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Propane Tanks and Hot Weather

70K views 61 replies 31 participants last post by  commandpriority 
#1 ·
Summer is here, temps are getting up there and the pressure in your residential propane tank is rising.

Had my first call yesterday of a pressure relief valve popping off at one of my customers homes. If you've ever had one pop it's something you'll likely never forget, sounds like a pistol shot and then screams like a banshee.

If you have this happen cool the tank, use a water hose and a sprinkler, get some shade on it, (but don't cover it). Once the relief valve pops it'll have to be replaced, and the tank has to be empty for that to happen, contact you're propane supplier for details.
 
#2 ·
Filling the tank to 80% eliminates many pop offs, we started filling to 80% about 15 years ago,our on call guys loved it as it basically eliminated the pop offs, expansion is 1.5% per every 10 degree rise in ambient temp, if we have a 20% increase ,that translates to roughly an 80 degree rise in ambient outside temperature. That would be bad.
Additionally, although I'm not arguing, a relief valve does not need to be replaced if it "pops" doing what it's designed for.commercial rule is every 15 years or if spring go bad. External relief valves ( spring on outside of tank)tend to collect trash,flies,moisture etc.
WARNING! NEVER PUT YOUR FACE DIRECTLY OVER THE RELIEF VALVE OPENING!!
 
#23 ·
I am very thankful to getbthese reminders and to see the many positive insights on helping others.
I live in Arkansas, and we too have an 80 % fill. Every ounce of this precious commodity will make a difference in heavy winter cold seasons.
Have your installation company inspect yearly before filling. Here they claim no responsibility for your loss because of faulty equipment.
Have your heating, cooking, fuel protected against loss.
If you can are allowed or come upon a syphon equipment.
Being able to fill your own smaller tanks can be of. Great assistance. During the. winter of 2005 ( my dats are often off a couple yesrs one way or the other, dementia) Ice storm, if not for portable heaters and green Iron panels,these make shift sheltors kept mama cows from breaking hips and baby calfs from premature death.Portable heat helped save twenty baby calves and. Several mammas, I know because of those who didn't make it.
If it can save an animals life think of how it could be for you in a stranded situation.
Heat source, food and unfrozen water.
Portable makeshift shelters against wind and wet, keeping your core tempature regulated.
Those who have a strong sense of survival often take their little ones far into the woods down in steep hollors and lose the food source. Early fall unexpected falling tempatures and a week of ice caused us to break into surival mode, and shelters during extreme times where you might otherwise not be ready, saved their lives.
Isn't this the reason for survival tips and feeding off others suggestions?
 
#7 ·
it's always in the 80's-90's here. the small rv size tanks are all you'll find, nothing larger. filling is to 70-80% and i have yet to here any fo teh valves popping off. and most tanks here are painted medium blue. i plan on having a propane stove and oven when the house is finished being built in the next month or so. the stove and tank(s) will set outside under the eve of the house protected from the sun and rain. house eves are at least 1 meter on all sides here.
 
#13 ·
Sounds great but NOT. A significant # of home fires, in particular apartments, are caused by grills and heaters on decks/close to structure. I'd hope you don't keep a can of gasoline or LP tank under your bed (or even in attached garage). A LP grill sitting against the exterior wall of you house is in the same category.

http://www.nfpa.org/public-education/by-topic/outdoors-and-seasonal/grilling
 
#11 ·
Summer is also the time to take a close look at the paint on your home Propane tank. If you lease your tank from your propane supplier and the pain is beginning to fail you can request it be repainted, the company will normally have a company color scheme that they use, (ours is gray tank with maroon lid). If you own your tank and it needs repainting sometimes your normal supplier will paint it, sometimes not. If you want to paint it yourself the recommended color is oil based semi-gloss enamel WHITE. Just pain white.

Wash the tank first, then scrap the loose junk/paint with a wire brush. You can brush it, roll it, or spray it. Whatever works for you.
 
#16 ·
I have never seen a tank "pop off" unless it was overfilled under normal temperatures. Granted, my 20 gallon tank that was in front of the garage popped of when the garage burned to the ground, but it was also hot enough to melt aluminum in the same area.

I have also changed valves without draining the tank by venting and freezing the gas but that works best in the winter.
 
