I want my own 100 gallon propane tank.

[willshak]

X-post to alt.building.construction and alt.home.repair

I currently have a 100 gal propane tank owned by the propane company. It is refilled by automatic delivery and the price is set by the company. At one time I had a tank owned by another propane supplier. I switched from that company to the company I currently use. This required that the old company had to come and remove their tank. I was reimbursed for the propane left in the old tank. The new company installed their tank and I was locked into whatever price they charged. I want to own my own tank so I can shop around for the best price when having my tank refilled, much like I do with my fuel oil tank. Having googled for 100 gal propane tanks, it seems that no one sells these large tanks to the general public. Even eBay does not have any new or used tanks for sale (Your search returned 0 items). Anyone have any ideas?

[Rico dJour]

I can't help you with your quest, but have you asked the propane companies if they'd have issues with filling a largish tank owned by the customer? There might be liability issues that would throw a wrench in your plans. Filling their own tanks keeps the liability within their control. There might be insurance issues that prevent them from filling your tank. They might also have issues with filling a tank where there's no 'contract' or assurance of continuity. Automatic delivery is the easiest thing for them. Changing customers costs the company money.

I think those questions have to be answered before you start shopping.

R

[jamesgangnc]

I've seen them for sale on cl. They might have date stamps on them so watch for that. I can't imagine a proane company not filling a tank just because they don't own it. I own my grill tanks. I own my actelene/oxygen tanks.

[gpsman]

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- gpsman

[willshak]

Yeah, I kinda assumed that when I couldn't find the tanks on line. Propane is explosive, unlike fuel oil. Maybe I should just abandon the idea.

[RicodJour]

Geez, Bill. I try to talk you out of something and I succeed on the first attempt? Where's the fun in that?! ;)

I really have no experience whatsoever with propane other than the little tanks, and I have no idea of whether large tanks are available for consumer purchase. I just raised some questions about potential problems from the distributor's viewpoint and that those should be addressed before running out an buying one.

Don't give up hope!

R

[willshak]

I would guess that it depends upon the size of the tank. Anyone can buy 4.25 lb. grill propane tanks. I don't know about oxy/acetylene tanks since I haven't used them since my Navy days 50 years ago, but I remember them having tanks the thickness of some armored vehicle bodies (not Tanks).

[Jay Zhu]

[willshak]

Actually, propane scares the shit out of me. 2 incidents come to mind.

1. Back about 1963 I lived 2 streets up a hill from a small propane tank farm on Rt. 9W in Congers, NY. I could see parts of the farm through the trees from my house. One morning, my wife awakened me to tell me there was a fire at the farm. From our front yard I watched grill sized propane tanks spewing fire being launched in all directions, one coming close to hitting my house. The larger tanks did not fly so far, but their screw-on caps did. There were also 100' tall pillars of fire coming from the fill tubes of underground tanks. No one was killed or injured, and the highway had to be closed. The cleanup took a long time afterwards. I think there are still some tank missiles hiding in the wooded areas around the farm and in the lake on the other side of the highway. It was never rebuilt.

1. I had a Member's Mark (Sam's Club) grill. It was a large grill with a cabinet underneath to store stuff. I had two of the usual grill propane tanks, one hooked up and the other stored under the grill in the cabinet. During the grilling one time, the first tank ran out. I unhooked it and reached into the cabinet for the spare tank and burned my hand grabbing the tank. It was too hot to handle due to it being right under and close to the grill bottom. I never stored a tank under there again. My next and current grill has a full width heat shield in the cabinet attached a few inches under the grill and the cabinet has a special construction in the floor to prevent the tank from tipping when moving the grill, but I never stored the extra tank in there anyway.

[Rico dJour]

When I was a middling lad a neighbor's house blew up like someone dropped a bomb on it. A propane tank in the garage somehow went off. No idea of the size of the tank, but it's an area that the only propane used is for gas grills. The wife died, the husband lived, and parts of the house were found hundreds of yards away.

R

[dadiOH]

Actually, you want a 120 gallon tank. No one will fill more than 80% full so that gves you 96 gallons when full.

The tanks rean't cheap.

[dadiOH]

It does the same to a lot of people and yet all those people think nothing about riding around for hours on top of 10-20 gallons of gasoline.

[Jon Danniken]

The gasoline itself isn't that dangerous, it's the air and fuel vapor mixture in the tank that is the explosive part. They build bombs using that concept, and they are the most powerful bombs made short of a nuke.

Jon

[Pete C.]

You can buy tanks from the propane suppliers if you want. Most people just lease the tanks and the propane company takes care of any maintenance, replaces the tank if there is a problem, etc. If you own the tank you will have to pay if there is a problem. Propane suppliers will generally fill owner tanks as long as they pass inspection.

[RBM]

I've been through this with propane companies in the past. This may be a regional thing, but in my area, downstate NY, any propane company will sell you whatever tank you like. They will only fill your tank if they did the inspection on it. If you want to shop prices, any new company will charge for an inspection before they'll fill it. Needless to say, I got away from using propane. I use oil for heating, and have a large storage capacity that only needs one filling per year, so I shop around and get the best cash price

[Vic Smith]

I was getting some hope from these stories. My wife has been pushing me for a few years to get a propane Weber. Thought I could use these stories to shut her up. But I just can't do that. Too many using them with no problem.

--Vic

[Ron]

My parents bought a 500 gallon tank YEARS ago. Sold the house and land a few years ago and the tank went with it.

[Larry W]

Who is "They" and can you give an example of a powerful bomb that uses an "air and fuel vapor mixture" as the explosive?

[John Smith]

Except for the fact that those that are listed are designated in pounds, not gallons.

[clare]

Actually, if propane had been the fuel of choice for cars for the last

60 years, gasoline wouldn't stand a chance of being approved as a motor fuel today. - and thos bombs do NOT use gasoline, generally. They use Kero, Diesel, or Jet fuel. (more energy per lb, for one thing, and safer to handle)