Wayne Boatwright <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>Oh pshaw, on Wed 28 Jun 2006 05:54:30p, Blair P. Houghton meant to say...
>> I've been thinking of that. I'll probably do it when
>> I change out The Eternal Flame, here. I want to weigh

And, about 20 minutes after I sent that, I fired it up and
it died just before it reached searing temperature. I had
to frazzle my Aidell's Portobello-Turkey-and-Chicken sausages
in the toaster-oven broiler.

>> this tank empty first, just to see how close to full
>> the trade-a-tank people are filling them. The rules
>> are you can't fill them more than 80% full, to allow the
>> float-valve to work. (The float shuts the outlet if the tank
>> is tipped, so the fluid won't be ejected; if the tank is
>> too full, the float always thinks it's tipped; the question
>> is how far below the 80% level the vendors are cheating).
>
>Where I buy propane I don't think they're making any additional money by
>cheating. I pay for the metered amount dispensed into the tank. I may be
>returning sooner for a refill if they fill less than 80% full, but I'm not
>paying for anything more than what they dispensed.

May be the best policy, but refill stations are exceedingly
rare any more. Those trade-out racks are everywhere.
And the one at Wal-Mart is only $16 for a trade. Cheap.

The tank I just emptied started at 32 lbs and ended at 18.
It had 14 pounds of gas in it. Which for a 17.5-lb tank
at 80% capacity is about right.

The new one, however, weighs in at 35.5 lbs. We'll see
how much of that is sear and how much is pot-metal. In
about a year.

>> Someone invented a fiberglass propane tank. It's not clear,
>> but it is translucent, and you can see the fluid level with
>> a little backlighting and sloshing. They'll sell like mad
>> if they're ever approved.
>
>Maybe I'm overreacting, but I would be skeptical about a fiberglass tank
>under pressure.

Me too. Not so much if it's in good condition, but after
being jostled and dropped a couple of times, and going
through a few Arizona summer/winter cycles, I'd expect a
much higher chance of invisible fissures. The metal ones
will just get a bit dented.

But the see-through feature is neat.

--Blair