Powderfinger

Okay Frosty, I will look into it. Just to clarify there is no debris in the valve as it was always capped. It just looks a bit oxidized.

3 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

If the regulators are rated "for all fuel gasses" then they should be fine.  If not then not!

They don't say that Thomas, they are marked as acetylene then they say pressurized gas regulator. They are both older made in the USA regulators.

I messed with it some more this evening and I think it is in the valve. When I open the valve on the 100 lb. with nothing hooked to it I can hear a good volume of gas coming out but not much pressure. When I do the same with the 20 lb. tank I hear a lot more coming out and it is down to about a 1/4 tank. So it seems there isn't enough pressure coming out of the 100 lb. to work through the regulator. I tapped on the valve and didn't notice any difference,  with the valve closed I sprayed some brake clean in, blew that out with compressed air then I filled it with penetrating oil and put a silicone plug in it. I will let that sit overnight and see if it helps.  I got to thinking and this tank has sat for some long periods of time so maybe something is seized up.

It has about 40 or 50 pounds of propane in it so I don't know what to do about that if I want to change the valve, I guess I would just take it down by the woods on a breezy day and crack open the valve. 

I looked at some adjustable propane regulators on Ebay and I might try one but the setup I have now has better gages and a nice long hose that I hate to give up. 

Thanks for the replies guys!

Bryson, it is at least good to hear someone has the same problem so it isn't just me.

Andy, yes the 100 pound can sit for however long not hooked to anything and it doesn't work right from the time it is hooked up.

These are acetylene regulators like for cutting torches. One has a male end that threads left hand into the propane tank, the other has a female end that I use an adapter that makes it the same as the first one. They both will work with the 20 pound tank. 

17 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Welcome aboard Powderfinger, glad to have you. You'll have to tell us the story behind your webhandle sometime. Anyway, if you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised at how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance.

About your problem. Spend the $20-30 and buy a real high flow/psi propane regulator. Unless it's rated for propane acet regulators tend to get their guts eaten by the highly chemically active propane.

Open the tank valve SLOWLY and it won't "usually" trip the excess flow valve. If you're exchanging tanks like I do specify a commercial tank they don't require the "safety" devices the typical home use tanks do. I exchange 20 and 40lb. bottles indiscriminately and have never had the excess flow valve shut it down. My forges have a 1/4 turn ball valve at the forge and another on the tank. My forges are usually multiple burner set ups so the prop is run to a manifold and then to individual burners via 1/8" copper tubing.

If I had all my burner valves open and spun the tank valve open quickly it WILL engage the overflow valve. The things are there to prevent folks burning their house down because something cuts or burns the supply hose. A sudden discharge of propane trips the safety valve. Open the burner valves slowly and you're fine.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Thanks for the info Frosty, no interesting story behind my webhandle. It is the name of a Neil Young song that I like and I do some powder coating so I just thought it fit.  

I have a nice propane forge that I built a few years back, single burner, pretty standard design. The forge works fine with my 20 pound tank and will use all the propane until empty. I also have a 100 pound tank that will run the forge when full but when the volume drops to about a half tank it won't flow hardly any gas, barely enough to stay lit.

I use an acetylene regulator, actually I have two and get the same result with each. It doesn't show any pressure with the big tank even though there is plenty of fuel. The tank valve is wide open and the regulator also wide open.

Has anyone else had this problem or use a different regulator setup?

I only have the single hundred pound tank so I don't have another to try to see if it's a problem with the tank. The tank was made in 2002 and I have had it since new and used to use it with a wall heater and it would drain the tank.

Thanks for any help.  

I've got an old Rigid horizontal saw. I literally bought it out of a chicken coop about a dozen years ago. 

It's been a great saw, I've only seen one other like it.