![]() ![]() I called around and the local U-Haul place wanted $16 for a refill. A "full" 20 lb cylinder should have 4.7 gallons or propane in it.Purging may add another $3-4 dollars to a new tank, though some places don't charge, especially if you buy the tank from them. The pressure then pushes air out of a one-way bleeder valve. Purging requires a special adapter to allow a small amount of propane in. Some newer tanks, like Bernzomatic, will have a sticker on them saying they don't need to be purged within 6 months of the manufacture date. The cost and inconvenience of re-certifying almost always outweighs the price of a new tank.īrand new propane tanks may come with air inside and need to be "purged" before the first fill. The re-certification only adds 5 years before having to re-certify again. For 20 lb propane tanks, you have 12 years from the manufacture date before the tank must be re-certified with a new date stamped on it. There is also a month and year on the collar indicating the date the tank was made. This means a "full" propane tank should weigh about 37 pounds. Most 20 lb tanks have a tare weight of +/- 17 pounds when completely empty. For a grill sized tank you simply calculate the tare weight + 20 lbs, and that's how much the tank should weigh when it's full. This would be less of an issue if the relief value were bleeding to outside air.Īll propane tanks have a "tare weight" or "T.W." stamped on the collar of the tank. With enough of a temperature increase, the tank's pressure relief value will release a bit of gas. This is because if you leave a tank outside in very cold temps, filled the tank when the tank is cold, and then bring it into a hot basement/garage for a space heater, the gas will expand as the tank warms. In very cold winter climates, like Canada, there may be more concern/rules about filling a tank to a complete 20 lbs. Tanks can actually fit another 20% in the tank, but that extra space is designed for expansion as the temperature rises. ![]() Cooler = more propane in, hotter = less in. You may get a pound or 2 less, depending on the temperature of the tank and surrounding air when the tank was filled. These "20 lb" tanks are designed to take up to 20 pounds of propane. Now, where to fill it? A Little About Propane Tanks (Costco sells tanks for 28.99 compared to Amazon's roughly $45). I picked up a new 20 lb tank at the Home Depot for 29.97, minus 10% off competitors coupon and a 10% discount on a gift card purchased on eBay. I found that new 30 or 33 lb cylinders are at least double the price of a 20 lb, and finding lightly used ones on Craigslist wasn't happening. I also considered 30, 33, 40, 60, and 100 pound cylinders, to avoid refilling as often. When I moved earlier this year to an all-electric house I had to switch back to a standard 20 lb BBQ grill tank. ![]() As a result, I know a few things about tank tare weights (an empty tank's weight) and other propane lingo.įor the last 7 years I had my trusty Weber grill hooked into a 500 gallon underground tank at the house in Taylors. 300 gallons/500 gallon tank= 60%.Few people know I was a mean propane filling machine in my high school days at Taylor Hardware. Divide this number(300) by the tank size(500) and you will know what approximate percent your tank will go up to. Take the amount of propane in your tank now (100 gallons) plus the amount ordered (let’s say 200). There is also a way that you can see how much propane will be in your tank if you order a lower amount. ![]() Maybe you are thinking, I can’t fill my tank each time that would cost too much. In our example, that would be 400-100=300 Gallons. Now to figure how much your tank will hold take the 80% gallons for your size tank minus the current amount in your tank. For example, a 500-gallon tank has 20% of propane, the formula is 500 x. To calculate the approximate amount in your tank, take the size of your propane tank and multiply by the percent in the tank. Here’s a cheat sheet:Įver wondered how we know what you can hold, here’s how: To calculate the approximate fill capacity of your propane tank, multiply the tanks total capacity by. Our drivers use a fixed liquid level gauge to make sure we don’t overfill. The extra space in the tank is a preventative measure – a cushion against the pressure that builds up in a tank when it’s hot. That’s why propane tanks are typically filled to only about 80 percent (slightly more in underground tanks, where the ground insulates the tank from big temperature swings). If your tank is full and the temperature inside the tank rises, your tank becomes dangerous. Propane increases in a volume to nearly 17 times the volume of water over the same temperature increase. The difference between the two is how much propane expands. Much like water, propane expands in the presence of heat. If you’ve ever gone out and checked your propane tank after a delivery, you might have noticed that your propane tank is never 100 percent full. ![]()
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