Self Serve Propane Tanks

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I'm curious how full those tanks are. Blue Rhino, etc. get away with underfilling by marking the net weight on their label. It is completely legal to sell a partly full container of anything as long as the actual amount of product is labeled. Most people don't look at it at all or don't know that the tank can hold more.
 
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Simply weight it. An empty tank is around 17 lbs. A full tank is around 37 lbs. Get the old bathroom scale out. Weigh yourself. You are the "Tare". Pick up the tank and step on the scale. Subtract the Tare weight and there you have it. It's true they underfill it, mostly for liability issues in the hotter parts of the USA. You need that gas bubble above the liquid line.
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My local Ace Hardware still fills personal tanks and also Tractor supply
But HD only has the self serve rack.
The bottles i get filled at Ace last twice as long as the HD bottles
 
A lot of those exchanges are not full bottles. Just read the labeling. They don't exactly advertise it loud and proud, but the information is there.

That being said, the self serve is a decent idea, and a few places around here have them.
 
Originally Posted by Reddy45
The local Sams Club has one. Used it to swap a tank at 1am one night. Convenient.


This. I find rusty old tanks on the side of the road, in the trash, wherever, and I throw them in my truck, I run up to Sams club and exchange the old nasty worthless tank for a new/recycled tank that is full, for $20. I have probably about 5 or 6 tanks now.

This is a VERY convenient way to swap an old out of date tank with a good tank.
 
Originally Posted by earlyre
just incase anyone was curious, converting those prices from CAD to Freedom Bucks: (as of May 2nd 2019,12:20am)
Purchase: $47.41
Exchange: $19.14

that's fairly in line with what's charged for the blue rhino exchanges and the like in my area...



+1

I took three old, tired, and two were out of date, tanks to the local exchange place. Flash Foods gas station near me... $60 and some change and I had three relatively new tanks in the truck. I can now resume going back to the local propane company and have them fill them for about $12 each. They told me the last time that they filled them that they weren't going to fill them again due to age.

A new tank is about $35 or so....
 
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
No thanks I'll take my bottles to Cenex and get them filled for $2.499 a gallon.

Around here, apparently U-Haul refills these tanks for $3.29 a gallon plus tax. I might give it a try rather than getting another Blue Rhino exchange from Walmart.

Then again, there are local propane companies that will deliver a tank right to your door and haul away the empty one for $16.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
No thanks I'll take my bottles to Cenex and get them filled for $2.499 a gallon.

Around here, apparently U-Haul refills these tanks for $3.29 a gallon plus tax. I might give it a try rather than getting another Blue Rhino exchange from Walmart.

Then again, there are local propane companies that will deliver a tank right to your door and haul away the empty one for $16.



I get mine refilled at BJ's, the price is usually lower than most places. Plus they charge by the gallon so you don't really have to wait for it to be empty. Usually they put a little over 4.2 gallons in an empty one so it's basically 18 pounds of propane in a 20 pound tank.
 
the local menards has one of those self serve machines out front of the store... but it's been a while, i'd have to go and check the price.

one Local Car was Chain refills tanks for about $16, buy 3, get the 4th free.

But I normally go to my local Feed Store, used to offer that same deal, but then switched to $13($12.95) fills.(which they put on a scale to fill. flow shuts off @ a preset weight)

and i really wish i could tell people that when i have a shift @ the gas station, instead of the $20+ exchange we have...
 
Changing the topic here...a little bit..., but to anybody who lives in a rural area or lives in a municipality that has propane instead of natural gas, you might be able to install a fill hose and fill your own tanks, like I do.
It cost me about $125 to install a hose and a valve on my 1000 gallon tank and I have the ability to fill my own tanks. The cost to fill your BBQ tank is whatever it costs to purchase your bulk propane, currently about $1.25/gallon.
And before everybody says that it's a fire hazard or that it'll kill me, yes, I've been trained to work with propane, use the proper PPE equipment and have so for decades.
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Originally Posted by Chris142
The blue rino tank exchange is a rip off here. They only come 1/2 filled for $25.

You can have yours filled all the way (4.4 gal) on any corner for about $12.


A full 20 pounder should weigh about 37 lbs. Maybe weigh it and sue them if it doesn't.
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They say it weighs a total of 15lbs right on the sign.
 
Originally Posted by Linctex
Originally Posted by Chris142
The blue rino tank exchange is a rip off here. They only come 1/2 filled for $25.


Blue Rhino also has PROPRIETARY VALVES!!
No Thanks.................

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f84/20-lb-exchange-propane-tanks-197893-2.html
https://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=518.0
https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=toolt&th=113794

I have to bring a bathroom scale when I swap a pre-filled tank. Sometimes, there's several pounds difference!!!!!


Now.... I have a "wet line" off of my 250 gallon tank, and refill all of my portable bottles MYSELF!
I have not seen that here yet but I have heard of them. I have a brand new tank I got from blue rino last year that I have had refilled a few times.
 
Originally Posted by Kruse
Changing the topic here...a little bit..., but to anybody who lives in a rural area or lives in a municipality that has propane instead of natural gas, you might be able to install a fill hose and fill your own tanks, like I do.
It cost me about $125 to install a hose and a valve on my 1000 gallon tank and I have the ability to fill my own tanks. The cost to fill your BBQ tank is whatever it costs to purchase your bulk propane, currently about $1.25/gallon.
And before everybody says that it's a fire hazard or that it'll kill me, yes, I've been trained to work with propane, use the proper PPE equipment and have so for decades.


We had a few propane E150 and E250 Vans at the city I worked for. They let anybody fill the tank with very limited instruction.
 
LP tanks are rated in WC, water capacity, every tank will have the WC stamped somewhere. For instance a 100 gallon will be stamped WC 124 but will be filled to 100 gallons LP or approximately 80% which allows for expansion.. Propane weighs about 4.26 pounds per gallon if memory serves.
 
Check with your local rules regarding filling small tanks from large ones. Normally the tanks need to be filled by weight. Oh, and let your house insurance company know what you are up to.
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