Yesterday when readying the bus for the mini-trip into Orlando for front end alignment. I was turning open the LP tank valves when the massive leaks bared themselves. In 2013 we purchased all new (4 -30 lb. LP cylinders) being aggravated by intermittent LP filling stations either giving me a hassle or refusing to fill older tanks that had been recertified. Well being uninformed at that point in time I continued to use the older style POL reverse (inside) thread hoses (solid brass, no rubber O rings). Little did I know that over time the older fitting in the new style OPD valves squash & flatten the valve O rings. Everything continues to work well until one decides to do away with the older style POL hoses because to climb into the compartment with a wrench is getting to be a lot more work than when I was younger - the new style exterior thread valve with the plastic spin nut on the hose is really simple & quick so I upgraded to them a while back but hadn't put the incompatible pieces in service until now - the new hoses wont seat on the crushed O-rings. So buy new O-rings, right? WRONG. The whole valve needs to be replaced!? Give me a break! I got over six years of original certification on four late model tanks that have Phucked up valves! Gas place wanted $65/tank to replace the valves - heck I can buy brand new 30 lb. LP tanks on line for $58 each. I can also buy on line domestic new tank valves for $67.50 for a four pack. That's probably the way I'll go. For the two of the four 30lb tanks that are full - I'll continue to use the older style hose so when they're empty I can swap the valves. Don't ya just love it when technology changes & leaves us dinosaurs behind. :-\
Instead, can you exchange your tanks at Walmart or Lowes to rid yourself of the leaking ones, then change ouer to the outside thread hoses. I've swapped older ones to newer style with no issues. Some of the staff at those places dont care if you ask for new tank refills instead of older scruffy repainted ones.
I cannot find anyplace that exchanges the 30 or 40 lb LP bottles any one know of a chain that does ? 20lb bottles exchanges are on every corner
Agree with exchanges only on 20lb cylinders, I'd love to exchange the 30 lb. ers if anyone knows where. I know ignorance is no excuse but heck - inform the public better...
Exchange programs only work for the uninformed masses...
They only need a few to use 'em regularly, and not just for tank dumping, to make profit.
If that system was available to commercial sizes, the exchange program would lose their shirts...
A busnut is well advised to choose between the wildly popular sizes of tanks, BBQ or Forklift, if picking portable tanks.
The obscure ones just co$t and co$t and co$t...
The benefit of a forklift tank, the opportunity for a propane generator to be hooked to the tank's liquid fitting, and the stove/furnace can be hooked to the vapour fitting. Two for one.
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Find a place that will do a hydro-stat test and see if they will revalve them at the same time. Often places that sell welding gasses and fire equipment do this for high pressure vessels propane is very low pressure in comparison.
Quote from: dtcerrato on November 09, 2018, 06:20:07 PM
Agree with exchanges only on 20lb cylinders, I'd love to exchange the 30 lb. ers if anyone knows where. I know ignorance is no excuse but heck - inform the public better...
I can buy the o-ring for you at the local Propane dealer for .28 a piece Tractor Supply sells the o-rings too and Tractor Supply fills the tanks at that their locations now also if you need to fill the tanks in your travels
Can't replace the O ring in an OPD valve. Did a lot of research on that one. Its much more complexed than an O ring. Unique shape with the spring loaded check on the non visible back side. Serves a dual purpose and is an integral part of the valve. That market is locked - otherwise I'd be first in line for an O ring replacement. I used to run the bus (RV) with a pair of forklift tanks. You wouldn't believe the amount of hole-in-the-wall LP filling stations that wouldn't touch those tanks with any pole! I agree that the fork lift tanks being among the best on the market - I don't think OPD valves are required on them - thus small uneducated filling stations are afraid to fill them.
We have two tanks on our bus, and I believe that they are forklift tanks. The valves started leaking last winter, so I took them both to a local propane dealer to be repaired and re-certified. The guy replaced the fill valves and other valves on both tanks. I also replaced the hoses and regulator. In my experience, these tanks are not difficult at all to have filled, and around here even the U-Haul shops can fill them. With one bolt on each tank they can be pulled and taken to be filled in the trunk of a car.
Really nice tanks Richard, & I notice the vapor valves are not OPD because its not a requirement on forklift tanks.
Maybe you should shop around places and see if you can get a better price. Was your local place like a Suburban propane or an independent guy?
The new tanks are not only OPD,they are flow protected they cut off if too much flow is detected I have one that came with a weed burner and hate that tank ,Some places will ding you motor fuel taxes for a fork lift tank.Frame mounted tanks can be pain but you don't you don't go through all the BS and they can have a remote filling and bleeder valve that I like I have a small door to open and that is all with the fill and bleeder valve inside
Right on about weed burner. That valve is a pita. Have to open tank slowly or valve shuts off the flow.
Quote from: chessie4905 on November 10, 2018, 07:27:25 AM
Right on about weed burner. That valve is a pita. Have to open tank slowly or valve shuts off the flow.
Now you tell me after I spent a month figuring it out on my BBQ and weed burner ;D
I'm back in love with my free to me old skool left hand thread frame mounted propane tank--now that I finally found and fixed the tiny leak I kept smelling. A bad factory double flare was the culprit.
