Propane tank

[Alfresco]

I attempted to obtain the first refill of a propane tank from our 2010 23' Int'l but the tank would not accept refilling. The attendant said possibly the inside float valve was not functioning. The local propane supplier (Ed Staub) said if I drive 23 miles to their facility they can replace the valve for $25.- Have others had this problem?

[Jammer]

It's probably fine. I'm guessing operator error. If you take it to their main plant someone can probably figure it out without replacing anything.

[eubank]

Occasionally, I run across cylinders that have so much air expansion within that our pump won't hardly push propane in. I have to bleed off some of the air, then fill the cylinder. Even more common is to find folks with full or nearly full cylinders that "won't work." Same problem: Too much air expansion within. I bleed some of the air and hand the tank back to them. (Typically, these are folks who had the cylinders filled at very different elevations/temperatures from here.)


Lynn

[thecatsandi]

Did they vent while filling? there is a screw on the side of the valve.

[eubank]

Michelle, in some states (maybe many?), venting during filling is either strongly discouraged or outright forbidden. It allows too much propane to escape into the atmosphere.


Lynn

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

Did they vent while filling? there is a screw on the side of the valve.

[sandlapper]

Try picking the tank up maybe a foot or so off the ground then whack it back down rather hard. Sometimes the safety float thing hangs up inside preventing filling. Might take several whacks. John

[Silver Goose]

Once I carried mine to the local Butane dealer and had it laying horizontal (not recommended) in the back of the minivan. The mechanism got temporarily stuck in the failsafe position. The aforementioned vertical bounce on the ground set it all straight and life was good again. When they first started filling the new style tanks they sometimes opened the fill valve too quickly and that seemed to trigger a failure mode. Since then they always open the valve slowly and the tank fills normally.

[Alfresco]

Two different suppliers were unable to fill the tank. Both had opened the vent screw. I will try the downward thrust motion to loosen the float valve.That makes the most sense as to cause.

[eubank]

If it won't come unstuck from the banging, it's not that bad. Changing out OPD valves on *steel cylinders is a fairly quick-and-dirty job if they have some means to hold the cylinder stationary while they screw out/in the valve. Since valve change-out has been a fairly common job for the last 9 years, I suspect most dealers have figured out some means to hold cylinders.

*Steel. If you have aluminum cylinders, they'll need to take care to select the proper replacement valve. Aluminum cylinders are a bit taller than the corresponding steel cylinders, requiring a lengthier valve.


Lynn

[Alfresco]

Banging the tank on the ground did finally free up the interior float valve. Thanks for the input