I'm confused about propane.
I understand what propane does. The confusing bit is how the gas stations arrive at the cost of the propane they put in my tanks. This morning the local Esso filled up my 30lb tank and has a gauge ...
Forum Discussion
wa8yxm wrote:Ductape wrote:
This all got started because the portable cylinders had no guage. It's dangerous to overfill, so the workaround was to figure out how much a full cylinder should weigh and measure it on a scale while filling.
Ah, but what you do not know is that the portable cylinders have always had a gauge/indicator called a Visual overfill indicator Valve on them.
People yammer how you got to open the valve to let the air out because air can not be compressed... I have no desire to tell you just exactly how many things are wrong with that, but I read it all the time from "Experts" who prove EX = Has Been and Spurt = Drip under pressure.
2 of the things wrong: ONE: there is no air in the tank to let out, only propane gas and liquid and some contaminates, 2: Air (And gaseous propane) can be compressed, I mean what do you fill your tires with? COMPRESSED AIR!! ALL gases can be compressed.
When the valve starts shooting out a white cloud (Water vapor condensed out of the air when the -40 degree liquid propane sprays out the jet) the tank is full.
Ya done good until that parenthetical statement! It is not water vapor, it is a cloud of liquid propane. Yes, when liquid propane appears at the "spitter valve", or when the OPD valve stops the flow, (whichever occurs first) the cylinder is full. Ideally, they both should occur at the same time. There are very few "ideal" cylinders out there!
