exchanging propane cylinder that came with TT

[danimal53]

I recently tried to have my 20lb propane tank refilled and it wouldn't fill. The person filling it determined it must be a bad valve. She proceeded to fill a second tank I had without issue. So my question, is there any reason NOT to just exchange the cylinder for a full one (at Menards, Walmart, etc)? I understand it's more costly, and you get less propane than if I did a refill. But is there any reason to keep the original that came with my TT? Or just exchange it and move on?

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Do humanity a favor and declare that the tank you are turning in is defective so nobody will have an accident trying to reuse or refill it.

[Boomerweps]

With just a single tank, nows the time to get a 30# tank to get some more campin' time!
If the tank is over a certain age, they have be tested or replaced anyways, just like when the industry changed out the valves. Exchange the old one for newer.

[2oldman]

Flute Man wrote:
To me, turning in a defective tank is the same as lying and cheating.

It's not. Those tanks are thoroughly inspected and certified, and they expect to get some junk.

[Lwiddis]

Flute Man makes a good point. I agree.

[time2roll]

Don't rule out operator error yet. I would go to a commercial propane dealer and see if the fill works.

[danimal53]

kmac7800 wrote:
@GrandpaKip: Do happen to have a picture of yours? Where did you get them with the float gauge?

Thanks!

//KMac

FYI, I saw this one at Menards that got me interested:
tank with gauge

[danimal53]

Flute Man wrote:
Personally, I would not turn in a tank that I knew was defective. You might take your old tank to a propane dealer and see if they could repair the old tank. To me, turning in a defective tank is the same as lying and cheating.

I may be wrong, but I believe it's generally expected that this is done. They are inspected and repaired or disposed of before being refilled and put back into circulation. The woman who was filling and mentioned the bad valve even suggested I swap it and was ready to do it for me, but I wasn't sure if there was a difference between TT tanks and BBQ grill tanks, so I didn't do it yet.

[danimal53]

thanks for the quick replies, consensus seems to be just swap and move on.

It's only a single tank on the tongue, so no worries of matching collar heights or anything like that. Seems weird that my tank, which came new with a brand new TT 3.5yrs ago has a bad valve already. But I'll just swap it. thanks again everyone!

[Flute_Man]

Personally, I would not turn in a tank that I knew was defective. You might take your old tank to a propane dealer and see if they could repair the old tank. To me, turning in a defective tank is the same as lying and cheating.

[time2roll]

Are any of the exchanges still a proprietary fill that needs a special key?

[kmac7800]

@GrandpaKip: Do happen to have a picture of yours? Where did you get them with the float gauge?

Thanks!

//KMac

[GrandpaKip]

If you are going to replace with new, I suggest getting one with a built in float gauge. The gauge makes it simple to get an idea of how much is left in the tank. I really like the 2 I’ve got.

[DutchmenSport]

I've switched old tanks for new ones at exchange places a couple times.

Years ago, when "they" changed from the rounded valve knob to the triangle valve knob style, my old tanks with the rounded knob could not be refilled. So I just exchanged it at one of those places for a new one with the triangle valve knob. End result, I had a tank I could now get refills on, and didn't have to exchange. I cleaned up all dirt and gunk on the new tank and it was still on the ol' pop-up when we sold it.

Did the same thing for an old tank on a BBQ grill. No one was the wiser, and I didn't have to buy new tanks.

Besides.... if you don't exchange the tank and you buy a new one, how are you going to dispose of the old one that's defective? You'll need to find a recycling place for hazardous materials, which most cities have. But still, that's going to take extra effort and time away from CAMPING!

[Huntindog]

When I last had a tank go bad, the replacement had a different height collar on it. So I needed to buy two in order for them to mount on the tougue tightened down properly.


This was with 30s but, I have 6 extra 20s that I bring along for extended cold weather trips, and the collars on them vary as well. Not a big deal for me, as I just remove the 30s when I set up camp, and set the 20s in the tray. I use the 20s first, so I can have the 30s mounted in place for the trip home.

So that is the only potential problem I see with your plan.

[schlep1967]

Exchange it and move on. The other option is to buy a new tank. That will cost you more than than exchanging and getting a 2/3 full tank.