LP Tanks - Montana Owners Club

Phil Eyler · 05-04-2009, 02:53 AM

I have one of those newby questions. How do you fill your gas tanks?
Do you take them out and take them someplace? Do they have to be empty to be filled or can they just be low? Has anyone put gages on their tanks? Do they work? It would be nice to know how much gas is left in the tanks. I appreciate all info.

Phil

richfaa · 05-04-2009, 03:01 AM

They are normally taken out and refilled. Look around your area or consult the phone book to find refill places. Your propane regulator gage will tell you when the one in use is empty by showng red. You should have a book that came with your camper describing how all this works.

Glenn and Lorraine · 05-04-2009, 03:13 AM

Should point out that most all RV Parks charge a flat rate for filling LP tanks. In other words you pay for a full load even if the tank is half full. Places such as U-Haul, Flying J, LP suppliers and the like charge for what you get. If you only need a 1/4 fill you only pay for a 1/4 fill.

wswebster · 05-04-2009, 03:13 AM

When the one in use is empty (gage is red) we switch to the other tank (turn lever towards that tank) then we take out the empty tank to be filled. Don't for get to open other tank valve slowly

ols1932 · 05-04-2009, 03:14 AM

Phil,
You can have them refilled even if they aren't empty. Many times when we're traveling and I know one tank may be low, while I'm at a Flying J, I have it topped off. I've had them topped off with as little as 3 1/2 gallons. That means the tank was half full when I had it topped off. When they refill, they charge you for the number of gallons put in.

Orv

skypilot · 05-05-2009, 05:14 AM

Phil: Want to stress though what Glenn said above -- there are a lot of places that charge for refills at a flat rate -- everyone local to me does that so whether I need 7 gal or 1 gallon, I get charged the same per bottle. Can get very expensive if just topping them off before a trip.

I didn't realize that uHaul dealers charged by the gallon, will have to check with local uHaul place to see if they do propane -- thanks for that tidbit!!

deadeyenevermisses · 05-05-2009, 04:31 PM

Last summer, Bretz RV in Missoula was selling propane for $.99/gallon. My impression was that this is a yearly thing, so if your travelling cross I-90......

rames14 · 05-05-2009, 05:01 PM

Whenever possible, we fill up at a Flying J. We find them consistently lower than other places. I also like being able to top off tanks without having to buy the whole enchilada.

Art-n-Marge · 05-07-2009, 03:51 PM

I have only used locations where you pay for what you fill. The place I go to for my fillups is threatening to go with the tank swapping idea so when they do, I'll stop going. I prefer to watch someone fill up my tanks so I know what I am paying for rather than trust that some $5.00 teenager filled up the tradeup tanks all the way before putting them in their stockpile. Besides I have only seen 20# tanks for trade, not 60#.

I use inline gauges for both my tanks but watch out, I had to buy a new hose for one side because the factory hose was too short to allow the gauge to be installed inline. The gauges have worked for me. Since I have not gotten the hang of use the autoswitchover for my tanks, if I am getting ready for a cold night I switch to the tank that has the most fuel. I hate running out in the middle of the night - thankfully this only happened to me once and never again since I got the gauges to help me out.

There are other types of propane fuel indicators but I have not used them. For example, there is a strip that sticks to the outside of the bottle and uses the temperature of the bottle to indicate propane level but the fuel has to be running since this causes it to get real cold and the condensation being formed on the tank is what the strip gauge uses. I did not select this type because I am thinking that ambiant temperature might affect this and I want to be able to check at ANY time and not just when propane is being used.

OntMont · 05-08-2009, 11:07 AM

I have to agree with others, find places that will charge by the gallon. Flying J is a safe bet, but there are others if you check around.

There are two schools of thought on the operation of the tanks. I follow the pattern of leaving both tanks open, and refilling the in-service tank when the regulator indicator turns red. The regulator will switch source tanks automatically when the in-service tank goes empty, but you still need to flip over the leaver on the regulator to make the other (full) tank the "in-service" tank. You can then remove the empty tank and take it to be refilled. (If you are at a Flying J, at least you won't have to take it far). This approach requires you check your tanks periodically, or you may find yourself with two empty tanks.

