Fiberglass/plastic propane tank

[rabbit]

LP Tanks and Heater Accessories by LITE CYLINDER - LP and Butane Fuel Tanks by Zoro Tools Industrial Supplies

Largest LC I could find currently. After further reading, I believe "15 yr. life of tank" is just that; I also would like to know where and how the inspection interval is marked on tank.

jack

[Otters]

Originally Posted by rabbit

LP Tanks and Heater Accessories by LITE CYLINDER - LP and Butane Fuel Tanks by Zoro Tools Industrial Supplies
jack

Is the case color really green? Description says "Natural". The green doesn't really go with my glamping decor color scheme. This green is the only large size I've been able to find. Shuuuuuuuuuuukkkkkkkkkkksssss!

[cpaharley2008]

No, I had a 25Lb model in khaki/vanilla

[rabbit]

http://www.litecylinder.com/Portals/...nserts_25H.pdf

This is tank I bought from Jim. It is marked 12.6 kilograms on the plastic cage but "full" is apparently 11.6 kilo or 25.5lb rather than 12.5 Kilo or 27.5lb. I'd say it's a "tweener" and invites misinterpretation of capacity based on labelling. It's included on the LC website but I can't find it for sale except with the green plastic cage.

jack

[cpaharley2008]

Actually Jack, that is not the one I sold to you, mine was a vertical tank, the one above is a horizontal tank. Here is the one you have
The Lite Cylinder - Revolutionary Propane Cylinders > Products > Details

[Night Sailor]

Originally Posted by Tim Wood

I have thought about one of these for my trailer, the only thing that holds me back is the thought of someone stealing it.

I am more worried about a fire burning through and the follow on conflagration.

[cpaharley2008]

Camping World just put on sale their 30 lb metal tank, normally $99 for $36
Doorbuster Specials - In Stores Only! - Camping World

[rabbit]

Jim, I knew that! Actually I did know the difference and still posted the wrong link. The 25 pounder (upright) does seem to have disappeared from the offerings of a number of internet sellers. Here's the one:

http://www.litecylinder.com/Portals/...nserts_25V.pdf

Specs are the same as for the horizontal tank.

jack

[cpaharley2008]

That horizontal tank looks interesting, You could lay it flat on your tongue and the issue of opening your hatchback some of us have would disappear. I'm thinking about swapping my dual 20's for a single horizontal clear 25 lb. Just need to figure the mounting. I can then get a swing-a-way jack and my FJ rear swing door can then open.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rabbit

It is marked 12.6 kilograms on the plastic cage but "full" is apparently 11.6 kilo or 25.5lb rather than 12.5 Kilo or 27.5lb.

I've never seen a propane cylinder which lists its propane capacity on the tank, so I'm interested in what this marking might mean. Jack, can you post a photo showing all of the markings (or at least this one in context), or a transcription of the full set of markings?

Propane cylinders are normally marked with tare (empty) weight, some indication of size (volume or "water capacity"), and various non-weight data such as manufacturing date and DOT or ASME approval... not propane capacity. "12.6 kg" isn't any of these values for this tank.

[Jared J]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Camping World just put on sale their 30 lb metal tank, normally $99 for $36
Doorbuster Specials - In Stores Only! - Camping World

thanks for the heads up. emailed my parents to see if they would get the membership and pick up two of the tanks for me. I'll pay for it all, still two tanks for the price of one.

[Steve Hammel]

Camping world and Good Sam's are now affiliated. Join Good Sam's and you are automatically a member of Camping World. Right now they have a $25 rebate at a Good Sam's affiliated park for buying a $25 membership. I use the membership to get discounts at a lot of parks.

[Steve Hammel]

PS I was at Camping World Saturday and they were closing out their shore power disconnect kits for $71. Very good deal. They weren't branded Marinco but looked exactly the same.

[rabbit]

Brian, 12.6 kilos is a typo which I omitted to correct. The white plastic cage is graduated with molded-in hash marks. The uppermost of these is marked 12.5 kilos. It is, or was, an assumption on my part that this would indicate max wgt. of propane for this tank. However, the photo chase for this tank by myself and the previous owner on this thread produced the specs which reveal max capacity as 25.5lb. Which translates to 11.6 kilo. I made this conversion and then examined tank for a hash mark indicating 11.6 kilo volume level. There was none. Tare weight is 18.8lb matching that of most 20lb. steel tanks. Markings on tank top sticker are consistent with the specs in the second photo I linked. I will upload a couple pix. I apologize for posting in confusion and leaving same.

jack

[Jared J]

My dad picked up the last two 30 pound tanks they had, thanks!

[cpaharley2008]

you are welcome

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rabbit

The white plastic cage is graduated with molded-in hash marks. The uppermost of these is marked 12.5 kilos.
...
Markings on tank top sticker are consistent with the specs in the second photo I linked.

Thanks Jack - that makes the situation much more clear.

