I have a "76 lb tank" which I take to be "full" at 80% or 61 lbs. I am used to having two "30 lb" bottles, but when they get filled I am charged for typically 30 lbs, and they are only filled to 80% as well?
So it seems my "76 lb tank" is about the same as two 30s in real life?
As an example my first time to refill the tank it was showing about half full, and they put in 26 litres to fill it. I got charged by the litre for the tank instead of by the pound as with cylinders.
My Manchester hand- out says 4.24 lbs/gal (US gal no doubt) and that would be about 3.8 litres/gallon? so a 30 lb cylinder would be about 27 litres which is about what they put in my "76 lb" tank at about half full, so I am thinking all I have here is a sideways two 30 lbers same as I had in the 5er.
Is that about right? Or how do you figure propane amounts?
I also don't understand the "liquid propane" deal, where I had to go to a sort of gas pump that did propane to fill the tank instead of to the usual cylinder fill place. Don't cylinders get "liquid propane" too? But they charge by the pound to fill a cylinder, but by the litre to fill the tank.
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BFL13 wrote:
I still don't understand my propane situation. Any help appreciated.
I have a "76 lb tank" which I take to be "full" at 80% or 61 lbs. I am used to having two "30 lb" bottles, but when they get filled I am charged for typically 30 lbs, and they are only filled to 80% as well?
So it seems my "76 lb tank" is about the same as two 30s in real life?
As an example my first time to refill the tank it was showing about half full, and they put in 26 litres to fill it. I got charged by the litre for the tank instead of by the pound as with cylinders.
My Manchester hand- out says 4.24 lbs/gal (US gal no doubt) and that would be about 3.8 litres/gallon? so a 30 lb cylinder would be about 27 litres which is about what they put in my "76 lb" tank at about half full, so I am thinking all I have here is a sideways two 30 lbers same as I had in the 5er.
Is that about right? Or how do you figure propane amounts?
I also don't understand the "liquid propane" deal, where I had to go to a sort of gas pump that did propane to fill the tank instead of to the usual cylinder fill place. Don't cylinders get "liquid propane" too? But they charge by the pound to fill a cylinder, but by the litre to fill the tank.
I still don't understand my propane situation. Any help appreciated.
I have a "76 lb tank" which I take to be "full" at 80% or 61 lbs. I am used to having two "30 lb" bottles, but when they get filled I am charged for typically 30 lbs, and they are only filled to 80% as well?
So it seems my "76 lb tank" is about the same as two 30s in real life?
As an example my first time to refill the tank it was showing about half full, and they put in 26 litres to fill it. I got charged by the litre for the tank instead of by the pound as with cylinders.
My Manchester hand- out says 4.24 lbs/gal (US gal no doubt) and that would be about 3.8 litres/gallon? so a 30 lb cylinder would be about 27 litres which is about what they put in my "76 lb" tank at about half full, so I am thinking all I have here is a sideways two 30 lbers same as I had in the 5er.
Is that about right? Or how do you figure propane amounts?
I also don't understand the "liquid propane" deal, where I had to go to a sort of gas pump that did propane to fill the tank instead of to the usual cylinder fill place. Don't cylinders get "liquid propane" too? But they charge by the pound to fill a cylinder, but by the litre to fill the tank.
Erroll, Mary
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When they fill an empty "30 lb" cylinder by the gallon, do they put in 7.2 gallons as the 80% "full" ? (Manchester says 7.2 gal per 30 lb cylinder)
My 76 lb tank should be 17.9 gallons at 4.24 per. Does that seem right?
66 Liters would be 32.54 kG or 71.6 Pounds.
frame tanks and bottle have different fittings
maybe there is a regulation regarding who fills what up there in BC ?
yes, even bottles get liquid LP 'pumped' from the 'tank' at the place of fill up
is your tank marked in pounds, or in water volume gallons,
my tank is is 24.0 gallon appox 100#, my last fill up Sunday the 10th
was 21 gallon, i was not dead empty, the fridge was still going up till the moment i turned if off and shut off the tank
I can explain it to you.
But I Can Not understand it for you !
....
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I somehow thought I now had a huge amount of propane compared with before at two 30s. Maybe not? Same as?
