Propane tank recertification

I think the rule is in place ... just in case. It’s not really that big of an issue. If you have standard sized tanks, do a tank exchange. Otherwise, it’s 12 years for the tanks manufacture date to need recertification and every 5 years, thereafter.

Also, it means you don’t have to find out on the road that all of your propane leaked out or worse catch fire/blow up. Now, most of our TCs have propane detectors, so for the most part, you have it go off if you have a leak to the inside of the TC.

As far as side businesses are concerned, they may or may not check. I had a local place fill without and within a week, had a Love’s truck stop point it out. I actually didn’t know they had expired. Turns out my tank manufacture date was before the TC manufacture date. If they do notice and refuse to refill and you are on the road, it would be an extreme hassle.

Tanks have different certifications than cylinders and cylinders don't have relief valves.
Sounds like re-certifications vary by state, or maybe by the technicians.
I spend some time on the net searching and could not find official page saying what it takes.

I've never had them check internally to recertify..

Here is a description of what we do for you:

Check the tank date of manufacture
Check the tank for leaks
Check to make sure the tank has the required decals
Check the valve guard
Check the foot-ring
Check for dents & gouges
Check for rust
Replace the relief valve – This valve is set to release any excess pressure in the propane tank. The valve is equipped with a protective cap to keep the valve clean from water and debris. The relief valve must be replaced within 12 years of the date of manufacture of the container and every 10 years thereafter. See NFPA 58 Sec 2-3.2.5.

Kayteg1 wrote:
You can't inspect the cylinder interior without bleeding the propane.
For $5 I smell a rat.
Propane Tanks are not subject to DOT certifications, therefore no inspection even on 50 yo.
And yes, there are lot of 50 yo tanks around.

No rat, whatsoever. I had 3 tanks recertified at my local farm supply store last year while I waited. They are also a propane supplier and can change valves and do ANY service required on propane cylinders. The standard recertification is simply an external corrosion and damage inspection. I watched while he did it. He did replace the warning labels and ID labels which had been severely scraped and defaced through use. NO INTERNAL INSPECTION REQUIRED.

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.

For the hassle and only good for 5 years on re-cert I just bought a new cylinder good for 12 years. Of course if you have something unique that costs more to replace then the re-cert is the way to go.

Eric&Lisa wrote:
I am curious.... What can go bad on an RV propane tank that requires re-certification?

Technically only corrosion, but the certification requirement come at the time when industry switched to valve who will automatically shut off at certain level.
Older tanks & cylinders relied on humans for proper level bleeding and that proved to be dangerous.
I also have scuba cylinders and they have 3-stages of different certifications.
-visual inspection
-checking the inside for corrosion
-"hydro test" when cylinder is filled with high pressure liquid (liquid for safety).
So comparing, propane certification is peanuts.
I filled up 2 different cylinders at Costco 2 days ago.
The technician hooked up cylinder on scale, went on the other side to computer screen, punched the cylinder size and got a beep when cylinder was filled. No more bleeding.

I am curious.... What can go bad on an RV propane tank that requires re-certification? I am not looking for 'because the oppressive government says so'. I am looking for some sort of technical issue that causes propane tanks to actually wear out and become unsafe.

Obviously physical damage to the tank - dents, gouges, corrosion, etc - can put the integrity of the tank at risk. Those could be present at any time, and thus that tank should be re-evaluated when the damage occurs, not on a preset schedule. Yes, propane tanks can have 100-200 PSI present in them. But it is not the 2000+ PSI of a welding tank or 3000+ PSI of a SCUBA tank. I suppose metal fatigue from varying pressure can impact the life of the tank...but the air compressor in my shop has similar PSI and cycles between empty & full a lot more often. I don't need to re-certify the tank on the air compressor.

I did a little bit of Internet research. It seems re-certification is only applicable toward tanks that are 100 lbs or less. The large propane 'pig' behind a rural house does not appear to need re-certification, ever. And it seems there is a lot more propane at risk there, compared to a RV/BBQ sized tank.

I just don't see a propane tank in a well maintained RV magically going bad and needing to be replaced. My tinfoil hat is telling me this is some sort of industry regulation put in place by a political lobby to force people to buy new tanks every few years, and has little real world value behind it. If only Hank Hill was on this forum. He seems like the guy who would give me a straight answer regardless of what the official rules are. :)

Final question... Has anyone paid to have their tank re-certified and been told it needs to be replaced (and why)?

Thanks,
-Eric

You can't inspect the cylinder interior without bleeding the propane.
For $5 I smell a rat.
Propane Tanks are not subject to DOT certifications, therefore no inspection even on 50 yo.
And yes, there are lot of 50 yo tanks around.

It’s $5 or so around here at any propane supply, but people also use propane for heat. I’d call a big propane supplier. The inspection takes just a few minutes, but we dropped ours off and had it filled. They waved the inspection fee because we filled up.

I don’t think permanent mount true horizontal tanks require inspection and don’t age out like vertical tanks.