Originally Posted by rabbit

It is, or was, an assumption on my part that this would indicate max wgt. of propane for this tank. However, the photo chase for this tank by myself and the previous owner on this thread produced the specs which reveal max capacity as 25.5lb. Which translates to 11.6 kilo. I made this conversion and then examined tank for a hash mark indicating 11.6 kilo volume level. There was none.

Jack, have you noticed where the liquid level reaches when the tank is filled with that max allowed propane, by level to 80% of tank volume or by weight? The 12.5 kg mark corresponds to about 86%; if that mark is above the liquid level but still short of the top, then everything is consistent. If it is still inconsistent, the mark could correspond to 12.5 kg of butane, but that seems like a long shot to me.

The 12.5 kg mark is probably just superfluous, since the tank is never filled that much.

It would make more sense to me to mark the cage with values for level as a percentage of cylinder volume, ending at 80%, like the mechanical level gauges on conventional tanks (some portables and almost all fixed tanks). An owner could do this with bits of striping tape - or just paint or a marker - after working out the scale based on two known fill levels.

[rabbit]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Jack, have you noticed where the liquid level reaches when the tank is filled with that max allowed propane, by level to 80% of tank volume or by weight? The 12.5 kg mark corresponds to about 86%; if that mark is above the liquid level but still short of the top, then everything is consistent. If it is still inconsistent, the mark could correspond to 12.5 kg of butane, but that seems like a long shot to me.

The 12.5 kg mark is probably just superfluous, since the tank is never filled that much.

It would make more sense to me to mark the cage with values for level as a percentage of cylinder volume, ending at 80%, like the mechanical level gauges on conventional tanks (some portables and almost all fixed tanks). An owner could do this with bits of striping tape - or just paint or a marker - after working out the scale based on two known fill levels.

Brian:

Fotos of Lite Cylinder propane tank follow. I will not muddy the waters further with suspect judgments or comments except in the case of the final foto and the earlier shot of the tank as weighed on 12$ bathroom scale. I hope all this paraphenalia and extrapolation will reveal the answer to your first question above. [Please note these thumbnails can be expanded for clarity by right clicking]

I added a steel tape to the tank in #7. The two lowest hash marks are "25%" and "50%." The very bottom of tank is inaccessible because of the white plastic cage but it is possible to extrapolate that IF: the distance between these two hashmarks represents 1/4 of of the filled volume of the tank, THEN: (assuming 12.5 kilo hashmark to represent filled volume level) the distance between the 50% hashmark and the 12.5 kilo hashmark should be 50% of the filled volume. Distance between 25% and 50% is 3.25". Distance between 50% and 12.5 kilos is indeed 6.5" which appears to me to confiirm my interpretation of the hash marks.

The tank has been filled but not used. I could not illuminate the tank to make the level of LP register in a foto. I also could not detect the level without applying a rocking motion to the tank but was able to ascertain that the level is roughly coincident with the 12.5 kilo hashmark. The shape of the "empty" portion of tank above the 12.5 kilo "fill line" appears to be close enuf to a half sphere for extrapolation of the proportion of total volume of tank therein. The total height. of the tank is 19". The cylindrical portion of tank is 13.5" long so the radius of the half-sphere is 5.5" (consistent with the diameter of tank as measured at inside of plastic cage). 5.5" (radius or altitude of half-sphere)/2=2.75" length measured on cylinder of same radius). Returning to the 3.25" slice of the cylinder which represents 25% of filled volume, 2.75/3.25=.84. .84X.25=.21 or 21% of tank volume empty at current fill level.

Taking into consideration the 44lb. shown on bathroom scale and subtracting the TW of 18.8, there is 25.2lb of LP in the tank. It seems to me that the graduations are proportional to each other but that the 12.5 kilo marking does not correspond to the amt. of LP in the tank. Perhaps it should be marked 11.6 kilos as I stated earlier? I know I'm going to find my scifi-entific britches down around my ankles on this one. I never did know when to quit

jack

[Brian B-P]

Hey, Jack, sorry to take so long to reply to your post...

Excellent photos, clearly showing the configuration of the markings. Thanks for all the photography and analysis effort.
The math and logic look just fine to me. It looks like I guessed wrong on the "12.5" mark, and Jack had it right: 80% of tank volume, or maximum propane fill level.

It would be nice to check actual fill quantity (by weight) again when the level gets to one of the lower marks (or just anywhere low, and repeat the distance scaling along the straight part) to confirm that the lower marks are correct.

• Propane gauges are usually marked as % of tank volume, but these appear to be % of propane capacity... which is fine as long as you know that.
• It seems like "12.5" might be a typo for "11.6"... which is a strange error to miss when designing an expensive mould for a plastic part. Too bad it wasn't just marked "100%" or "Full".
• Why skip the 75% mark? I suppose they think people only care when they're getting near the bottom.
• Strange markings or not, being able to have a visual scale is an advantage of these composite tanks.

[rabbit]

Load by weight and calibrate by volume. Exactly the opposite of cartridge reloading.

jack