Propane Class Action

[off-the-grid]

In case you didn't see the little label on your latest tank, or you're in an area where you're refilling now. There's a big class action against all the suppliers of pre-filled tanks for not filling them entirely, and not disclosing that info to customers.

I don't know the exact details, since I haven't read it myself yet. But it looks like we could all get at least a few $$$ back. Here's the site with all the info.

[Jim Quibell]

I wonder if the people involved in this class action are aware of the regulation that states "pressure vessels/containers may not be filled to more than 80% of their capacity".

[four winds]

Some time back I noticed the storage cages and bottles are labeled 15 pounds and wondered when that started. Maybe they weren't labeled as such for some time.

Around here they were just about $22 or $23 and now the price is $17 or $18. I thought this was do to the increase in supply in the US from the fracking process that started in 2005. Now I figure it's from the change in filling guidelines.

Just had my 10 pound bottle for the boat filled at the hardware store nearby for $11. I'm pretty sure he put 10 pounds in it.

[off-the-grid]

But is 20lbs the maximum capacity on these? Or is that what their rated for, and they actually hold more?

Like scuba cylinders for example. 80lbs. means 80lbs. of gas, actually just slightly below. It doesn't mean that's it's maximum capacity. The maximum pressure on any breathing gas cylinder is going to be way beyond it's stamped rating. I find it strange that other types of storage cylinders wouldn't be the same.

[four winds]

It's my understanding that some air space must be maintained for proper operation of the tank. I suppose that is space for the liquid to return to a gas.

I think the liquid is maintained at a certain pressure that doesn't change much until the tank is almost empty. Different from scuba tanks maybe.

Possibly the max capacity would be greater than 20 pounds but that is the correct operating capacity.

A friend always harps at the person filling the bottle to top it up completely and that has caused some problems for him at home. Sometimes he has to bleed off a small amount (exiting as a liquid spray) to get it to work well.

[off-the-grid]

Exactly! You worded it much better me.

Tanks are stamped with their maximum operating capacity and pressure.
Not with their maximum capacity and pressure, which is much higher.
Even during hydro testing tanks aren't taken to their maximum pressure.

[delmarrey]

Class action suites are a joke. The only one making any money are the lawyers.

I have three checks sitting here on my book shelf. One for $.06, another $.57. and $4.21 Why bother cashing them.

[Celestialsailor]

Be prepared for prices to increase on cylinders to recoup.

[Blue Crab]

Ha. I had one for .22. They laughed at me at the bank. That .22 and another buck or so will buy me a cup of copy these days.

[Cheechako]

Yeah all these settlements you hear about... are BS. It's just a way to keep the public at bay... and the lawyers make the money. I would never buy gas from one of those pre-fill setups.... big rip off ! Some places they are over $30, for about a $12 refill!

[hellosailor]

" There's a big class action against all the suppliers of pre-filled tanks for not filling them entirely, and not disclosing that info to customers."

Oh, so when they went to "safety" fill valves (5? 10?) years back, and all of a sudden 20# tanks got a few pounds lighter....Someone else has finally caught on to that?

I know compressed gasses can be dangerous, but the propane guys, the scuba guys, they all want to make it seem like rocket science and it just ain't rocket gas in them tanks.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

" There's a big class action against all the suppliers of pre-filled tanks for not filling them entirely, and not disclosing that info to customers."

Oh, so when they went to "safety" fill valves (5? 10?) years back, and all of a sudden 20# tanks got a few pounds lighter....Someone else has finally caught on to that?

I know compressed gasses can be dangerous, but the propane guys, the scuba guys, they all want to make it seem like rocket science and it just ain't rocket gas in them tanks.

Like the dive shops that require special cleaning and a special sticker on your tank to fill 32% Nitrox because it is dangerous. If it was that dangerous then all the welding shops on the planet using pure O2 would have blown up years ago.

[off-the-grid]

I agree with everything that's been said, but there have been a few over the years, where I actually did get enough that it was well worth the few minutes it too to fill out the form.

Originally Posted by skipmac

Like the dive shops that require special cleaning and a special sticker on your tank to fill 32% Nitrox because it is dangerous. If it was that dangerous then all the welding shops on the planet using pure O2 would have blown up years ago.

It's very important that your tanks have this large obnoxious, overpriced sticker, that isn't required by the DOT, and tells absolutely nothing about the actual contents of the tank.

[hellosailor]

Nitrox was a clever marketing scheme that a certain very profitable dive shop in NY supposedly came up with. It is deceptive from the start, it is not a "Nitrogen-Oxygen" mixture, but rather it is oxygen enriched air, which happnes to be mainly nitrogen.

But they were looking for a way to make a buck in a weak industry and they sure did it.

FWIW dive equipment DOES have to be "oxygen cleaned" before use with Nitrox or other enriched oxygen mixes. The "normal" lubricants and waxes used in scuba gear will spontaneously combust with some of the higher oxygen mixtures, or when the "extra shot of oxygen" is added into a tank of air. AFAIK pretty much all scuba equipment in the past 10? years has been shipping "oxygen clean" and ready for Nitrox though.

This from the same basic folks who pushed a simple visual tank inspection upwards of $40 because ten bucks wasn't enough for their ten minutes.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by four winds

It's my understanding that some air space must be maintained for proper operation of the tank. I suppose that is space for the liquid to return to a gas.

I think the liquid is maintained at a certain pressure that doesn't change much until the tank is almost empty. Different from scuba tanks maybe.

Possibly the max capacity would be greater than 20 pounds but that is the correct operating capacity.

A friend always harps at the person filling the bottle to top it up completely and that has caused some problems for him at home. Sometimes he has to bleed off a small amount (exiting as a liquid spray) to get it to work well.

Your friend likes to live dangerously. The air space at the top of the bottle is essential for the gas to be able to expand when the bottle gets hot. There are numerous explosions every year when bottles are overfilled and then left out in the sun. That's why the bottles now have the new overfill prevention device.