by Nobody » Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:40 am
southpennrailroad wrote:Well I took the tank to U-Haul and he filled them including that one shown.When he put fuel in that meter gauge shot way past that mark to the far left.
The tank also felt much heavier then when I purchased as a trade in at my closest Get Go/Giant Eagle store. O know I will get 1.5 weeks out of the new one. I just replaced one on Monday so I should be replacing it next Wednesday. I filled six bottles at u-Haul for $78.00 At Get Go I paid$17.75 per bottle.=106.00. That comes out to about two bottles for free.
The reason your tank felt heavier is because it probably was. The cylinders you get at an 'exchange' location are only filled to 80% maximum (most are filled to 75%). When you fill at a 'propane filling location' the operators usually fill to 85-90%, sometimes 95% (they usually do this by using a screwdriver to 'bypass' the OPD). Since April 1, 2002 all propane cylinders between 4-40 pounds capacity, in the USA, have been required to have an overfill protection device (OPD) which limits filling to 80% which is only 16# in a normal 20# cylinder. Many folks think it is a law (& it may be in some states) but it is actually a 'compact' for safety purposes originated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) & agreed to by most states. A few states never 'signed on' to the compact & consequently one can often get one of the older, non-OPD tanks filled at a propane dealer. In the pic posted by southpennrailroad you can see that the tank has an OPD by the 'triangle' shaped shut-off wheel. If you look carefully next time you're around one of the propane 'exchange' locations, you'll see on their sign the actual amount of liquid propane contained in the cylinders...
I've circled in red the cylinder's fill level (which is 75% [15#] of the 20# capacity) in this pic
Harvey -
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Doing the right thing ain't always easy but, . . . it's always right!