Actually, I only think he said it was 26 litres. After he filled the tank he looked at at the pump numbers, then went to a little terminal beside that and tapped in a bunch of numbers, and then that spit out a slip of paper, which I took in and the cashier did something or other, and it came out as $26 on my Visa. Propane is about a dollar a pound but it is also approx. a pound per litre so I don't know. I was not paying enough attention obviously. Next time for sure!
* This post was edited 12/17/17 08:27pm by BFL13 *
Cheers!
Mike
Something Old, Something New
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For portable tanks, I've generally seen propane sold either by volume (so much per gallon/liter), by pound (which is typically just the volume multiplied by a conversion factor), or by a fixed price for a standard sized cylinder (so much per 20 lb cylinder). For a built-in tank, it's by volume or by weight (which is again just converted from the volume--it's pretty impractical to weigh a motorhome to determine a propane sale given the rather high tare weight).
Mike LeClair wrote:
I assume that you are talking about the propane tank on your class C that is slung under the frame of your MOHO? 76 pounds is the maximum capacity that the tank will hold AT the 80% level. Your tanks overall capacity would be 95 pounds X 80% = 76 pounds. The external spit valve on the tank, if used by the filling tech would start spitting fully as soon as the 76 pound level was achieved. Your tank does not likely have an OPD valve so the spit valve should always be used when filling. This is all hoping I got the question understood properly.
Cheers!
Mike
I assume that you are talking about the propane tank on your class C that is slung under the frame of your MOHO? 76 pounds is the maximum capacity that the tank will hold AT the 80% level. Your tanks overall capacity would be 95 pounds X 80% = 76 pounds. The external spit valve on the tank, if used by the filling tech would start spitting fully as soon as the 76 pound level was achieved. Your tank does not likely have an OPD valve so the spit valve should always be used when filling. This is all hoping I got the question understood properly.
Cheers!
Mike
Yes, I watched him do it as a first time for me. He turned off the tank valve first, then opened the filler and put in the nozzle and with his other hand he had a gizmo stick whatever it was that poked at the spit valve which he called something else, forget, and said that was to make sure it did not overfill. Afterwards, he asked if I wanted the tank back open-yes- and good to go.
Only bad part was it was a gas station with lots of cars everywhere darting back and forth and I had a heck of time manoeuvring the MH in and out of there and not hit anything.
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/frown.gif "frown")
Around here propane cylinders are filled by the pound, sitting on a set of scales.
So far it looks like the 76 lbs is the 80% and so is the 30 so my tank should be more than two 30s. It doesn't come out right that 26 litres is half a tank, so I will have to get more info next time it is "filled" and confirm the tank's gauge too.
* This post was edited 12/17/17 08:53pm by BFL13 *
BFL13 wrote:
Yes, I gather there are two sets of rules in the States for that so they can do either lbs or gallons.
When they fill an empty "30 lb" cylinder by the gallon, do they put in 7.2 gallons as the 80% "full" ? (Manchester says 7.2 gal per 30 lb cylinder)
My 76 lb tank should be 17.9 gallons at 4.24 per. Does that seem right?
Yes, I gather there are two sets of rules in the States for that so they can do either lbs or gallons.
When they fill an empty "30 lb" cylinder by the gallon, do they put in 7.2 gallons as the 80% "full" ? (Manchester says 7.2 gal per 30 lb cylinder)
My 76 lb tank should be 17.9 gallons at 4.24 per. Does that seem right?
weight or gallons works out the same. my 30 lb tanks will take 7.2Gallons which is 30lbs of propane, well actually 7.14 gallons, propane weights 4.2 lbs/ gallon
and yes, the 76lb tank should work out to about 19 gallons.
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BFL13 wrote:
Don't cylinders get "liquid propane" too? But they charge by the pound to fill a cylinder, but by the litre to fill the tank.
Yes they all get liquid.Don't cylinders get "liquid propane" too? But they charge by the pound to fill a cylinder, but by the litre to fill the tank.
You can't fill a tank by the weight unless you have the entire RV on a scale. So it is filled by liquid volume.
Price should be virtually the same as the weight vs volume is constant for the purpose of an RV.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
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BFL13 wrote:
I am used to having two "30 lb" bottles, but when they get filled I am charged for typically 30 lbs, and they are only filled to 80% as well?
I am used to having two "30 lb" bottles, but when they get filled I am charged for typically 30 lbs, and they are only filled to 80% as well?
