I spent a whole day this weekend and put over 150 miles on the car running around trying to get a new valve installed in my propane tank. I learned a lot about the new OPD valves and maybe I can save someone else the same run around. First of all, the propane tanks are measured two ways. I wasn't sure about mine and this caused some of the problem myself. They are measured in both pounds and gallons. I have two aluminum vertical tanks which I thought were 5 gallon tanks because it said 10 pounds on the handle. It turns out 10 pound tanks are actually about 2 and a half gallons and you cannot buy these at Costco. The most common size propane tank is 20 pounds or 5 gallons. These are sometimes available at Costco or Walmart however in this area they are sold out right now.
I looked in the yellow pages under propane distributors and found three listings, Ameri Gas, Delta Liquid Energy and a place called Pro Flame. I called all three, told them I had a 5 gallon tank (my error) and needed a valve. Amerigas said they had them in stock $19.95 for the valve and $ 7.50 to install it. Delta said they had them in stock and it was $ 48 for the whole job. Pro Flame said they had them in stock and it was $ 29.95 for the valve and $ 7.95 installation. Well, it turned out none of them had them in stock because when I showed up with my 10 pound or 2.5 gallon tank they took one look and said Oh we don't have a valve for that it's not a 5 gallon tank like you said.
Amerigas said they had them on order and would have one in a few days. So I went to the next closest place, Pro Flame, they told me that no one sold valves separately for the 10 poound tank and I'd have to buy a whole new tank at over $ 100 to get a valve. So I went back to Amerigas and said that Pro Flame had told me they don't sell the valves separately and were they sure they could get them? This time I had a different guy at the counter, and he said they were correct that you couldn't get the valve separately. Then the woman came out of the back office and said don't tell him that, we can get the valve and we've installed a lot of them. She said come back here and I'll prove it to you.
So I went in the back room with my tank and she showed me on my tank that the handle is stamped <DT 4.0>. I thought that stood for Dept of Tranportation or something and 4.0 was the rule it conformed to. No, she says, that means < Dip Tube 4.0 inches long >. Now look at this 20 pound or 5 gallon tank over here. Stamped on the handle was <DT 4.0>.This means the dip tube on your tank and the dip tube on the bigger tank is identical. HOWEVER (there's always a however) there are two different styles of dip tubes one is made by Sherwood and the other is made by Manchester. The one made by Manchester will not work on a boat because boats roll around and hop up and down. The Manchester valve has an arm that sticks out like the float switch in your bilge or like the shutoff valve in your toilet tank at home. As the tank fills up, this float rises and shuts the input off when the tank is about half full. When the float is up in this position it bangs against the side of the tank and it will drive you nuts when you're trying to sleep on a rolling boat. The Sherwood valve on the other hand doesn't have an arm, there is a float that rises up around the dip tube like the float on a Fluidmaster valve in your toilet if you're familiar with that. It's like the float needle in a carburetor on a gas engine if you're familiar with that. It surrounds the dip tube in the center of the tank and can't reach the wall of the tank.
I asked her if I went to Costco and bought a tank would they switch the valve to the old tank for me. She said sure, but be sure to read the valve and make sure it's a Sherwood and says DT 4.0 before I buy it otherwise it won't work. Same deal with trading in your tank for an Amerigas tank. They usually use Mancester valves because it doesn't matter to people who are using it in a barbeque or yard heater or whatever, however a boater will not be happy with an Amerigas tank (or any other brand) with a Manchester valve.
So I went to Costco and they were sold out of every kind of propane tank and I couldn't buy one at any price. The Amerigas exchange tanks usually don't have Sherwood walves at least in this area.
So what I learned was this: 1. The Sherwood valves are in short supply and the dealers don't think they will be getting any for a long time. 2. You can't just turn your tank in at an Amerigas exchange place and use that tank. 3. Even many of the dealers don't know that you can replace the valves on a 10 pound or 2.5 gallon vertical aluminum tank and are liable to give you bad information or try to sell you new tanks. 4. The 20 pound (5 gallon) tank uses the exact same valve as the 10 pound (2.5 gallon) tank, but on a boat you want a Sherwood valve. 5. If you buy a new tank for the boat, be sure that it has a Sherwood valve (It's stamped on the valve near the top just under the knob) 6. West Marine apparently sold me two tanks with the old style valves on a special sale in 1997 just before it became illegal to sell them at all.
I didn't learn this this weekend, but have known for some time that when you open a propane valve you want to open it all the way, not just a few turns. There is a seal at both the full closed and full open position, so you don't want to just open it a couple of turns as so many people do. If you somehow manage to overfill a proppane tank and blow out the safety valve, it goes off and sounds like a shotgun blast and spews the entire contents out of the tank and if there is a flame or spark anywhere around it is a spectacular fireworks display and can blow you to smittereens. You need to have a proper locker and not just throw propane tanks in the bilge or in a locker. It's the premier fuel but it needs to be respected and handled correctly. We had a boat burn in our marina year before last due to improperly handled propane. The boat was a total loss and the owner was badly burned, however luckily it did not explode.
Isn't this board great for this kind of information! Once again, kudos to Walt and Catherine who do such a service to all of us.
TomCambria@mindspring.com
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