HELP! I'm trying to change out propane tanks


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Old 02-19-07, 09:59 PM
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HELP! I'm trying to change out propane tanks

I have a 250 gal tank in my yard. It has run out and I decided that it would be cheaper to buy a 100# tank from my look gas station for less than half the cost. So when I got it home I unhooked the gas line from the big tank and hooked it to the smaller tank. when i turned the gas on it started leaking around the fitting. It wasn't leaking before that. Is there something else that I need to do. Also I will be using it to run a furnace and a hot water heater. will this work.
 
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Old 02-19-07, 10:08 PM
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Hard to tell what you have there that is leaking. if a POL was it clean .
Also I will be using it to run a furnace and a hot water heater. will this work.
Id say no way. On a 100# tank. If they both where on for a time and cold out .You will run out of gas and the tank can be half full yet
 
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Old 02-19-07, 10:22 PM
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Red face HELP! I'm trying to change out propane tanks

what is a POL? the thing that is leaking is the thing that is at the end of the gas line that goes to my house it is brass and has two pieces on has threads the other goes into the end. i dont know what is is called but it screws to the tank.
obviously this is alot harder than i thought it would be.
 
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Old 02-19-07, 10:34 PM
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Still lost. Is it a flare fitting???? Do you turn it left hand CCW????? Does it go into a regulator???
 
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Old 02-19-07, 10:44 PM
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there is a pipe that comes out of the ground then it is connected to a round thing which i have determined via the internet to be the regulator it has a female piece on it to that there is a threaded thing kind of shaped like a bullet. it is brass next there is a copper pipe about twelve inches long and at the end of that there is another bullet shaped thing that screws into the tank. it is leaking where the pipe goes into the bullet shaped fitting. so i wonder if something happened to the regulator or to the end of the pipe. i have absolutely have no idea what i am doing. Just a crazy learn as I go girl. And don't have any heat or hot water.
 
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Old 02-19-07, 10:46 PM
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help!

Yes, I turn it opposite of what you would normally do.
 
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Old 02-20-07, 03:28 AM
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If you turn it to the left to tighten, it's a POL fitting. It should be the brass fitting that attaches directly to the tank. If the fitting is scored or cross threaded it could leak.

Regardless of that. As Ed said. A 100# cylinder is going to be next to useless for your needs. The propane in the tank will not be able to vaporize quick enough to supply the furnace and water heater resulting in low gas pressure. This in turn can result in outages in the appliances.

Example: If you have ever tried to light a butane lighter on a cold day it won't work. The temperature of the butane is too cold to allow the liquid butane to vaporize (boil). Only after you warm it up in your hands or blow on it will it light as your raising the temperature enough to vaporize.

The same principle applied to your propane tank. The heat from the atmosphere is absorbed by the surface area of liquid propane in the tank. As the liquid level decreases, so is the surface area of heat transfered. Being your tank size is smaller, there won't be enough pressure produced to efficiently run your furnace and water heater.

A hot water heater requires a ball park of 35,000 to 40,000 BTU's of propane to run. A small furnace will require 75,000 BTU's. I'm going to estimate that your consumption will be (on the low side) 110,000 BTU's.

You old 250 Gal tank will have provided approx 298,000 BTU's on a 30 degree F day at 25% full. More than enough to run your appliances. On the same 30 degree day, a 100# cylinder will only provide 52,400 BTU's at 25%. Less then half the required amount! Drop the temperature to 0 degrees F, the output will drop in half to 25,000 BTU's. Just for reference, the 250 Gal tank will provide an output of 142,600 on a 0 degree F day at 25%.

I know this may be somewhat confusing to a lay person. I'm just trying to demonstrate the ramifications of switching to a smaller supply.
 
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Old 02-20-07, 01:50 PM
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Smile Thank You

Thank you so much for you information HankHill. I was a little worried about switching to a smaller tank. But now it is the only option I have since I have spent the last bit of money I had to buy the tank. I guess I should have consulted this site first. I am a single mother so it is hard to come up with the money to fill up the larger tank. I will have enough to get it filled next week. So do you think it will do for that long. I found the right piece today to fix it. This sounds a little weird but while trying to research all of this on the internet I read where one person was using a cylinder like mine for his kiln. He said it would freeze up so to fix it he draped a water hose over the tank and let it trickle down the side. Do you think this would work for a week or so? Our high today was 78 and it is supposed to stay fairly warm for the rest of the week so I probably won't even need to use the furnace. So I should get enough BTU's for the water heater. Right?
 
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Old 02-20-07, 03:57 PM
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At 78 degrees I wouldn't anticipate a problem running just a hot water heater off a 100 pound cylinder if relatively full. What is more important is the night temperature.

What part of the country do you hail from? It is supposed to be warm here too for the rest of the week, in the 40's (NY).
 
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Old 02-20-07, 05:05 PM
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Talking Help! Again.

I'm in Arkansas. Not sure what the low is supposed to be. But I generally don't run the heat at night anyway. I prefer a down comforter and electric blanket.

New question though, I have installed my new pigtail to the regulator and connected it to the gas tank. Turned it on and no leaks. Great, right. Well, I tried to light the water heater pilot and when I pushed the button down I could smell the gas but it will not light. My dad is over here now after I called him and told him what I was up to. He is trying to light it but it won't light for him either. Any ideas on what is going on now?
 
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Old 02-20-07, 11:12 PM
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button down I could smell the gas but it will not light.
can still be air in the lines.
 
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Old 02-21-07, 05:49 AM
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Are you aware that just because it is a 250 gallon tank you don't have to fill it up? They will put however many gallons you ask them to. If you only have the money for 50 gallons, they'll put 50 gallons in it.

Some places still give discounts though if you buy more at one time.
 
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Old 02-21-07, 03:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Pendragon
Are you aware that just because it is a 250 gallon tank you don't have to fill it up? They will put however many gallons you ask them to. If you only have the money for 50 gallons, they'll put 50 gallons in it.

Some places still give discounts though if you buy more at one time.
That's not entirely true. Some propane companies I've worked for will not do a partial fill or if they will, you will be charged a special delivery charge.

For the most part, propane prices are based on annual consumption. For example, someone that only uses propane for cooking and gets a fill once or twice a year will get charged more than someone that heats with it. From the company's standpoint, it will cost them more to drop 50 gallons a clip every 2 weeks, when they could drop 200 gallons at once and not have to come back for 2 months.
 
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Old 02-22-07, 04:54 AM
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Guess it depends on your local company.
The two here charge buy the gallon (they dropped the volume discount a while back). Same price per gallon whether you buy 20 gallons or 200.

Then it comes to tank size, if you are using 25 gallons a week, you should really be on a larger tank. I've seen homes that use propane for heat and are using a puny 80 gallon pig or 100 gallon tank. Most of those are renting the tank, and at less than 100 gallons, never qualified for the over 100 gallon discount that was offered at the time. They were having to get fills every month or more.
 
 

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