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Fisher_Bill's avatar
Fisher_Bill
Explorer
May 02, 2016

Overfilled Propane tank is what the firemen said...

We took the AF to Nehalem Bay State park on the Oregon coast last weekend, great weather but windy.

After getting home on Sunday and off loading the camper I noticed a strong smell of propane and I opened the cabinet and it was leaking through the overflow badly.

So I grabbed a wrench and pulled the bottle (7.5 gal) out and as I tipped it to clear the door it really started spitting and was venting LP pretty fast so I took it to the end of the driveway away from everything.

I tried relieving the pressure with the valve but the safety set so I opened up the vent and let more pressure out.

After an hour of this it would not settle down so I called the fire department for advise, listened to a recording and waited for another 15 or so minutes before I called 911.

She said police, fire or medical? I said fire and she asked what was on fire, I explained that I could not get the bottle to stop leaking and I was not comfortable with the situation so they sent a truck out, the guys were great and they all agreed on two things, the tank was doing what it was supposed to do and that kid at the gas station over filled it.

Also because it was filled Friday and it was cooler it also was affected by heat so the 15 degrees warmer in the Portland area caused expansion.

So at their recommendation we hooked up an appliance and let it run for a while in the back yard and all is good.

I've never had this issue before and wondered if there are similar stories?

Bill
Truck Campers
  • trail-explorer's avatar
    trail-explorer
    Explorer
    May 02, 2016
    Dave Pete wrote:
    I went down and talked this over with Hank Hill. He just shook his head sadly and said "see, this is why I can't retire. I'll die in this job", and passed me a beer.


    "Propane's the LIFE-BLOOD Of America, Boy" he says to his son Bobby.
  • DWeikert's avatar
    DWeikert
    Explorer II
    May 02, 2016
    Many years ago I had a 100lb bottle feeding my house. One summer day I got home after work when they had filled the bottle in the morning. Just as I pulled in the driveway and parked next to the bottle it was like someone pulled the handle on a CO2 fire extinguisher. A cloud of white vapor and a cone of gas coming from the top of the bottle. Only lasted about 5 seconds but long enough for me to call the propane dealer. Fortunately the person that answered new the business and after my description he just said "Popping off is she." He then explained the over pressure valve and how filling the tank in the morning at 60* the gas expanded by the time I got home to 90* with the bottle sitting in the sun. He offered to send someone out but after his description I just told him I'd keep an eye on it and call back if it continues.
  • Dave_Pete's avatar
    Dave_Pete
    Explorer II
    May 02, 2016
    I went down and talked this over with Hank Hill. He just shook his head sadly and said "see, this is why I can't retire. I'll die in this job", and passed me a beer.
  • lanerd's avatar
    lanerd
    Explorer II
    May 02, 2016
    GordonThree wrote:
    Good to hear nothing bad happened!

    I thought legal (certified) bottles had an internal device to physically prevent overfilling?


    They do, but as the OP said, it was filled when it was 15 degrees cooler. The propane expanded with the added temps and the "internal device" release the gas to keep the tank from reaching capacity

    At least, this is how I understand how the work.

    Ron
  • Artum_Snowbird's avatar
    Artum_Snowbird
    Explorer
    May 02, 2016
    If you have a round valve propane bottle, they would let the bleed leak liquid when the tank was full, letting the dispenser know to shut it off.

    If you have a triangular valve propane bottle, then do not have a bleed, but they have an internal check valve to stop the flow.

    If the filler had a round valve and didn't open the bleed, and gave you a metered amount, but there was already some in the tank, the tank would overfill. I reckon that is what happened.
  • kohldad's avatar
    kohldad
    Explorer III
    May 02, 2016
    Had the same thing happen when I had two 30# tanks filled in the morning before headed to Myrtle Beach on a hot day. We set up camp, went up to check out the beach for a few minutes and came back to one of the tanks venting. This was before OPD so after moving the tank about 40' from the trailer opened up the valve for a minute to relieve the pressure. After hind sight, I was very lucky that the released gas dissappated before hitting an ignition source because the area I used was a bit of a bowl surrounded by campers with little wind. Got real nevous as I saw the cloud just hang around for a few minutes before it began to clear. Think the thing that saved me was it was still early in the season so not tons of folks around combined with mid morning so not a lot of folks coming or going.

    Made it a point if I wasn't pulling LP from the tank, to get them filled in the afternoon when the temp was the highest. Never had the problem again with those tanks or others.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    May 02, 2016
    Good to hear nothing bad happened!

    I thought legal (certified) bottles had an internal device to physically prevent overfilling?
  • jimh406's avatar
    jimh406
    Explorer III
    May 02, 2016
    I haven't had the same story, but I have no idea why it doesn't happen more often.

    I'm glad it turned out ok, and I guess that's why the propane compartments are vented!

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