Ran out of propane in TEN DAYS!?

JaxDad wrote:
20 pounders, and 30’s too for that matter, are notoriously poor value for the money.

SoundGuy wrote:
Disagree. Apparently you're in the GTA as I am where the best value in propane refills is your local Costco - for a 20 lb tank it's currently around $10 Cdn.

JaxDad wrote:
You cannot compare a store’s loss-leader prices to market prices.

Sure I can, as long as that's what I'm paying. Why in the world would I pay twice as much at Crappy Tire when the price is consistently low at Costco, regardless of the reason?

Mexico maybe looser n a goose with cheatyourassoff gasoline pumps, but consumers draw the line with market weight scales and "gas" (propane and butane) sales. 23 years ago I went around for a couple of years with a 500 gram NIST calibration weight. Markets let me use it when there was no one around. I explained this was for their benefit. Three or four or five (?memory?) took disposable camera pictures of the weight sitting atop their scale and of the NIST trace document (which was a laser copy). Half a Kg is not a lot of weight, but a couple of "gas" dispensing places let me use it on their lpg dispensing platforms. They were right on the money.
And yes, I was nuts enough to get a stainless steel 20 liter NIST test measure from the Seraphin Test Measure Co, of Rancocas NJ. I measured over 300 dispensers down here. From coast to coast, Mexico to Guatemala. Paul Carroll, bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal Mexico City and I tested a downtown dispenser (Reforma and Insurgentes) and the test appeared in the October 1994 Wall Street Journal NAFTA edition). Carroll, kept the NIST document.

In Canada, every time I've filled a tank 20 or 30 lb, it's been by weight. In the US, it's often by volume or if not volume, fill until the overfill valve shuts off then charge a flat rate. Which is OK because I never fill unless empty.

Of course fuel is much cheaper in the US than in Canada no matter which way they do it.

My local filling station cheats people by underfilling 20 pounders. I weighed mine after a "fill" and it was just under 30lbs. Also, they charge a 40lb flat rate for both 30 pounders and 40 pounders (and it's not the 30lb flat rate). I was going to make a complaint but found it almost impossible to do. I fill elsewhere now.

Plumbed my home grill to my house propane so now I pay about 60 cents per litre.

SoundGuy wrote:

JaxDad wrote:
20 pounders, and 30’s too for that matter, are notoriously poor value for the money.

Disagree. Apparently you're in the GTA as I am where the best value in propane refills is your local Costco - for a 20 lb tank it's currently around $10 Cdn.

They also sell lunch for $2 that other fast food chains sell for $6 to $8.

You cannot compare a store’s loss-leader prices to market prices. Chinese Tire in my area both fills, and sells exchange tanks pre-filled. To fill your tank is $24.95, to get an exchange tank is $34.95. A good deal if you have an expired tank.

THE TERM "IS FULL"

IT DEPENDS ON THE MEANING OF THE WORD, "IS" ANY WORD AFTER "IS" IS IRRELEVANT. (William Jefferson Clinton)

Argument reminds me of FULL QUARTER POUND HAMBURGER!

(Before cooking. Meat is 50% fat)

FULL 3/16 pound beefgristle hamburger?

*Note: The term "full" describes the level of fill according to our terms. Due to manufacturing, temperature and processing variances, it is not possible to accurately describe amount of contents.

HUMONGO CEREAL 18" tall box. Open and find inside contents half full. Disclaimer: Due to package settling you may find contents less than full (What's that you say? 2-step process? Fill then vibrate contents then refill the box? We've been doing it this way for decades. Isn't a new appearance of our package good enough for you?)

When gasoline is delivered at a gas station, tanks are stabbed with a 12 foot long measurement pole. With yellow water tattletale paste on the end. Fuel is SOLD ACCORDING TO TEMPERATURE AT DELIVERY by volume.

The CORRECT way to dispense LPG is by weight but the process is too cumbersome to make dispensing by weight practical. I have filled everything from one pound disposables to 500 gallon set tanks. At 90% fill at ZERO FAHRENHEIT in Bishop California (pure propane) cylinders were taken to Mexico and sat in the sun at 90F ambient temperature. Not one EVER relieved due to overpressure. This was in the days of the ten percent valve fill level. Rock the tank and get liquid.

Houdini grade 3 walnut shells and a pea sales, impress me not. There is a 100 lb cylinder that is loaned to me. It's empty of pressure. But there is at least two gallons of process oil sloshing in the bottom. Tomorrow the tank gets taken to the salt flat and emptied into a deep hole which is then lit and burned off (ashes to ashes). The cylinder then goes to an LPG (butane) fill station where tare is taken before my eyes, the cylinder is filled by weight to the 10% bleed off. Butane has less than half the head pressure of propane. When I pay for full i expect full

I do not own one of these tee shirts. Nor do I wear a NO BAD DAYS tee shirt during a hurricane...

SaltiDawg wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
20# bottle, holds 4.7 gal that weigh 4.2# per gallon of liquid propane

If anyone puts in 15# the bottle is not full,
Charging for 20# is theif, by fraud

Oh nonsense.

I trust you didn't read about the Rhino Chain of Propane Stations and their machinations (look it up) re changing the level to which their bottle could be charged - and the resulting furor of "customers" that were unknowingly swapping their old cylinders for shiny new ones that had less than 20 Lbs capacity at 80% full.

Heck, they were crying, "Theif!" if I recall correctly.

Do some reading up on the subject before aggressively weighing in - and I mean "weighing in" in the very nicest "weigh."

Incredible! :R

a bottle exchange is NOT a fill up of your bottle
I think putting in less IS Crooked
but when 'buying' their bottle, you are 'agreeing' to their terms
they say its full, but did they state the amount that equals full ?

as you said big out cry the consumers considered it fraud, even if the courts did NOT, the bottles were labeled ( buyer be ware )

looked it up 2009, only 15# per tank
just away to get more money from the user, with out raising the price per exchange

when i get my RV frame tank filled, it is by the gallon

when i had my first one with (2) 7gal/thirty pound bottles

they where filled by the gallon, here in Calif and by the pound on my trip to Indiana, but that was 20yrs ago

pauldub wrote:
Out here in the wild wild west (west of the US Rockies), liquid propane is simply sold by the gallon. You simply pay for what you get. In 30+ years, I've never seen it sold by the pound. I have no idea what you get if you buy pre-filled cylinders and the corner grocery.

You are correct. It's sold by the gallon at every place I have ever bought propane. My house is also on propane and it's sold by the gallon as well.

Furnaces will take a lot of propane. We use electric heater during the day in the living area where we are, and set the furnace at 60 at night. Flannel sheets on the bed when it's cold with a heavy blanket and quilt and we are cozy all night. Even down to freezing, the furnace only comes on 2-3 times usually in the early morning. I can't imagine trying to keep your rv at 72 during the night when it was cold. It probably ran a lot.

Out here in the wild wild west (west of the US Rockies), liquid propane is simply sold by the gallon. You simply pay for what you get. In 30+ years, I've never seen it sold by the pound. I have no idea what you get if you buy pre-filled cylinders and the corner grocery.