casetractorfarmer
Well-known member
Hi i have a 100 lb tank that was filled 2 weeks ago never hooked up and the condasation line shows its only 3/4 full does that sound right
How full do they fill 100lb tanks
- Thread starter casetractorfarmer
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EOC_Jason
Well-known member
Usually you pay by the weight, not just a flat amount.
p_mori7
Well-known member
Propane tanks are filled to 80% capacity to allow for expansion.
big.jim
Well-known member
100lbs weight of gas not volume of gas
sourdough
Well-known member
I have had propane for the whole house (forced-air heat/cooking/water heater) for 8 years and have never heard of "pay by the weight".
It's always by the gallon, no matter if it is the home 499 gallon tank or the 20#tank (5 gallon minus 20%) for the barbecue grill at the gas station.
(Here in WA, by law/code, a 499 gallon tank can be located 10' away from the structure. If it a 500 gallon tank, it must be 20' away. Go figure. My tax dollars at work.)
If you don't watch the installer, they fill with LEAST AMOUNT possible !! 
That is the entire business plan of Blue Rhino you know !
(They only put 15 lbs of propane in 20 lb tank !)
Legit refill places for 20 lb BBQ bottles have bottle on scale & shut off pump when it reaches 20 lb propane (ie total weight is 20 lb propane plus the weight of tank).
In perfect world, you get 100 lbs or 24 gal of propane in 100 lb tank.
For giggles and grins I called around last week when other propane GJ thread popped up. Prices ranged from $2.22 gal or approx $53.83 for 100 lb bottle (low quote at farmers COOP) to $94.34 flat rate or $3.89/gal (or more if less than 24 gal) from rental place !!
That is the entire business plan of Blue Rhino you know !
(They only put 15 lbs of propane in 20 lb tank !)
Legit refill places for 20 lb BBQ bottles have bottle on scale & shut off pump when it reaches 20 lb propane (ie total weight is 20 lb propane plus the weight of tank).
In perfect world, you get 100 lbs or 24 gal of propane in 100 lb tank.
For giggles and grins I called around last week when other propane GJ thread popped up. Prices ranged from $2.22 gal or approx $53.83 for 100 lb bottle (low quote at farmers COOP) to $94.34 flat rate or $3.89/gal (or more if less than 24 gal) from rental place !!
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Falcon67
Well-known member
Everything here sells by the gallon except portables. Portable tanks are set on a scale and normal fill is 80%. The meter reads gallons and the weight seems to be a check for max tank fill. IIRC, the new valves won't allow any more than 80% in the tank. Portable RV tanks (20, 30 gallon) get charged a flat fee (was $25 lat year) per tank where I fill my tanks. SO I don't ever "top off" my 30 gals, I run them as dry as I can. Not sure about a 100lb tank.
Randy in Maine
Well-known member
80% here.
sourdough
Well-known member
In my area, with my house tank, I'm supposed to call the purveyor (Cenex) when the tank gets down to 30%. If I let the tank get below 10%, I might have to have a purveyor inspection at my cost. Definitely if I let the tank go dry.
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383 240z
Well-known member
Just got mine filled, I watched him. 20 gallons at $2.59 per. Keith
sourdough
Well-known member
We got 130 gallons on a "summer special" in July @ $1.79/gal. I just hope with lower oil prices as of this date that we can refill at a decent rate in December. We will usually fill again in February and again in May.
Sure wish we had NG but that's not an option.
Sure wish we had NG but that's not an option.
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
First off......is it a 100 pound tank, or is it a 100 gallon tank? I'm guessing it's a 100 gallon, or possibly 120 gallon tank, and they only get filled to 80%.