30 lb tanks legally filled to 80% capacity contain 30 lbs of liquid propane. Multiply a tank's WC (water capacity) by 42% and that's how much liquid propane it will legally hold when properly filled.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/dzSh70nl.png)
BFL13 wrote:
It doesn't come out right that 26 litres is half a tank, so I will have to get more info next time it is "filled" and confirm the tank's gauge too.
It doesn't come out right that 26 litres is half a tank, so I will have to get more info next time it is "filled" and confirm the tank's gauge too.
The existing 1/2 or 50% plus an addition 30% = 80%, ie 26 litres represents ~1/3 of a tank or 30%.
Mike LeClair wrote:
Your tank does not likely have an OPD valve so the spit valve should always be used when filling.
Your tank does not likely have an OPD valve so the spit valve should always be used when filling.
A minor correction: The permanently installed ASME tanks on motorhomes do indeed have an OPD valve, albeit a bit different design than used in the portable DOT cylinders. The "spit" (Fixed Liquid Level Gauge) valve is always the recommended method of filling the tank though, with the OPD serving only as a backup. The same holds for DOT cylinders in that the OPD should not be used to indicate a full cylinder. ASME tanks were required to have an OPD long before DOT cylinders got them.
Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
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I am not too clear on what that means wrt "full" in litres even after reading a lot of Google articles and the posts in this thread, but I will get it straight eventually.
At the moment, I think I have the equivalent of about two and a half 30 lb bottles so that helps predict how long I can go before a refill ASSuming similar consumption as in the 5er. Actually this MH is easier to heat, so should do better.
Also looks like I will not need an extend a stay after all, like I was planning on, maybe later with more experience. Might get the BBQ adapter though.
Anyway, thanks for the help with all this.
I have a 1000 gallon tank at my home. Not very practical to weigh a 1000 gallon tank.
Propane delivery trucks all have meters that measure the amount of propane pumped into consumer tanks. These meters include a volume correction device known as an automatic temperature compensator. The temperature compensator takes into account the temperature of the liquid propane running through the meter and automatically adjusts to correctly deliver the amount of propane that the consumer ordered. By law, these devices are required to be re-calibrated and are adjusted based on the temperature of the liquid at the time of calibration. When a delivery of propane is made to your home or business, know that the amount you paid for is the amount you are actually getting.
if your talking about a MH mounted tank, what happens if you fill it when you are slightly off level? I don't know how these tanks are constructed with the spit valve etc. but if how do they accomidate (or lack theroff) if your filled off level? that might account for the difference.
Jayco-noslide
DrewE wrote:
23.2 gallons would be the water capacity. LPG capacity is about 80% of that, allowing for headspace. Thus, when properly filled, it would hold just about exactly 70 liters of LPG, or around 75 pounds, or the equivalent of two and a half 30 lb bottles.
23.2 gallons would be the water capacity. LPG capacity is about 80% of that, allowing for headspace. Thus, when properly filled, it would hold just about exactly 70 liters of LPG, or around 75 pounds, or the equivalent of two and a half 30 lb bottles.
Good--that's what I was guessing after all this.
My 1991 MH brochure says the 28 footer has a 76 lb tank. ( Their 24 and 26 footers had 45 lb tanks it seems)
Mr Wiz says he has a 24 gal tank "or 100#" Not clear on that. I saw some articles where they talked about "100 lb tanks" Perhaps that is more of a nick-name than an actual size?
EDIT- I see the 20ft Born Free MH specs show:
PROPANE CAPACITY
19.5 gallons (80 percent filled)
So I suspect that is the same tank at around 19 US gallons, not sure. That is a big tank for a 20 ft MH, but could be.
Maybe we all have exactly the same size tank and have different ideas of its size?
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
* This post was edited 12/18/17 10:14am by BFL13 *
red31 wrote:
The existing 1/2 or 50% plus an addition 30% = 80%, ie 26 litres represents ~1/3 of a tank or 30%.
BFL13 wrote:
It doesn't come out right that 26 litres is half a tank, so I will have to get more info next time it is "filled" and confirm the tank's gauge too.
It doesn't come out right that 26 litres is half a tank, so I will have to get more info next time it is "filled" and confirm the tank's gauge too.
The existing 1/2 or 50% plus an addition 30% = 80%, ie 26 litres represents ~1/3 of a tank or 30%.
Now I have had several coffees, this almost makes sense!
