geotex1 wrote:
If you go that route, please tell everyone on the forum where you are camping and also everyone in the CG to evacuate! There's a reason propane tank heaters are so expensive, even a 20# model costs about $375! Uncontrolled pressure rise is an bomb waiting to go off!
You're not having your tank freeze at all. What you are having is a pressure drop due to temperature conforming to the laws of thermodynamics.
You hit the first thing you can do inexpensively - keep them full! Next thing, keep them out of a draft. Many folks who camp in the cold replace their vinyl or plastic bottle covers with a nice cover fabricated out of at least 2" thick foam insulation because it also keeps the regulator warmer/shielded too. RV regulators aren't the best performing in the extreme cold either.
Agree with the above that full propane tanks are able to supply a greater flow and pressure due to the increased area of the metal tank in contact with the liquid propane inside.
However, the suggestion to insulate the propane tanks is absolutely the wrong thing to do - unless you also supply some source of heat inside the insulation. A bare propane tank absorbs heat energy from the surrounding air which then evaporates the liquid propane to gas to supply the appliances. A draft of air around the tank actually increases the rate of heat transfer into the tank, improving the rate of evaporation and keeping the pressure inside up. Insulating the tank cuts off the source of energy needed to evaporate the propane to a gas. Propane boils at something like minus 44 degrees F, so an air temperature above zero is plenty warm to boil off enough propane from a full tank to keep the appliances supplied.