What height and diameter is it, and post up a pic if you can.
raddksn
Well-known member
Your tax dollars at work? I don't understand please enlighten me.
bsquared55
New member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2023
- Messages
- 2
I just had a brand new 100lb tank filled at Tractor Supply. The tank is supposed to hold 23.6 gallons. They said the auto-stop on the fill machine shut off about 18.5 gal, something about ballast in the tank? Sounds like BS to me
It shows that the person filling the tank was taking care of you. LP vaporizes and the gas vapor is what you burn. The reason LP tanks are white is so they don’t absorb as much heat, temp and pressure being directly proportional. If conditions are right with a full to over filled tank you will simply vent your $ to atmosphere. Smells nice too.
Wow that's cheap. Costs $90 for 30lb propane tanks at work.If you don't watch the installer, they fill with LEAST AMOUNT possible !!
That is the entire business plan of Blue Rhino you know !
(They only put 15 lbs of propane in 20 lb tank !)
Legit refill places for 20 lb BBQ bottles have bottle on scale & shut off pump when it reaches 20 lb propane (ie total weight is 20 lb propane plus the weight of tank).
In perfect world, you get 100 lbs or 24 gal of propane in 100 lb tank.
For giggles and grins I called around last week when other propane GJ thread popped up. Prices ranged from $2.22 gal or approx $53.83 for 100 lb bottle (low quote at farmers COOP) to $94.34 flat rate or $3.89/gal (or more if less than 24 gal) from rental place !!
Wow, I get 30 lb forklift tanks refilled at U-haul for about $30 . the bonus is they only charge you for what they put in
The last place I got a refill was $45 , Uhaul was closed & I needed it.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Not true !
This is why 20 lb exchange tanks are a huge rip off !
True !
Although most LP refill places charge a flat rate for 20 lb refills regardless of how much they put in. Usually a bit over 20 lb.
scooby074
Well-known member
20lb tanks are by weight on scale, 100lb are flat rate using the vent. The guy I go to will knock some money off the 100lb if it obviously isnt empty but they would prefer them to be completely empty. Nobody wants to pick these things up to scale them!
Tanks at home that are filled by delivery trucks are by litre.
Tanks at home that are filled by delivery trucks are by litre.
3baygarage
Well-known member
I don’t know about their machine, however if they billed you by the gallon then you aren’t getting ripped off. Operators I deal with always get it in the 20’s as mentioned.
Around here they fill 20lbers till it vents or the OPD kicks off. No scales. Just filled on the ground.
Same with forklift tanks.
No idea on others. I mostly use propane for a forklift... which frankly is a PITA over diesel.
Mine was gas at one point but that'd be even worse, have just an old grader that uses the gas and a couple small engines. Might buy 10-15 gallons a year.
bsquared55
New member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2023
- Messages
- 2
I did some more reading and I think I have the answer. 2.36 Gal must be at 100% fill. Since they only fill to 80%, they did it right. 80% of 23.6 is is 18.88 gal. The receipt says I paid for 18.96 gal.
I initially thought the 23.6 gal was what they put in the tank. I think that was what got me confused
I initially thought the 23.6 gal was what they put in the tank. I think that was what got me confused
Hobby_Man22
Well-known member
What if it's not empty?
rancherbill
Well-known member
Well I think it's just local custom to use the term gallon. A gallon is a volume measure at standard temperatures etc it means something standard. Weight is always the same under different conditions.
PopcornSutton
Well-known member
CNG has the right info. I have hauled and had refilled 100lb propane tanks for years. Propane is sold by the gallon, and 24 gallons on a completely empty tank is about all you'll get, usually. The training some of these people get varies a lot. I've had them fill until the auto shutoff closes, and that can go over 24 sometimes. Others will, and correctly, watch what comes out of the bleeder valve and when raw fuel starts to come out, you're filled. If it's in the summer, I'll tell them to stop at 22 gallons. You pay by the gallon so you're not getting ripped off, you pay for what you get.