#24 ·
Once the relief valve pops it'll have to be replaced, and the tank has to be empty for that to happen, contact you're propane supplier for details.
This is a troubling statement. I literally just got back from the propane place where I had a 25 gallon tank filled, and that was one subject we talked about. He told me if the tank got too hot it could blow the pop off valve, but it would close by itself after the pressure went down enough? :xeye:
 
#30 · (Edited)
Question: Do the Coleman Individual Propane Tanks that you use in your camping stove and gear, do they have pressure relief valves also, or will they explode if they get too hot?

Answer: Yes they do. It is the pin that looks like the valve on your tire that you use to put air in the tire.

Also didn't realize you could refill those 1 lb propane bottles. This is a major advantage to me. I have always avoided using any camping equipment that use the propane bottles because they were expensive and you simply threw them away when empty. Now that I know that you can refill them for 50 cents, rather than buy them for $4.00, I will be using them more.
 
#32 ·
One thing to remember, it is important to transport DOT Cylinders in the upright position, the valve on top of the tank is not designed for liquid, additionally if you hook up the tank after it was horizontal there is a chance that you can introduce a small amount of liquid into the system that is designed for vapor.possibility of blowing out gas control , I will say hat after 30 years doing the propane thing I've never seen this happen but.... it makes sense to clear the valve just in case.. this really only applies to none "OPD" valves
 
#34 ·
I can't say I've ever had this problem and my tanks have been covered outside since the late 70s. We have pressure release valves on them though, and the outside temp doesn't ever get above 35C in very rare cases. We always make sure they aren't getting rusty and we change the lines every couple years.
 
#37 ·
I haven't used Propane just yet but we're considering doing so in our BOL. I don't know much about it honestly. Can you just choose to buy the tank? Is 250 gallons the size of a "big tank"? if you just run an oven on a tank that large, wouldn't it last for years? Can you install a line from the tank to a valve you could use specifically to fill smaller 5 and 10 gallon RV tanks?

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
#40 ·
A word on propane tanks. The metal actually expands and contracts as the weather changes or at the time of filling.On a cool day and the tank is being filled it will feel warm to the touch. The paint also has to stretch and contract. I have been told that the modern pumps allow for vapor equalization. I still try to fill tanks when the weather is cool going into winter, same as filling a tank on an automobile.
 
#44 ·
RE- PROPANE TANKS

ABOUT 30 years ago we had a bad forest fire going. We had received our prepare to evacuate warning from local SD and it really just depended upon a little spit of wetland as to which way it was going to go.

We were lucky, it went the other side.
ANYWAY it has been raging for hours and all of a sudden a blast booms out coming through the trees. THen they come almost regular, boom, 10 minutes boom, went on for about 6 booms, them a HUGE BOOM.

The fire was running a string of little cabins and the booms were the 100 pound tanks blowing. Then the fire made it to a 500 pounder. Very impressive the energy a propane tank has in it.
They were over 3 miles away through the woods and it was still impressive.
Closest the fire came to burning us out was about 1/4 mile through the trees but thanks to a high water table there was a fair amount of wetland it had to negotiate in our area and it kept it away.
 
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#49 ·
my condolences to the family and to the people who knew old soldier personally..

I think most lpg tanks are rated to 100+ Celsius

It takes a forest fire in 300-3000 degrees will destroy them..

typical tanks i recommend would fall within the above ground tanks your local petrol stations has..

as for the tanks generally used in homes when i was a kid typically ran about the same size as what you would use oxygen bottle for an oxy welding setup and typically mounted on the outside of them home in a set of 2-4 lasting 2-3 month's cooking and water boiling..

typical 1's used in the rv industries aren't within the realm of of home use and should not be store inside your home same with the 1's meant for domestic where you don't have mains gas supply..

though if you are wanting something within the 2-5 years type supply you are looking at very large industrial tanks..
 
#55 ·
We bought our house 2 years ago and it has a 100 gallon tank in the back yard. It is in good condition, no rust or flaking paint. It is not in shade, so I am thinking of putting a canopy over it to keep the sun off. It's about 20 feet from the exterior wall of the house. Anything else I need to do to make it safer?
 
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