Propane tank recertification

Kayteg1 wrote:
Yeah, even that forum has technical orientation, we can't get members to understand difference.
TANK is something welded, or bolted to RV frame, or bolted to foundation in front of your house.
Anything you can pull out is CYLINDER.

While that is mostly true it is not always true . My old Avion came with two portable 20# ASME TANKS . As I said , an ASME tank will have a label so stating with specification for wall thickness , pressure , etc. . A cylinder will have DOT stamped somewhere on the collar .

Yeah, even that forum has technical orientation, we can't get members to understand difference.
TANK is something welded, or bolted to RV frame, or bolted to foundation in front of your house.
Anything you can pull out is CYLINDER.

lakeside013104 wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
I ask propane seller in Las Vegas and they directed me to American Gas for re-certification.
The horizontal cylinders with gauge I have sell for about $300 new, so recert is worth it, even doing it last time in California, I paid $25 if not more.

To my understanding, most upright tanks are under DOT regulations and have an expiration date on them, usually every 10 years before re-certification is required.

Horizontal tanks are regulated under ASME guidelines and normally have no certification expiration date.

I believe the difference goes back to how the tank was manufactured, meaning DOT require less 'thickness' of the tank metal while ASME tanks are built with thicker metal, thus fall under different guidelines.

Someone with more experience than I will chime in, so stand by for more information.

Lakeside

you are mixing terms . If you have ASME TANKS it will say that on the label , usually they are permanently mounted . Most campers will have DOT CYLINDERS , BE they vertical or horizontal and have to be recertified . The weight of an ASME tank is more than twice that of a DOT cylinder of the same size .

Kayteg1 wrote:
I ask propane seller in Las Vegas and they directed me to American Gas for re-certification.
The horizontal cylinders with gauge I have sell for about $300 new, so recert is worth it, even doing it last time in California, I paid $25 if not more.

To my understanding, most upright tanks are under DOT regulations and have an expiration date on them, usually every 10 years before re-certification is required.

Horizontal tanks are regulated under ASME guidelines and normally have no certification expiration date.

I believe the difference goes back to how the tank was manufactured, meaning DOT require less 'thickness' of the tank metal while ASME tanks are built with thicker metal, thus fall under different guidelines.

Someone with more experience than I will chime in, so stand by for more information.

Lakeside

Amazon has the best prices on everything.
The California Suburban Propane had horizontal CYLINDERS on stock, but 4 years ago the sticker was $259

Kayteg1 wrote:

philh wrote:
Those proclaiming for tank exchange, most (all?) exchanges only fill the tank with 16 lbs of propane. 20% less than filling your own tank

But than few minutes exchange beats 1/2 hr wait for cylinders fill.
My last fill at Costco gave me good price, but was pretty big hassle.
Could not park close to propane pump, so having 2 cylinders had to find a cart and roll it to the center.
Than had to push the bell and wait for attendant. Took several minutes and he filled 2 cylinders, giving me a receipt to pay inside warehouse.
Long waiting lines, even I combined it with grocery pickup, but when i come back with paid receipt, turn out that the paper the attendant gave me had 2 bills on single slip of paper, so had to go back to cashier and pay for the 2nd. .
I have custom cylinders, so exchange for me is not possible, but than having gauge on them, very often leave the 2nd at home.
Not much need to carry spare when it last for 5 or more weeks and the gained storage is good for charcoal and snorkeling gear.

Well I have never needed to wait 1/2 hour to get tanks filled, most of the time about 5-10 minutes.

To the issue of re-certifying camper horizontal tanks, for visual easy peasy. Replacement is not cheap nor easy to find. Here is one on Amazon

I have had my propane tanks refilled at a great many different locations all across the country. I guess there are places which might refill an out of date tank. More likely they will check the certification and not refill tanks which need re-certification.

The first time I experienced this was with an exchange tank from Home Depot. I checked Lowe's and found the same issue. A great many of the exchange tanks are very old, out of date and do not show re-certification. Dealers will not refill them. The exchange places also rip you off by selling a 15# refill instead of a full 20 pounds. On the positive side they will take any tank as an exchange. I rounded up all my old tanks and searched through the exchange tanks for relatively new ones. Then I stopped using the exchanges and only have my tanks refilled.

Ski Pro 3 wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
1 more observation.
When you take your cylinders to gas station who also sells propane as side business - they never take a look at certifications.
Done it 4 times in last year.

Never. Except when they do. My tanks have been checked every place I've ever taken them including gas stations selling propane. Expired date, they ask me to move along as they do not cert. Which is how I discovered my local RV parts/repair shop sells propane cheaper than anyone else and certs for $5.

It's luck of the draw and likely the locale, imo.
Not that many years ago, I and probably most of you had never heard of or seen propane tank re-certification. Now, at least around Western WA it's been more common for me to get turned away due to >10 years old and no re-cert.
Thus far in the last couple years, Tractor Supply, U-haul and a couple random gas stations have refused to refill older tanks. But most gas stations, out of the way places and even a propane sales/accessories place have re-filled with without question.

bigfootgrey wrote:
The 20# cylinders in our Bigfoot were in great shape but the expiration date stamp had passed. I contacted numerous local propane dealers and none did recertification. I could not get the cylinders refilled due to expiration date. I ended up buying new cylinders. Check the date on the new ones also,some were already a year old!

Ours looked brand new but expired as well. It was easier to just buy new ones than to hunt around for a recertification that expires in a few years anyway. Less than the cost of a tank of fuel in the truck to replace after 12 years of ownership wasn’t worth fussing with.

The 20# cylinders in our Bigfoot were in great shape but the expiration date stamp had passed. I contacted numerous local propane dealers and none did recertification. I could not get the cylinders refilled due to expiration date. I ended up buying new cylinders. Check the date on the new ones also,some were already a year old!