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Propane Weight

borgward1500's picture

Propane Weight (post #207300)

borgward1500 on Sat, 01/05/2013 - 09:27
in
Does a 20lb propane bottle hold 20 lbs of propane? Is that 20 lbs just a generic term? I weighed an empty 20 lb bottle on an electronic scale at 23.2 lbs. It weighed 38.0 lbs after being filled. That accounts for 14.8 lbs loaded into the bottle. I had the bottle filled, not exchanged. Maybe they are selling it in gallons, and just terming it lbs. Anything I am not considering?
-A +A

To my knowledge it refers to (post #207300, reply #1 of 9)

by DanH in reply to borgward1500 [original] on Sat, 01/05/2013 - 12:51

To my knowledge it refers to the weight of the propane.  But it might be that the bottle is sized based on its capacity if it were filled to the brim -- ie, illegally overfilled.

(Close as I can recall, the last time I bought propane they charged me based on the weigh of the bottle before/after.)


Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.  --Herman Melville

And here is a little hint:  I (post #207300, reply #2 of 9)

by DanH in reply to borgward1500 [original] on Sat, 01/05/2013 - 12:57

And here is a little hint:  I went to the propane place with an old, out of date bottle that they couldn't legally fill.  They happily exchanged it for a used bottle out in their yard.  Seems like RV owners frequently drop off bottles before they travel cross country, due to some sort of regulation, so yards like this often have several good ones to give away.


Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.  --Herman Melville

20 pounds is a generic (post #207300, reply #3 of 9)

by gfretwell in reply to borgward1500 [original] on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 09:51

20 pounds is a generic term.

None of them with the OPV will hold that much. In fact , my fill guy squeezes in all he can by opening the bleed screw and sometimes it won't come out because the float valve is closed. I have to tilt the bottle to get it going.

That is still around 17 pounds.

Places like Blue Rhino are notorious for a short fill. They have also swapped me into an out of date tank. I guess they assume the rules are different for them.

Greg

Did the older bottles hold (post #207300, reply #4 of 9)

by borgward1500 in reply to gfretwell [original] on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 10:07
Did the older bottles hold more?

I imagine if you filled one (post #207300, reply #6 of 9)

by gfretwell in reply to borgward1500 [original] on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 18:08

I imagine if you filled one of these tanks to 100% it might be 20 pounds. The problem is liquid don't compress that well and pressures go nuts.

Greg

Did the older bottles hold (post #207300, reply #5 of 9)

by borgward1500 in reply to gfretwell [original] on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 10:07

Did the older bottles hold more?

The tanks are the same size.  (post #207300, reply #7 of 9)

by MarkH in reply to borgward1500 [original] on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 19:44

The tanks are the same size.  The new style OPD valves prevent overfilling (or even fully filling) the tanks.  The problem is that tanks filled to maximum capacity build up extreme pressure under certain conditions, and the OPD prevents that by restricting the level of liquid in the tank.  I believe that tank exchange stations are cheating people by not properly filling tanks.  I get mine refilled at a propane distributor that charges for the actual amount of propane dispensed.  They can fill a 20lb tank to around 18lbs or more.  A 14 lb fill is only around 10 bucks.

The purpose of the float is (post #207300, reply #8 of 9)

by borgward1500 in reply to MarkH [original] on Sun, 01/06/2013 - 21:34

The purpose of the float is to shut off delivery of propane from the tank if it is knocked over, which could cause a fire if a radiant tank top heater was in place. I suppose one could remove the float so that the tank could be filled to 18 lbs. I would think a pressure release device is still incorporated in the valve like on the earlier style tanks. Actually, most refillers rely on the shape of the valve handle to determine whether the tank is current or not. I've never seen them look for the "fine print" stamped on the bottle.


A little off subject, A few years ago I saw a video of Korean protestors in Seol. One guy would hold a 40 lb tank horizontally while another guy would puncture the side of the tank with a heavy iorn rod, and the ignite it. The first guy would then charge the riot police with a 20' flame. Totally awesome sight.

Here is the video of (post #207300, reply #9 of 9)

by xxPaulCPxx in reply to borgward1500 [original] on Mon, 01/07/2013 - 09:58

Here is the video of that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMi7Jkay0fY

YAY!  I love WYSISYG editing!  And Spellcheck!

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