What to do with empty (torch) propane cylinders?

[RacerE7773]

Originally Posted By: ccdhowell
I use an adaptor to refill several of these bottles; have for a couple years with no worries. I bought the adaptor off ebay. The directions are a bit odd, first you have to freeze the green bottles for 20 - 30 minutes, screw in the adaptor, then into the 20lb bottle. Turn the 20lb bottle upside down and open the valve, it takes about a minute to fill the green bottle. They never seem to fill all the way, maybe 3/4 full. I've thought about freezing them longer to see if that would help, but have not done it.
Propane bottles are designed to be filled to 3/4 (80%) full. The LP goes in as a gas and is stored as a liquid. The 80% valve is called Overfill Prevention Device and was federally mandated in April 2001.

The LP expands to full and the reasoning for the OPD was the old tanks were getting overfilled and would cause the safety valve to release. Unfortuneately the 100 pound tanks don't have to have the OPD but still have to be within 12 years of the manufacture date, or 7 years (I believe) of the retest date. It's not a way to make people have to waste money, just a means of keeping people safe.

 

[Gary Allan]

Ah ..an expert! What is the sanctioning council that gets propane cylinders routinely upgraded on a routine basis? Can someone shoot them? I think I've gone through 3 or 4 evolutions in so many years. I think the last one I can remember is the valve that works whether you have the knob in the closed position or not.

They can always find stupid or forgetful people that will screw up (or just a collision of odd random events) , so they can always justify some improvement.

While working as a temp on my first lay off, we were cleaning out a Suburban Propane site. Suburban Propane was buying up smaller propane companies and this was one such company that was being closed. The scrap included tons of regulators that reduced the line pressure to some inches of water column. The guy overseeing the liquidation (the guy who buys the smaller companies) wondered why tens of thousands of $$ of parts were abandoned. He then found out that they were obsolete and worthless.