As luvrbus points out "Life is short drink the good wine first"--if I'd have known I'd live this long I'd have bought more good wine. Jack
The flow protection you're referring to is in the hose, not the valve. The valve knows what kind of hose is on it! The color of the hand spin nut determines how much gas can flow through the valve. Don't get me wrong, I'm no pro at this crap but been doing a lot of reading lately on the LP BS. The dark green hand spin nut will let more volume of LP flow than a different color. Not sure how many colors there are but the amount of safety that has rather recently been built into the New OPD valves & hand tightened color coded spin nuts will boggle the mind. The OPD valves have several safety features built into them the most important being the absolute prevention of overfilling a cylinder. (under 40 lbs.) Larger cylinders are exempt (until there's enough fatalities related to larger cylinders to enact legislation. I made a LP tank valve wrench today using an old 2" x 3/4" drive socket. Saw one on Ebay for $39 just a piece of pipe. To keep the tank from spinning when tightening the valve - stand 2 tanks side by side with a piece of rubber sheet between them then double ratchet strap the tanks together. Makes it a breeze to change out tank valves. Ebay sells a four pack 30 lb. OPD valve set for $67, beats $65 per tank!
I had 2 -40 lbs tanks filled today since we have a cold snap (in the 60's) Mesa told me they charge $15.99 for the valve installed per tank and $10.00 per tank for re-certification for 5 years my valves were good so it only cost me for the certification plus the propane @ $1.57 a gal I can live with that
Got two of the 30 lb. tanks (that were empty) outfitted with new valves & hoses. The other two tanks are full so staying with the old hose style on those two until they empty then I'll change out those two valves & will be running all new hoses (no wrench plastic turn nuts). :)
My two 30# tanks were due for re-certification, but both OPD valves did not fully self seal when they were opened unconnected. I saw an add on Craigslist from a guy nearby that was selling a one year old, full 30# tank for $30. He said it just needed a new O-ring. "I've got lots of O-rings," says I, and bought the tank. That's when I learned that it is not really an O-ring, but a more specialized circular seal that was needed. Nobody will sell me one. The propane company said it is a liability issue and said the valve has to be replaced. The local hardware places, including Tractor Supply, gave me the same info.
I did put an O-ring in the valve to make it usable for now but would much rather have the right part. I know Clifford said he can get the rings from his propane company or Tractor Supply. If anyone knows where I can get one online, that would be very useful.
I'll check my guy today for you Lin if he has it I can get it for you
That would be great, Clifford. By the way, it really seems your birthdays come around pretty often. I hope that mine are a bit slower.
Lin it wouldn't surprise me if Clifford could get the "orings" for you but I must caution you - from what I've researched IF you could get the O ring out, you may not get it back in. This could be just a scare tactic built in with the LP industry which wouldn't surprise me either. There are adapters available to remedy your problem of the O ring not sealing. I could have went that route but I decided to change to new valves. Good luck.
Dan, do you have any information on the adapter you mention? The tank is just a year old and has 9 years left to re-certification, so I would like to use it. The real o-ring I put in it works for now, but if I grab the hose and yank it back and forth I can get it to leak a bit. I'd prefer that it would not.
Lin,my propane guy needs the # on the valve he says it located on the side opposite the bleeder he may or may not have it but will check
It looks like it say, "OPD 76A3". Maybe the A is actually a 4. Anyway, the valve is female and require a wrench removal unlike most I see online that are threaded on the outside and are to be hand tightened.
I sent you a PM.
Lin I'm not sure of your exact hose to tank configuration for the proper adapter so lets start with the one I think you need.
https://www.amazon.com/DOZYANT-Propane-Adapter-Converts-Regualtor/dp/B01N8TY9NZ/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1544065789&sr=8-9&keywords=lp+adapter+hose
This adapter compensates for crushed O rings in tank valves by incorporating an O ring on the adapter. Be ever so careful on trusting a connection with an issue that doesn't leak. In fact try to get it to leak like you mentioned while leak testing it (soapy solution) otherwise if it decides to leak without your presence - catastrophe could prevail. There are all sorts of successful adapters - I personally like to plumb (anything) with the least amount of fittings. I get that from my Dad being a steam fitter... Good luck - keep us posted.
Lin don't know if you picked it up in the post but I have 4 fairly new 30 lb. cylinders (over 6 years of certification left) and when I upgraded to newer style hoses (large plastic hand turn nut vs smaller wrench tightened reverse thread nut) they all leaked because I continued to use older style wrench tightened nut on the new OPD valve O rings - & they get "crushed". FWIW
It seems that there was more to this subject than I understood. I will pass on what now looks to be accurate. The old pre OBD valves had a POL connection. That's female with left handed threads. Earlier OPD valves, like the ones on the tanks I want to replace had the same connector. Somewhere in the last decade or so (while I was, no doubt, asleep), the OPD valves have switched to the QCC connector; that's male with the very coarse outside threads.
This new tank I bought that needed the sealing ring has both types of thread. My pigtails are for the POL connector, so after being told it needed an o-ring, I put one inside, attached my POL pigtail and had a very small, intermittent leak. It turns out that the missing internal seal that they are calling an o-ring is really just needed if you are using a QCC connector. The POL connector does not need it. When I removed the o-ring that I unnecessarily had installed, the leak issue was fixed. It would have been nice if the technician I spoke to at the local propane supplier had told me that (if he even knew it), but I suspect that this stuff does not represent much of their business.
Anyway, Maybe this info will be of use to someone if there is anyone else who had not kept up on the evolution of propane connectors. The world is constantly making changes without informing me!
If all they want is a recertification label, I know of people that make their own label.