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Propane Tank Failure Question

Mikhail

Mikhail

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I have two propane tanks, one completely empty and one I filled not too long ago. There is a marked difference in the weight of the two tanks, but the heavier one most recently filled gives up no gas when I turn the valve on, even when it is unhooked.

Can tank valves go bad?
 
Last edited:
Are these a standard 20lb tanks?
The newer valves will have a safety overflow valve which will shut off flow if the flow is over a certain rate. Such as an open hose or line. I would hook it up to your grill and then slowly open the valve and see if the grill will light. I had this happen on my patio heater and my 36" blackstone griddle.
 
They can go bad.

But it is normal for a tank not to release gas if it is not hooked up to anything. There is a check valve that prevents the gas from coming out.

Make sure your burners are all set to "off". hook up the tank, crack the valve open slowly to WFO- don't do anything at this point but wait. Give it a minute then turn your burner to the "lighting" position. You *should* hear gas flowing... hit your igniter and Bob's your uncle.
 
It has a check valve. It shouldnt release gas when it not hook up to something.
 
Must not have been hooked up right. Put it back together and working fine. In 26 years have never had that happen.

Now we'll see if the patio heater I just built works.

Thanks for the advice, bros.
 
turn on your tank BEFORE you turn on your grill or whatever . the new tanks will go to safety if they sense an open condition . eg: try turning on a new tank w/o anything hooked up to it .
 
I turn tank on with all burners off wait 10 sec. turn tank off and then back on not real fast. This will fill the lines so tank don't go into saftey mode. Then open burner and light.Works every time. DouG M
 
Also I've found that you have to make sure that the regulator is screwed in all the way to depress the check valve pin enough to release the gas. Good info above.
 
I have one tank that is fairly stubborn. I routinely have to turn it off, wait a few seconds, give it a couple love taps with a piece of wood to reseat the safety valve, then slowly crack it open. You should hear a little "tink" sound when the valve opens. Where I have never had one go completely bad on me, one will sometimes be more of a pain than others.
 
Valves can go bad, but I'm guessing it's the safety being activated.
 
I usually trade tanks when I run out, had one that would not work unless you barely cracked the valve open, then you'd get a full flow, very odd.
 
I've had the OPD get stuck a time or two. First instance I took it to the propane refill place and the guy hoisted the tank over his head and slammed it (right side up) on the ground. As I was running away at full speed he said... "There - it'll work fine now". He was right but it still took about 30 steps for me to slow down. :doh:

Yes, the OPD can get stuck but most likely it simply did it's job sensing an open condition.
 
txsmkmstr said:
I've had the OPD get stuck a time or two. First instance I took it to the propane refill place and the guy hoisted the tank over his head and slammed it (right side up) on the ground. As I was running away at full speed he said... "There - it'll work fine now". He was right but it still took about 30 steps for me to slow down. :doh:

Yes, the OPD can get stuck but most likely it simply did it's job sensing an open condition.
Click to expand...


Now his technique may be learned, but it should be noted we can learn things that are wrong.

Darwin award worthy.
 
txsmkmstr said:
I've had the OPD get stuck a time or two. First instance I took it to the propane refill place and the guy hoisted the tank over his head and slammed it (right side up) on the ground. As I was running away at full speed he said... "There - it'll work fine now". He was right but it still took about 30 steps for me to slow down. :doh:

Yes, the OPD can get stuck but most likely it simply did it's job sensing an open condition.
Click to expand...

I have had a similar experience many times. Although the guy filling didn't raise the tank above his head...just a couple feet and then slammed it on the ground, each time he does this the troublesome tank will start filling properly
 
txsmkmstr said:
I've had the OPD get stuck a time or two. First instance I took it to the propane refill place and the guy hoisted the tank over his head and slammed it (right side up) on the ground. As I was running away at full speed he said... "There - it'll work fine now". He was right but it still took about 30 steps for me to slow down. :doh:

Yes, the OPD can get stuck but most likely it simply did it's job sensing an open condition.
Click to expand...


I took some firefighting classes in my younger days. we were told that
any size propane tank will make a fireball 100 times bigger than the tank itself if it explodes.:mad2::mad2:
 
I'm not saying I'd do it either, but I saw a Mythbusters episode about shooting propane tanks and it wasn't as exciting as you'd think.

Without an open flame nearby, I'd say it is virtually impossible for that thing to explode in a fireball.

Maybe scrapnel or some such, but no fire.
 
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