Michele Williams on sun 21 apr 02
Snail, and all who use propane tanks,
Hubby is back in town and I asked him about the flame from a propane =
tank being so variable. Here's what he wrote for me to send to you.
It is hard to tell for sure what was happening but my guess is that it =
was overfilled and some of the liquid was being expelled (thus the =
longer flame). Possibly there was some movement on the cylinder that =
created a wave-motion inside. Every time the top of the wave hit the =
outlet, liquid escaped. This overfill could cause serious problems so I =
would suggest that a newly filled cylinder should be checked by opening =
(with a flat head screwdriver) the small screw on the side of the valve =
(max. 1/2 turn). A dip tube connected to the valve goes to the 80% level =
(max. allowed by law). An overfilled cylinder will produce a cloud of =
propane gas clearly visible (liquid gas escaping). A properly filled =
cylinder will just "hiss" as the propane vapor escapes. This is the best =
way to check if a cylinder is overfilled. Another way is to check by =
weight but that requires knowing the weight of the empty cylinder (about =
17# to 19#) and then add the 20# (the weight of the liquid propane - =
about 4.5 gallons).
By the way, Blue Rhino is well know for shortchanging customers (they =
normally sell 17.5# of propane in the cylinder that is designed for =
20#). The new OPD valves (Overfill Prevention Device) required by law =
since April 1, 2002 will stop the overfilling of propane cylinders.
I hope that clarifies this subject.
Michele Williams
Glenn Allenspach on mon 22 apr 02
As a former propane sales guy, here's a little detail for you: every propane
tank is lables with the Tare Weight, which is the weight of the empty tank.
Look around the collar for a marking that reads, "TW XX."
| |
|