Some people, prefer to valve-in the full tank manually when the in-service tank goes empty. This way, you do not risk having both tanks go empty on you, but you may have to get up in the middle of the night to make the switch over. It is up to you which approach you follow, depending on your camping lifestyle, one may make more sense to you than the other.

The other thing you need to know is that these tanks have safety devices built into them. These can cause two problems (that I am aware of anyway). The overfill protection device (OPD) may get stuck in the closed position making it impossible to fill the tank. In that case, you need to give the tank a sharp rap by dropping it onto a block of wood. Experienced filling operators know this.

The other problem is that if you open the tank valve quickly, the sudden surge of gas will cause the excess flow valve to close, limiting the amount of gas that can leave the tank. This causes the situation where your gas range may work fine, but the higher demand furnace will not work because of insufficent gas pressure. If this happens, close the valve to re-set the excess flow valve, and re-open very slowly. This is more of a problem with pre-2006 models that were not equipped with the secondary regulator on the opposite side tank.

OntMont · 05-08-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Phil Eyler

Has anyone put gages on their tanks? Do they work? It would be nice to know how much gas is left in the tanks. I appreciate all info.

While you can buy gauges, the physics of them does not make much sense to me. Propane exists in two phases in the tank, liquid, and vapour. As long as there is ANY liquid in the tank, the pressure of the vapour will remain constant (for a given temperature). Once the liquid has all evaporated, you are almost out of gas anyway.

Some people use devices to tell them when a tank has gone empty, but a fuel gauge like you have in a vehicle, just isn't available for portable propane tanks.

If anyone has found a useful propane tank level gauge, I would be glad to hear of it.

KathyandDave · 05-08-2009, 12:10 PM

As OntMont says: Propane exists in two phases in the tank, liquid, and vapour.
The liquid is very cold, while the vapour is warmer. There are strips that can be stuck to the tank that sense temperature and show different colours above and below the level of the liquid. By all accounts, they're unreliable.
There are inline devices, too, that sense the tank pressure (http://gasgaugedirect.com/ or http://www.flameking.com/accessories.html). I don't know how well they work.

bigmurf · 05-08-2009, 12:49 PM

Pour hot water on the tank and feel where the cold starts. That's the Propane level.

Art-n-Marge · 05-08-2009, 08:36 PM

Ontmont, thanks for your heads-up on the safety-valve-getting-stuck-closed propane. I had a propane tank fail just like what you describe, but neither me or the propane tecchy didn't know to try the sharp-rap trick and I ended up having to wait to get a new tank from the dealer (since this happened within the first two months of ownership), but not until I returned from my trip. I was running on the one tank until I could make it back to the dealer. If this worked it could have saved me a lot of inconvenience.

I will also take heed of the opening-the-valve-too-quick problem. I think I usually open slowly just for the sake it makes sense and to listen for the propane flow, but now I will definitely stay conscious of it. After all, when it fails and the furnace doesn't work, it's me that needs to go out in the cold to figure things out.

As for your subsequent post and for Phil Eyler, I will say while I do use the inline propane pressure gauge (the Gaslo gauges for each 60# tank) it IS NOT like a fuel gauge and instead doesn't start to indicate low levels until you are at about the last 1/2 gallon left. It starts as a yellow indicator, which starts to increase in size, then starts to change to red, until it turns completely red. So as soon as it starts changing from Green, I'd switch tanks then prepare to refill the one that is running empty, especially if there is cold weather. In the other links provided by "KathyandDave" it looks like there are new gauges that might operate with more accuracy but I don't know how they work.

In warmer weather my tank easily lasts way over a week and I do not turn off the oven pilot or the hot water heater once I am set up. In cold days (above 30 degrees) it is good for about 3-4 days. But I have not been in Arctic conditions like some of you Canadians or folks in the Northern U.S. at winter time. Being born in Texas and getting all growed up in Southern California, I can't imagine ever doing that to myself.

Happy Refilling,

You may also like: