[rant]
I just found-out I've got a ~200 pound chunk of useless metal due to a new federal law.  Of course, that's after borrowing a truck, finding help loading it, and hurting my back in the process.  I just took my propane tank to be filled during lunch, and found-out that because it doesn't contain an over-pressure valve, I can no longer get it refilled.  I run my home stove, oven, heat in my shop, backup heat for my house, dryer, generator, and several other things off of propane, so this isn't good.  That's also why I can't lease a tank, because every company I talked to requires every device you connect to it to be UL listed.  I called around, and the best deal on a new tank that I could find is going to cost me twice as much as an electric stove(!) and take two weeks to get here.  I might just buy a microwave next week and sleep on the decision for a while.  That or go buy an electric oven, wire, and circuit breakers to hook-up it up.  I'd lose my backup heat, have to convert my generator to gas, and have to live without a dryer, but an electric oven would make my wife happier.  Either way, there's not going to be any hot food at my home for a while!  I haven't called home yet to tell my wife.z

PS:  To the federal government, thank you for meddling in my life again.  I've got something that's been safe, cheap, and useful for almost 50 years.  Why is it suddenly a problem now?
[/rant]

Shop around for a place to re-fill...

You should be able to just replace the valve.

medcop

I think this was covered here before, but maybe it was somewhere else.

Because of some incidents (don't believe it was many) of overfilling by ignorant or stupid people, all the tanks have to now be idiot proof.  What I saw earlier seemed to indicate that retrofitting was sometimes not an option.

Anyone smell campaign contributions?

Note that this seems better for the industry than an expensive recall.  I think they might be making lots of money out of this.

My question:  If people have a tank on lease from the gas company, can they switch gas companies (where there's competition, that is) and tell the old company to come haul away their useless old tank away?

How much does a new tank for an RV cost, anyway?

Seems like a lot of retirees will have to do without their hard-on drugs for a while in order to get gas.  Bummer!


Edited to add:  Here's some information...

[url]http://www.npga.org/public/articles/OPD_Consumer_QA.pdf[/url]

Not certain, but I belive that OPDs are only required on 4- to 40-pound portable tanks.  The others aren't required to have it, and can be legally refilled. Also, older tanks can be retrofitted with a new OPD. It's usually cheaper to just buy a new 20 or 30-pound tank, but the larger sizes are still worth converting.

[Texas accent] When dealing with propane and propane accessories, always use all appropriate safety devices. (I want to sell propane and propane accessories when i grow up. If my grades are good enough...)[/Texas accent]



Scott

That is such an easy, cheap fix... just add a popoff.  These are not hard to find... if you don't know how to put it on, I am sure you can find someone who can.  

The valve is welded in place.  It was leaking, and that's the only solution I've found that would work for the tanks I've had in the past.

Thanks for the link PRK.  Interesting propaganda.

To the guy who e-mailed me, thanks.  Your suggestion to just buy a toaster over is a good one.  Cheap too.

I just talked to a (distant) relative that works for a local company that mainly deals with propane.  She said their business has gone-up tremendously since they started requiring the valves.  She said their insurance company requires it on all customer-owned tanks that they fill.  How convenient.  They don't have to upgrade their larger tanks, but the customers have to buy new tanks or valves.  She said that most of their customers were opting to have them do some cutting and welding to replace the valves and the part that the valve screws into (since the release valves are all a different size than the older valves).  My tank isn't big enough to justify that cost, so she's going to see if she can get me a deal on an old tank with the upgraded valve.  I still don't know what to do.  Realistically, I might only be living on my own for a few more years before having to move to a (I hate this term) nursing home, but if I'm lucky, I could be fine for many more years.  I don't know how long of a time to plan for.  No matter what I'm doing, on the way home, I'm picking-up stuff to make sandwiches since there won't be any cooking in my house for a while.z

Yep.  In that FAQ (or should I say FUQ) I linked to, there is some interesting dodging on the question about why some companies are requiring this even though their state hasn't adopted the requirement as a law.  



The tanks may require re-testing after such a modification.  I don't know for sure.



Make sure she checks the age of any older tank and also whether it has the proper knob as mentioned in the FAQ.  You don't want a tank that's going to have to be retired due to age or cost of testing, or with an early compliant valve that has a round knob (that knob issue would be something they could pull more BS on in the future).  

Maybe if they're so safety conscious she can get them to throw in a pressure test - I don't know how often that is required.

Good luck on this.

Same happened to me.

Sucks bigtime.

Thanks BigGov, I feeeel so much better now.

Are you sure that will be accepted by the propane companies?

Hey, Zone:  I forgot to suggest asking you relative if she knows whether your state has adopted the new code or whatever they call it.
If it hasn't, maybe you could find another company who will fill it for you (say they have not been hit up by their insurance company yet)-- even if you had to drive an hour it might be worth it for now.

This kind of crap just really gets me mad.

Why don't you call up Hank n Peggy.  I'm shorn they could fix you right up, yessire.

Certainly there is more than one fitting on the tank?  If not popoff can be T'd below the fill valve.

I do not know a welder who is stupid enough to weld on a tank that cannot be completely purged.

And if it is welded on, it would have to be retested.

If it is as old as you say, I would junk it.  Hey bring it out to the woods somewhere, and pop it from about 300 yds with some API.  That should be fun.

About shooting the old tank, sounds fun, but I don't have anywhere to legally do that since it's illegal to shoot in about 90% of the county I live-in.

I got an old tank from a neighbor that just wanted to get rid of a rusty eye-sore.  It looks bad, but is still almost half-full!  I wrestled about 1,000 yards through the woods to my house, and I now have hot food!  I think I've got about (wild-guess) enough gas to handle 18 months worth of cooking.  After that, I'll have to figure something else out, but at least it gives me time to plan.z

Really, as fun as it sounds, don't shoot your old tank... though old spray paint cans are lotsa fun.

Just drag it away from the house, crack the valve, only if a good breeze, and drain it completely, then remove the valve carefully, a quarter turn at a time, listening for any pressure release.  When you have the valve removed so the tank is absolutely open, you can get rid of it.