Sudden drop in LP tank!

Pablo

Pablo

Joined
Oct 28, 2002
Messages
69,305
Location
Everson WA - Pacific NW USA
Telemetry monitored every day or two. Heater off of course. Propane Gas use? Hot water and BBQ grill and griddle.

EDIT: 500 gallon tank filled in April.

~73-74 down to 66%.

I have a Klein ET120. No leaks anywhere that I see. Cannot tell if still dropping. Seems stable.

Maybe a glitch in monitor? Will call in a bit. Ideas?

IMG_8587.jpg
 
Last edited:
Snoop (dish detergent and suger water or - kids bubble water) for leaks. I had a tank replaced and it was leaking right at the first fitting,
could smell the mercaptan tracer outside though. Also check the hot water burner to insure a rodent didn't mess up the flame.

Does really look like a gauge reporting issue if "someone" didn't leave a point-of-combustion gas valve open.

We are too often butt-bumping the kitchen range valve open in our efficiency workspace as the fridge is adjacent to the stove.
 
Pablo said:
Yes, maybe was stuck but line graph says not............dunno

Like a day! Wham!!

500 gallon tank. Sorry I was going to post that.
Click to expand...
All I had to go off was "et120" I didn't know if that was the tank.
That's not good, that's like 40 to 50 gallon change in level.
I was going to say maybe it got stuck but it looks like that setup has live monitoring at least a few times a day.
A sudden temperature drop could account for a few percent, I calculate out something like less than a 5% volume change over a 70 or 80 degrees f temperature change. So not that.
I would be looking for a leak just to be safe. I'm guessing it's still dropping?
Probably better extinguish any pilot lights right now.
What I would do is attach a pressure gauge and close off the tank and see if it holds pressure. Even a 10 gallon per day leak would instantly drop the pressure to zero. But if you don't have a gauge that will show a half psi of resolution I don't know where you would quickly get one.
I guess the redneck way would be turn off the gas the tank, no pilots lights going anywhere and crack a line after a minute or 2 and see if the line still appears to have gas pressure.
Leave the valve closed and if you still lose level maybe your tank has a leak.
Is it above ground or underground?
 
ARCOgraphite said:
Snoop (dish detergent and suger water or - kids bubble water) for leaks. I had a tank replaced and it was leaking right at the first fitting,
could smell the mercaptan tracer outside though. Also check the hot water burner to insure a rodent didn't mess up the flame.

Does really look like a gauge reporting issue if "someone" didn't leave a point-of-combustion gas valve open.

We are too often butt-bumping the kitchen range valve open in our efficiency workspace as the fridge is adjacent to the stove.
Click to expand...
40 to 50 gallons per day is a catastrophic leak he wont need soapy water to find it.
This leak is like having 2 four burner stoves with all 8 burners going full blast.
 
Pablo said:
Thing is, it was hades hot yesterday. Quite unusual for Sept 5
Click to expand...
May have popped the relief valve as the tank level was high. Tank get sun?

You guys get a butane/propane mix for LPG?

We just get propane for as far as I can tell, I don't know if they do a summer mix with butane. Can't talk directly to my supplier anymore - all handled through off shore call center.
 
Propane volume changes 1.5% with a 10 degree F change. So a 50 F temp swing would change the volume 7.5 %. You would have to break out your college calculus to calculate the change in level in a long cylinder because if it’s less than half full the change in height is attenuated as the fluid level climbs because the cross section across the tank at the fluid level gets larger. If the fluid starts at half or more the resulting height change with a corresponding volume change volume gets larger because the cross section at the fluid level gets smaller. Is anyone still reading this or did you head to the TV room. :)

39F45E29-27F7-4C62-89D1-B9687E62C412.jpeg
 
Just got off the phone. We went through all the safety protocol.

Most likely stuck/sticking float, that got unstuck. I did the rubber mallet whacking JIK.

They will come fill the tank to bring it back up, prices are low now and put me (finally) back on the top off rotation. I asked twice before.

I have remained calm and glad I own Klein ET120.
 
ARCOgraphite said:
May have popped the relief valve as the tank level was high. Tank get sun?

You guys get a butane/propane mix for LPG?

We just get propane for as far as I can tell, I don't know if they do a summer mix with butane. Can't talk directly to my supplier anymore - all handled through off shore call center.
Click to expand...
A weak relief valve could pop. I wouldn't say it's impossible. That's actually a pretty good idea.
Or the tank is in the sun, it was 115f that day and it got so hot say 150f and the relief valve did it's job. A quick Google search says propane tanks releave at 375psi. If a tank hit 150f (because it's in the sun) it could be around 300 to 400psi.
The tank level said it was 77, I'm guessing 80% is "full" in typical propane tank fashion.
Almost all of the US gets a propane butane mixture. I think it's 10 to 20% butane usually.
 
Pablo said:
Just got off the phone. We went through all the safety protocol.

Most likely stuck/sticking float, that got unstuck. I did the rubber mallet whacking JIK.

They will come fill the tank to bring it back up, prices are low now and put me (finally) back on the top off rotation. I asked twice before.

I have remained calm and glad I own Klein ET120.
Click to expand...
Yes now is the time of year to fill propane tanks. Inventory is high and prices are low.
I would say put LPG in it, see if it takes 40 or 50 maybe 60 gallons in. See if it comes back up to 80% full.
Hopefully they'll add a few gallons of propane, the level will jump back up and it was just a stuck level indicator.
Any chance your propane tank is in the sun?
 
oil pan 4 said:
Yes now is the time of year to fill propane tanks. Inventory is high and prices are low.
I would say put LPG in it, see if it takes 40 or 50 maybe 60 gallons in. See if it comes back up to 80% full.
Hopefully they'll add a few gallons of propane, the level will jump back up and it was just a stuck level indicator.
Any chance your propane tank is in the sun?
Click to expand...
In the sun most of the afternoon, but this time of the year sun (PNW, Canada border) is already getting low. I think it was around 88°F yesterday which is fairly unusual. Most of our heat (85°F would be a HOT day) comes June/July with August/Sept super pleasant 68-75°F)

Oh this on high res is pretty sensitive: https://data.kleintools.com/sites/a...ructions/klein/ET120-1390185ART - LOW RES.pdf

1725647081931.webp
 
oil pan 4 said:
A weak relief valve could pop. I wouldn't say it's impossible. That's actually a pretty good idea.
Or the tank is in the sun, it was 115f that day and it got so hot say 150f and the relief valve did it's job. A quick Google search says propane tanks releave at 375psi. If a tank hit 150f (because it's in the sun) it could be around 300 to 400psi.
The tank level said it was 77, I'm guessing 80% is "full" in typical propane tank fashion.
Almost all of the US gets a propane butane mixture. I think it's 10 to 20% butane usually.
oil pan 4 said:
A weak relief valve could pop. I wouldn't say it's impossible. That's actually a pretty good idea.
Or the tank is in the sun, it was 115f that day and it got so hot say 150f and the relief valve did it's job. A quick Google search says propane tanks releave at 375psi. If a tank hit 150f (because it's in the sun) it could be around 300 to 400psi.
The tank level said it was 77, I'm guessing 80% is "full" in typical propane tank fashion.
Almost all of the US gets a propane butane mixture. I think it's 10 to 20% butane usually.
Click to expand...
Umm, were you talking hypothetically using NM temps?
Click to expand...
 
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