Propane refill

[Midniteoyl]

Originally Posted by Shadowcatche

Exchange tanks, Blue Rhino is installing a proprietary valve that can only be filled by them and many Blue Rhino and Amerigas are under filling the tanks.

Have a link to back that up?

Not trying to start anything, just wanna know..

[Midniteoyl]

Tank exchange around here is $16.99... at Walgreen's of all places.

[Francesca]

It's easy to check if a tank is underfilled- just stick it on a bathroom scale!
Tare weight is stamped on the tank...

In addition to being more expensive, changing tanks is more trouble, as far as I'm concerned.
Refilling doesn't require offloading/reloading the tanks themselves...

Francesca

[Gerall]

Refillers are only allowed to fill a tank to 80 percent capacity to allow for expansion of the propane. So a 20 pound tank, they will only fill to 16 pounds. I have a 90 pound tank built in, but the mobile dude only can put in 70 or so pounds.

[Kurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Gerall

Refillers are only allowed to fill a tank to 80 percent capacity to allow for expansion of the propane. So a 20 pound tank, they will only fill to 16 pounds.

You've been misinformed. A 20# tank holds 20# of propane when filled to 80% of volumetric capacity. If filled to full capacity, it would hold over 24# of propane.

If your "mobile dude" is only putting 16# in your bottles, I suggest you find somebody new to service your propane needs. He should probably go back to flippin' burgers.

[wa8yxm]

PRO of getting them refilled; COST, it is nearly always cheaper to refill than swap.

Pros of swapping: SPEED, faster to swap, no standing around waiting for the tech to refill.

Cons of Refilling: Every so many years you need to take them to a certification center (most Propane Wholesalers can do this) and pay for a re-cert

Cons of swapping: Some swap a tank companies have special valves that can NOT be refilled if there is no swap a tank facility nearby.

Recommendation: REFILL.

[Triker56]

Posted wrong place

[Gerall]

Originally Posted by Kurmudgeon

You've been misinformed. A 20# tank holds 20# of propane when filled to 80% of volumetric capacity. If filled to full capacity, it would hold over 24# of propane.

If your "mobile dude" is only putting 16# in your bottles, I suggest you find somebody new to service your propane needs. He should probably go back to flippin' burgers.

In all fairness he stated he can only fill any tank to 80 percent capacity. This was my built in that he refilled, however it wasn't empty when he filled it.
The rest of the math is my error based on incorrect assumption.

My bad

[LadyFitz...]

Originally Posted by Francesca

...In addition to being more expensive, changing tanks is more trouble, as far as I'm concerned.
Refilling doesn't require offloading/reloading the tanks themselves...

Francesca

Changing tanks is more expensive for consumers but for retailers, it is far less expensive. A refilling station has to be located so many feet from a building, is expensive to install, is supposed to be operated by a trained individual (that probably gets violated frequently), and jacks up liability insurance tremendously.

[Francesca]

Originally Posted by LadyFitz...

Changing tanks is more expensive for consumers but for retailers, it is far less expensive. A refilling station has to be located so many feet from a building, is expensive to install, is supposed to be operated by a trained individual (that probably gets violated frequently), and jacks up liability insurance tremendously.

Not that the retailer's position matters to me, but...

Most retailers selling change-a-tanks never sold bulk propane to begin with.
They only got into the market when the prefilled bottles became available.

Most bulk propane sellers won't convert to change-a-tank since there's an extra middleman sharing the profit.

Francesca

[LadyFitz...]

Originally Posted by Francesca

Not that the retailer's position matters to me, but...

Most retailers selling change-a-tanks never sold bulk propane to begin with.
They only got into the market when the prefilled bottles became available...

So?

Originally Posted by Francesca

...Most bulk propane sellers won't convert to change-a-tank since there's an extra middleman sharing the profit.

Francesca

I've heard of some doing so (or just getting out of the propane business) because of increased insurance, training, licensing, etc. expenses.

[Francesca]

Have it your way, Ladyfitz!

Francesca

[SSteve]

Last December, when it was colder than a witch's you know what in Florida, the 20# bottle I was using to heat the rig after the main tank went empty, went empty too. The park had propane on site so, no problem. Well, there was. The tank had exceeded its certification date and the park attendant, rightly, would not fill it.

Headed to the local Lowe's. A new, empty tank was nearly $35. A Blue Rhino, with propane was $19. They took my old, expired tank. No questions asked. So, I got a (sort of) full tank and disposed of my expired one. That's what I needed that day.

Looking back, I should have paid the $35 for the new tank and had it filled. Ultimately, that's what I did in January. I bought the new tank when I discovered the stamped-in information on the Blue Rhino tank was obscured by the new paint they apply. Couldn't read the certification date or the tare.

There is no need for a proprietary valve to refill it. I tried to fill it at two places. Blue Rhino? No way. It has to do with the certification. If the tank is a Blue Rhino, no one is sure if the tank is good and won't take the chance. There's your proprietary valve. No conversion necessary.

Steve

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

Cons of Refilling: Every so many years you need to take them to a certification center (most Propane Wholesalers can do this) and pay for a re-cert

Only true for removable tanks, not the permanently mounted ones on MH's. At least in the US, Canada may be different and require recertification.