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I Forge Iron

"Propane" Won't Burn????


tech413

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Well, on Friday I bought a 100lb tank and have been using up old 30lb tanks I have around. I hooked up the 100lb today and the forge was runnin funny. I pulled out the burner and tried to light it out of the forge. I got a few wiffs of flame but no burn. I then hooked up the old tank thinking maybe something was wrong with the burner, but it worked fine. Any ideas before I go back and xxxxx at the guy that sold me the propane?

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Not to upset you but is the tank empty? An empty bottle that size is still a bit weighty. You can call a local supplier and they will likely tell you weight empty and full. And one more question the may sound foolish..Are you using the same regulator with both bottles...?
If none of the above thoughts help then just ignore me.....

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now i don't know if this goes for the 100 pounders but it should when i worked years ago filling 20 and 30s at the hardware store you had to purge the new tanks there was a screw head on the side that as you were filling the tank you opened it to purge out the air in the tank as they fill it the gas is on the bottom and pushes out the air through the purge screw did you tell the guy there it was a new tank so he knew to purge it ?

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do you have a regulator that tells you how much pressure is in the tank? i use a propane regulator that is just like a acetalin regulator so it shows the presure thats in there now the other thing does the guy filling the tAnk ever filled a hundred pound tank the tank takes a hundred pounds on top of the weight of the tank should weght around 170 pounds full and 70 empty

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I don't know about 100lb tanks but the new type safety valve they put in smaller tanks doesn't like a sudden pressure drop and shuts down automatically. We had to open the tank valve very slowly to get a weed burner to work.

It'd light off and after a second or so sputter out. You might try opening the valve slowly and see if it helps.

Frosty

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I went to the propane supplier on the way in, he said that it was his fault and he didn't purge the tank. I'm gonna bring the tank in tomorrow in the AM. He said he would need it for a day or 2 to drain it and refill. Now I'm going to be with out propane this weekend:o. I think I'm going to tell him I want a tank for the weekend so I can forge. I have some stuff I have to make for people that have placed orders. I'm NOT HAPPY.:mad:

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Huh? Typically if you forget to purge a new tank it just won't take more than a little bit, won't even make the meter turn let alone make the scale twitch. I made that mistake once many years ago and it was glaringly obvious immediately. Seriously even a little propane tank won't fill in a couple seconds.

Correcting it was a piece of cake, I just opened the valve and let it vent and filled it. It took the proper amount on the second try, no problem.

The little valve is called the 10% valve because it begins venting liquid when there is still 10% of the tank volume left. It's important to leave the room so the propane can safely expand with temp differences without venting gas.

It also works for purging a new tank but is a lot less efficient than simply filling til the pump stalls. Then just opening the tank valve and refilling to capacity. (90% tank volume) This is how the LP gas guy showed us when we got "trained" at the service station many moons ago.

Personally I'd tell him I'm going to wait because the whole process shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

Frosty

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I kind of thought so, thanks Frosty, I'll talk to him, if not he's going to have to give me a loner for the weekend.

Well, I took the tank in today and he said he would need it for the weekend. I told him that I needed propane this weekend, so he gave me one of his 100lb tanks and said use it till it's empty:D. So I'll have his tank for a while.

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That's fair.

And to be fair on this end, he may not be allowed to just vent propane to the open air like we could in years past and has to hook it up to a complicated recovery system like the one on the nozzle at the local gas station.

Even if it's just a shop policy he's willing to make good for the mistake so it's no harm no foul. Excepting the extra gas necessary for making a second trip. Hopefully he won't charge you for your properly filled tank as an offset.

Still, I'd be satisfied.

Frosty

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would have used his for the weekend and returned tues or weds. Sounds like he made it right. I had the same problem with a 20lb tank turned out the propane camp stove had a check valve in the POL fitting end. I'm assuming to keep dirt n critters out. 2 min with a mini screwdriver fixed that problem.

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