On a side note on propane tanks, many don't know tanks have a life span. The manufacture date is stamped on the protection ring at the valve. When that tank reached 12 years old, you have to find someplace to re-certify it. That is only good for 5 years. Some places refuse to fill a tank over 17 years old. I have "heard" you can get them certified again, but not sure. I have several that by the time I empty them, it will be beyond the 17 years, so I'll be calling around. It's a shame a perfectly good tank has to be trashed. It's a DOT issue. But you can have a stationary tank at your home for 50 years and that's OK.
On a side note on propane tanks, many don't know tanks have a life span. The manufacture date is stamped on the protection ring at the valve. When that tank reached 12 years old, you have to find someplace to re-certify it. That is only good for 5 years. Some places refuse to fill a tank over 17 years old. I have "heard" you can get them certified again, but not sure. I have several that by the time I empty them, it will be beyond the 17 years, so I'll be calling around. It's a shame a perfectly good tank has to be trashed. It's a DOT issue. But you can have a stationary tank at your home for 50 years and that's OK.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Concur !! 100% full on a portable tank (taken to a filling station) is when it LP comes out of the opened vent ! As I said before, most filling stations around here charge a flat rate for a fill, regardless of what they actually put in the tank.
Segue
If you want to transfer LP from on portable tank to another portable tank, pay a few bucks extra and get the adapter with the proper fittings and a hose. Put the receiving tank in a bucket of ice water and put the sending tank in the sunshine.
Gravity will NOT fill the receiving tank. I don't know if just freezing the receiving tank will keep it cold enough, long enough to fill it 100%.
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PopcornSutton
Well-known member
I was hoping someone would comment on the age of tanks that know the regs. It pisses me off I have to buy a new tank when the ones I have are in great shape.
shaggyant
Well-known member
Anyone ever taken a 420lb tank to get filled? I’d like to pull one on a trailer and get it filled at Tractor Supply but I’m afraid they’ll tell me they can’t fill it.
Leaflessshadetree
Well-known member
I believe the large tanks aren't legal for transport unless they are empty. The tanks that are rated for transport mut be properly labeled and possibly require the driver to be certified as well.
the 80% is built into the nominal size of the tank. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either misinformed, or straight up lying to you (this is common for propane exchange suppliers who are straight up ripping you off.). If they only put 19 gallons in the tank, it was either not empty, or they didn't fill it all the way (for any number of reasons, which I will not speculate about.) If you're paying per gallon (and you should be), they're not cheating you, but you will have to refill sooner.
if you look at the collar of a portable propane tank, one 100 lb or smaller, you'll see some numbers and letters. One set will be TW followed by a number; this is the tare weight of the tank. for a 20lb bbq tank, this will be about 17.3 lbs; for a 100 lb tank it will be somewhere around 70 lbs (with huge variance, when I filled propane tanks at the garage I ran, we had a customer who had some old (but maintained and inspected, so still legal) 100 lb tanks that were 120 lb tare. ). The other number of interest is what follows the WC. WC is 'water capacity', and the weight of water that completely fills the tank. you either do some math, or much more likely, look at a chart. that tells you the weight of liquid propane that fills 80% of the volume of the tank. for a 20lb bbq tank, it will be 47.8, which is 20lbs of propane. a 100 lb tank will be 239, which is 100 lbs of propane. They're all individually tested, so if a given tank is a little bigger or smaller than nominal, the tw and wc will reflect that. Modern tanks are spot on these numbers, older ones will have variation. You can use the two numbers to figure out that a full bbq tank weighs about 37 lbs, and a full 100 lb tank about 170, and use your bathroom scale to tell how much is left in a tank.
Since a gallon of propane weighs about 4.24 lbs, you can see that a 20lb propane tank will take 4.7 gallons to fill from empty, and a 100 lb tank is 23.6 gallons. You can also confirm that the WC is the full capacity of the tank, to the very top, as water weighs 8.3 lbs a gallon. so a WC of 47.8 is about 5.8 gallons, and 80% of that is 4.7. (none of this works out exactly, because there's lots of rounding in my numbers.)