Filling Propane Tanks
Over the past few years whenever I take my propane tanks from my trailer to be filled, the person doing the filling always opened a vent on the tank valve with a screwdriver as he/she was adding propa...
Forum Discussion
profdant139 wrote:
OK -- I am once again revealing my ignorance. I have always wondered about the venting and the screwdriver. Why is that necessary? What does it accomplish?
Thanks for enlightening me -- sorry if this is an obvious question.
The danger lies in overfilling the tank and not allowing for thermal expansion of the liquid inside the tank when the tank gets warmer. The tank could then vent (if the vent works) in an enclosed area and cause an explosion if something ignites the fuel air mixture. Venting propane is heavier then air and will travel along the ground and could happen upon an ignition source. In other words venting propane can be dangerous so they do not want to overfill the tank.
