Refilling 1lb tanks at home

[trae]

Hey folks,

If I understand correctly, the advice against filling up disposable green propane tanks at home is that they are not certified to do so. Sounds reasonable, not worth the potential explosion to me.

How about something like this:




Can I refill it from my 20lb tank? Safely?



Hm, amazon refusing to link, so here's a link and a screenshot:

 

[john61ct]

yes.

OUTSIDE the home

Get the kit with the stand that holds the larger bottle upside down, the goal is to transfer liquid not gas.

Get a temp differential going - no flames obviously.

Inspect hose every time.

Can adapt for 5# 10# whatever size as target.

Even 100# or forklift bottles as source but use a variable regulator.

 

[krick3tt]

How many of the 1 pound tanks do you usually use? Watch lots of videos on how to do this then just go buy more of the little green bottles. Have all tanks professionally filled. I would never fill small bottles, my life is valuable to me and worth more than a $5 bottle. Just one opinion among probably hundreds.

 

[Mtpisgah]

We use 1” tanks for our Buddy heater. Before next winter I will have an adapter to run off the 11lb tank mounted to the truck and the hose will be piped inside for the heater and outside for the stove. My life is worth more than refilling tanks myself.

 

[john61ct]

The point is portability.

You may have 40# of propane in the main unit, but decanting allows you to take a portable stove onto the beach, into a shack, on a hike or just to an outside picnic table.

 

[pith helmet]

If done properly there isn’t much danger of rupturing the 1lb cylinder, which is what I assume most are warning against. You’re lucky to get it 80% full, much less over pressurized. With that more HD bottle you wouldn’t have to worry about that at all.
I have refilled them and the one thing that does concern me is the valve strength of the disposable ones. Maybe the flame king is better?

 

[workerdrone]

I've refilled the disposable ones plenty of times with varying results of fill % but never an issue. Not sure what the big risk is? I just do the bubble test on them after filling

 

[pith helmet]

the hose will be piped inside for the heater

Not a criticism as we adults each have to define our own level of risk, but that is more concerning to me than refilling bottles.

 

[perterra]

Refilling is about as safe as using the tank to start with.

Buy the kit with the stand if you do it very often as its just a whole lot easier than balancing the 20 lb cylinder upside down to pull liquid from it. You wont usually get close to getting the small cylinder to 1 pound without a bit of theatrics like freezing the 1 pounder and setting the 20 pounder in the sun before a fill.

My understanding is the refillable bottle has an upgraded valve inside the cylinder that seats well over a longer period. Better o-ring seal and non corrosive fittings, the steel threaded cylinder connection will rust on over the counter cylinders. As someone said, the bubble test is usually sufficient to see if a cylinder is leaking. The internal valve in the 1 pounder has been the weak spot in my experience.

Explosive gases and electricity seem to set peoples own internal alarm bells off but if handled correctly are no danger. Distracted drivers scare me a lot more than explosive gases.

 

[kb1ejh]

I have the Flame King 1# bottles and filling kit. REI used to sell them but stopped for some reason, believe I got some spares from Home Depot. I like it because you can use a bottle on a trip and then when you get back to the 20# you can top it off. Nothing more annoying than having a bunch of partial bottles other than having a bottle run out... With these they are easy enough to refill.

 

[john61ct]

It is illegal to carry the disposables inside across state lines.

Personally I would never refill them if I was going to store or carry them inside an enclosed space with humans.

The ones designed for refilling are as good as any other size.

Look out on eBay for the small aluminium ones, say 5# and 8-12#, super pricey new, but I've scored a few lots very cheaply over the years, couple dozen in total.

 

[trae]

The ones designed for refilling are as good as any other size.

That's what I was hoping to find. The refilling procedure at the gas station isn't rocket science, but I wanted to confirm anyway. The tank at the top of the thread is refillable.

To answer some other questions:

- canadian tire sells a 1lb disposable tank for $8 a pop. 1lb of propane at the gas station is $1.30
- cost is not the only thing; I hate the disposable nature of these and I hate having a few of them that are tapped but not empty.
- it's convenient to take a small back up on top of the 5lb I carry.

 

[john61ct]

yes yes and exactly, yes

Safer too.

 

[JaSAn]

You can get brass caps for the 1 lb tanks that seal.

 

[Mtpisgah]

Not a criticism as we adults each have to define our own level of risk, but that is more concerning to me than refilling bottles.

more concerning from running a propane heater or piping the gas inside in general?

We only run the heater for about 30-45 min before going to sleep and we have a CO monitor, so low risk. But you are correct that we each have to define our level of risk.