dougrainer wrote:
For peace of mind on a 13 year old tank, I would replace them. $62 at Camping World and about every other place listed. They hold about 7 gallons so add your cost per gallon LP in your area. Doug
Now that is just plain silly and a total waist of your money.
As long as the cylinders paint is in GOOD ORDER (IE no chipped paint, no rust especially along the welded seams) there is no real reason to randomly replace as "just because they are old".
As another poster mentioned the filling station CAN make a "VISUAL" inspection AND REFILL even when the certification time has run out and in fact they ARE supposed to do that for EVERY tank they fill.
The visual inspection amounts to making sure the paint is fine and there is no major deep rust.
Cylinders don't become "unsafe" just because of a date stamped on them, no, they become unsafe due to RUST damage which is caused by worn/damaged paint.
So, if the paint is thin, chipped or has any surface rust you can simply address the problem BEFORE it becomes a problem just by giving the cylinder a good quality paint job.
Some sandpaper and a rattle can and most places won't have an issue filling the tank.. Just be aware, repaint using LIGHT colored paints (had a friend that repainted on with black and didn't understand why they refused to fill it!).