Good/Bad Idea

If there is such a law, then there are a lot of criminals running around loose. Much better a welded propane tank than the old, riveted, galvanized water heater tank I saw in a pawn shop not too long ago. I didn't examine it too closely - I was afraid to get too close in case it fell over on me. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

"Rich Grise" wrote

In some states, there's a law against marrying your cousin, too. Doesn't stop some people, though. And the correct wedding gift in that situation is a used propane tank.

Steve

!

Harold

If there isn't, there certainly should be in interest of the preservation of bureaucracy.

Despite the fact that the design working pressure (not proof pressure) of a propane tank is higher than a single-stage shop compressor can produce -- and considerably higher than the release point of the safety valve that every compressor has or should have -- everyone knows that propane is explosive and there'll always be a few atoms of it left in a propane tank. The sparking of the brushes in an air tool would surely blow up many constituents. I mean, lookit the sparks inside an electric drill, right? Think what they must be like inside a powerful air tool that can tighten lugbolts much tighter than an electric drill can! Just because you don't see any sparks doesn't mean they aren't there, right?

There oughtta be a law...

GRIN!

H

As long as a *new*, unused tank is employed this can be done.

I've done that myself in my shop - I found a *new* tank at the local store that was never used, but being sold inexpensively.

Jim

I don't see why you can't reuse an old Propane tank if it is in a non critical application - I have several 20-Lb. propane tanks with the old valves that I can't find anywhere to get them filled. The

30-Lb tank with the "Visible Jr." gauge is the only one they'll fill.

It's cheaper to buy a whole new OPD propane tank than to replace the old POL valve with the new OPD version, but I hate to throw out basically useful stuff. And they've got to be a whole lot safer than the kit for reusing a very thin-wall _disposable_ refrigerant cylinder as an air tank.

The big problem is purging the methyl mercaptan stink out of them, short of roasting the open tank in a bonfire which would make them unusable for anything pressurized. Any ideas from you chemists out there?

-->--

About four purges with air will reduce the propane to an undetectable level, then purge once a day with the tank inverted for about a week gets rid of most of the smell. Using these in the inverted position solves the drain problem caused by the single opening. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Not a chemist, but bleach has worked well for me. Bob

Bruce L. Bergman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Use a Magic Marker to write "Cutting Gas" on the upper area of the tanks THEN get them filled.

[Use for Cutting/Brazing is a loophole in the OPD requirements.]

You know that, I know that, I even tried printing out and showing them that page of the regulations...

But even with a nice permanent P-Touch label "For Industrial Use Only" on each bottle (they were properly recertified and stamped a few years ago) and me in my work shirt with the big silkscreen company logo, holding the weed-burner torch that I use for warming up cold-mix patching asphalt in the other hand, and driving a very obvious work truck with a big stack of ladders on top, I got turned down for refills at two separate LPG stations.

Dumbth is rampant.

I /might/ be able to find someone in Sun Valley or Downtown L.A. to do it, but if I have to drive 30 miles or more out of my way every time I need to refill a few 5 gallon LP cylinders it simply doesn't make sense. I'll buy a few more of the 7.5 or 10-gallon tanks, those they'll fill without a fight.

-->--

The only justification against this I could offer, is to point out that new tanks are probably cheaper than the labor it takes to clean out an old one.

Jim

[snip

The standard way to get the petroleum smell out of a 55-gallon drum is lots of steam, enough that the entire drum gets up to temperature. Bet it'll work here too.

Joe Gwinn

Hmmm, I know some good old boys that don't think you need to use a new, never used propane tank for filling tires. In fact they believe that a perfectly good tank for filling tires is one that has propane in it. I personally have never used propane to presurize a tire.

W.W. Grainger sells a device to replace the valve in a propane tank so you can use the tank for compressed air. It has a pressure relief valve, schrader valve, 1/4 inch port for a pressure gauge, and a quarter turn valve to cut off the pressure to the port where you connect a hose. The smell of the methyl mercaptan really isn't a problem if you are using the tank for filling tires.

Dan

I have a manifold with the fitting for the propane valve on one side, on the other side there are: pressure gauge, schraeder valve stem, female quick connect, and a ball valve. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I want to see the video of the blowout caused when the nail goes through the steel belt and propane starts to leak through the sparks at that point. That'd be better than watching an old movie of some fool getting tossed into the ceiling by a non-secured truck split rim. Calling Mr. Darwin!

----------------------------------------------------------------

• Blessed are those who can * Humorous T-shirts Online

• laugh at themselves, for they * Comprehensive Website Dev.

• shall never cease to be amused *
  formatting link

It could happen, but you are likely to wait a long time before seeing a video of a blow out caused by propane in a tire. See <

> for information on the upper and lower flamability limits of propane and more important for information on tire sealants. Lots of those use propane to inflate the tire.

Dan

We did it for many years up in the north woods on truck and logging tires. Never a boom that I know of, even when changing them, but the tire guy were always informed.

One should recall that much of the Fix a Flat cans had propane or butane etc as the propellent until recently.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner