Propane furnace, new consumption record set, maybe

Went camping at Laguna Seca, near Monterey, CA for the annual Sea Otter Classic mountain bike race.

Camped in the parking lot, arriving Wednesday afternoon and leaving Sunday evening.

Fridge on gas, stove used for all meals except one BBQ dinner, water heater on gas the whole time, furnace set at 60-65 overnight.

Left home with two tanks about three quartes full, based on picking them up.

On Saturday I had to go fill one of the tanks. I would have thought that two nearly full tanks would have been enough to dry camp for 4 days.

Also had to run the generator for about an hour each day.

This is the first time we used the furnace that much. I guess everyone was right when the said how much the furnace uses up the battery and propane.

The guages on my propane tanks only show about 3/4 full or less when freshly filled. The OPV (Over pressure valve) closes at that point and the dealer can't get any more in. My tanks are designed to lie on their side on the TM but be upright when filled.

On my trip home with the new TM, I stopped in Nebraska at a big propane dealer (only thing they sold) and he weighed my tank and stamped the weight on the side. I believe the guage read full after he filled it, but thats the only time it happened. 3/4 or less is all I get when freshly filled.

I should do as Leon says and weigh them.

I think I'll weigh mine. If you weigh it both empty and full then you can determine how much is in the tank.

It is my understanding that all propane bottles used on the TM have already been weighed empty. You should find that weight stamped on the upper collar of each bottle. Then weigh your tanks when full. Write this "filled weight" down on the side of your tank using a magic marker. The difference between the bottle weight and the full weight will tell you the number of pounds your specific tank holds. Then when in doubt about the quantity of the unused propane, weigh the tank again. Note the difference in pounds of propane that was used. You should be able to determine the percent of remaining propane. Or if someone here knows the weight of a gallon of propane, you can also determine the number and percent of gallons remaining.

Hal

There is another factor (or urban legend?) to be considered. Each time a bottle is refilled, an unknown amount of moisture (water?) is pumped into the bottle. Being that water does not ignite, it remains in the bottle and is added to by more water each time it is refilled. Eventually you will have too much water by weight and bottle capacity. Thus each time you refill your bottle you will get less and less of a full capacity of propane. Whether this is a fact or not, something similar to this did happen to me. Just before a camp out, I had my bottles filled. The first bottle that I began to use had only a red flame and very little blue. It was as though it was empty of propane. I turned the control valve over to the other bottle and all worked well. I took the unusable bottle to another propane dealer and he told me that the bottles should be throughly bled, not just a few minutes of bleeding. It took him about a half hour to bleed mine thoroughly From then on it worked like new. Since then when I have my bottles filled, I request that they need to be bled thoroughly. I get different responses such as they really do not need to be bled to this extent. Of course the person fills the tank has to stand by the process during the whole time and wants to do some other things besides stand for a half hour. If this is all true, those distributors of propane that charge one price for a fill-up or a top off, always come out ahead because if you are filling your tanks you will also be paying for the water that is already inside them.

Supposedly, here in Denver at least, all of the U-Haul stores charge you by the amount they place in the bottle. Could this be a nationwide policy?

Hal

The local Unocal station charges by the tank. If you take in two tanks, each half full, they want to charge for two tanks. A friend of mine uses UHaul, because the charge by the amount the put in the tank.

I'm switching to UHaul. It is a few miles away, but at least the price makes sense.