder. IMHO, there is no other explanation than to increase profit at the expense of unsophisticated consumers.
My youngest son was one of those until this week. I borrowed his grilling tank as I needed one to operate my furnaces through an Extend-A-Stay as I can't drive the coach to get my almost empty tank filled until my coach is repaired and driveable.
He exchanged a relatively new cylinder and received an old cylinder dated 02-06 that was prettied up with a new printed wrapping. When I went to my favorite place to be refilled the 20 something manager refused to refill it as it was 2 years past its recertification date. I really needed it filled that night as I was pretty sure I was going to run out soon and the temps that night were going to be in the 20s. Fortunately, an employee about my age convinced her to let him fill it. The furnace shut down about an hour after we got back home to the coach.
Anyone who refills a cylinder more than 12 years after the date of manufacture or 5 years after its recertification date is violating the law. Anyone who exchanges tanks should not turn one in if it can't be legally refilled. Get it recertified or recycle it. Don't accept a cylinder without checking the date of manufacture and/or recertification.

The smaller tanks are usually filled by weight and not by volume which is approximately 80%. Larger tanks are filled by volume and corrected for temperature. It is not uncommon to fill the larger tanks to 90% in the cold winter. I have filled tanks higher than that in the winter when running large burners in the oil field. Anyway, I was referring to the 20 pound bbq grill sized tanks for exchange. I have never noticed exchanges available for any other size. One of the reason it cost more to exchange than just filling the tank is because of the higher cost of tank maintenance such as painting, valves and certification. You are paying for that every time you exchange. I always check the date on the tank before I accept it. I have never gotten one more than a couple years since certification. I have never weighed one either to make sure I got what I was supposed to, but I can tell it is pretty close. A full tank should weigh approximately 37 pounds including the tank and 20 pounds of propane. I would suspect someone who gets a near empty tank is because somebody put a near empty tank in the wrong slot. It would be easy to do if you had no idea what a full tank should weight. That would also explain why he got a tank that was out of date.

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by brobox

Whatever people want to call it. U Haul will not fill it, and cannot re-certify. Their terminology, "this tank is expired and we cannot fill it. " Trying to find a place in FL to get a tank re-certified is not easy.....we don't use a lot of LP here except for BBQ's

Search out a Propane supplier/repair/service dealer..They should have at least one person qualified to do re-certifications...

[dix39]

While in WV during our Summer trips I went to Tractor Supply for propane.

While on the road we usually go to a Flying J to get propane when needed.

At home in OR I usually go to a local RV dealer that sells propane.

With the TC's two 6 gallon tanks and the 13 gallon tank on the Flair I didn't pay a lot of attention to the price, but with the 45 gallon tank on the Dynasty that will probably change.

Steve