So the tank gauge reads about 3/4 when the tank is "full" which is the 80%, and it sends to the range hood monitor which then shows four lights as "full" (from a previous thread on here when I was asking about that)
So I went in with the tank gauge down from 3/4 to showing 1/2 (range hood was at three lights) and they put in (I think it was) 26 litres and the tank was full again.
So "1/2" isn't half either!
Full would be about 3 x 26 = 78 litres or about 20.5 gallons , which is off because my reading of "1/2" was very approximate so it is all in the ball park for around 19 gallons, so now I think I get it! Oops, that is just when you get in trouble---.
Try to fill at 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and see what goes in.
You really want to know capacity run it until the furnace quits.
It is what it is.
ktmrfs wrote:
BFL
if your talking about a MH mounted tank, what happens if you fill it when you are slightly off level? I don't know how these tanks are constructed with the spit valve etc. but if how do they accomidate (or lack theroff) if your filled off level? that might account for the difference.
BFL
if your talking about a MH mounted tank, what happens if you fill it when you are slightly off level? I don't know how these tanks are constructed with the spit valve etc. but if how do they accomidate (or lack theroff) if your filled off level? that might account for the difference.
The dip tube for the fixed liquid level gauge "spit" valve is located at the center of the tank. Being off level has virtually no effect on the amount it takes to fill the tank.
Have to get used to this way of doing propane. I liked the two bottles, where you knew when the first one went empty, about how long you had before the last one went. (Not quite as long as the first one of course)
I will have to learn when I should get a fill so I don't run out at an awkward time. That's why I have been trying to figure out how all this works. They don't make it easy---1/2 does not mean half etc? Who needs that? I think I have it sort of figured out now thanks to the help here.
1997 36ft Bounder 24 gal, 24*4.24=101.76, aka round off 100#
Dutch_12078 wrote:
The dip tube for the fixed liquid level gauge "spit" valve is located at the center of the tank. Being off level has virtually no effect on the amount it takes to fill the tank.
ktmrfs wrote:
BFL
if your talking about a MH mounted tank, what happens if you fill it when you are slightly off level? I don't know how these tanks are constructed with the spit valve etc. but if how do they accomidate (or lack theroff) if your filled off level? that might account for the difference.
BFL
if your talking about a MH mounted tank, what happens if you fill it when you are slightly off level? I don't know how these tanks are constructed with the spit valve etc. but if how do they accomidate (or lack theroff) if your filled off level? that might account for the difference.
The dip tube for the fixed liquid level gauge "spit" valve is located at the center of the tank. Being off level has virtually no effect on the amount it takes to fill the tank.
that makes sense. seems like it would be designed from a safety standpoint to not rely on it being level when filling.
MrWizard wrote:
1995 34ft Safari 26 gal
1997 36ft Bounder 24 gal, 24*4.24=101.76, aka round off 100#
1995 34ft Safari 26 gal
1997 36ft Bounder 24 gal, 24*4.24=101.76, aka round off 100#
Yes, but "full" is 80 lbs. I have also seen 4.14 as the conversion factor. Marshall hand-out says 4.24. Apparently nobody is in charge!
Somebody mentioned the confusion of "thirds" vs "quarters" between these two gauges in another thread. Anyway, it seems that the range hood monitor is a little "over" what is really there, while the tank gauge indicates less than what is there, so somewhere between should be close.
I agree it is all too silly. Another case where the people who invent these things have never gone RVing.
Mechanical gauges on tanks do sometimes get out of calibration
Run until you run out, get it filled, make a note of the amount
Use it until the guage reads empty
Refill and make a note, that difference is your reserve
What you still have when the guage reads empty
A few fill ups, and a few trips, and you will know your use pattern
"Trends and tendencies"
BFL13 wrote:
I agree it is all too silly. Another case where the people who invent these things have never gone RVing.
Or maybe they have customers that would otherwise run out and find it is better to have a reserve.I agree it is all too silly. Another case where the people who invent these things have never gone RVing.
Same with the fuel gauge. Vehicle does not stop at E but actually continues 10 to 40 more miles.
When the tank is on E by all means fill it up. If you have a long distance and feel more comfortable filling at half that is fine too.
So your tank size is one thing and your full amount of LP is another thing. Then some people call the tank size by the full amount "size"
I will think of mine as a "70 litre" tank if that is what it holds when "full" and they charge by the litre.
I got into this mess by trying to relate what my tank holds to what my 30lb bottles held. How naive!