Propane Tanks - How Full are they?

[SilverCottage]

Originally Posted by eubank

Pretty interesting site. One small problem: Cylinders are rated by their weight capacity for water, not propane. If you look at the collar of your cylinder, you'll see a number after the acronym WC, which stands for water capacity; there's no indication for capacity in pounds of propane. (If you multiply WC by .42, you'll get the weight capacity for propane.)

According to Worthington, the maker of the vast majority of propane tanks, what I said is true: a 30lb propane tank will hold 30 pounds of propane which is also 7.1 gallons.
Here is the chart with specs for other sizes of tanks:
Steel 4.25 lb. - 60 lb. Specifications

We pay $18 to fill a 30 lb tank at the local Costco by the flat rate charge and last summer I paid $35 in Cape Cod by the gallon ($4.50, IIRC).

[Pick]

purman, those gauges that screw on to the tank just read the vapor or gas pressure. The pressure is constant until the liquid runs out. They give no real indication of how much liquid is in the tank, so they are about worthless.

Another thing to consider, those pre-filled tanks at gas stations, HD and Lowes are 20# cylinders, but they only fill them to 17#. Kind of a rip off, for what they charge for them these days. Good help is hard to find in a country of 300 million employed folks, so they short the cylinders so some minimum wage employee does not put 21 # in a bottle and blow your local HD store to smithereens.

[azflycaster]

One reason that the cylinders come up short is OPD. The float valve inside the cylinder is designed to stop the filling of the bottle at around 80% of capacity.

[AirsDream]

I got tired of finding places that only would sell me a tankfull, rather than a topoff. If I've only used fifteen pounds, I don't want to pay for thirty! And I don't trust the little green/red widget / "reserve" switch gizmo on the regulator. (Andy Grove, CEO of Intel has that little book out, "Only The Paranoid Survive!")

So I went "simple" - I only open the valve to one tank. When it's really and truly empty, the gas just stops, stove goes out, etc. Then I run out and close that tank's valve and open the other. Takes all of thirty seconds, and I KNOW I'm operating from a full tank. Next time I fill up the now-empty one, I don't care if they demand I buy a tankfull, 'cause I actually want a tankfull!

Only time this would cause me an issue would be if I were using the furnace (rarely) and it went out in the middle of the night and I had to dash out into the cold and change valves. Hasn't happened yet. Knock on wood.

[purman]

So are then any gages that work????

Other than installing a scale under my tanks

[eubank]

Oh, if you lift about a zagillion cylinders, you get to the point that you can guesstimate the amount of propane in them pretty well. Lifting bottles that often means a whole lot of Airstreaming, and I'm ready for it!

Lynn

[SilverCottage]

I'm going to give one of these scales a try. They are about $20-$25.

Balanzza

[purman]

That thing looks cool.... Might give it a try... but then I have to take the holders of the tanks to do it...

Well it's not like I have anything better to do while hanging out at camp... Another gadget to play with... YEAH>>>