ckreef Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 This is something I noticed years ago and it just rubs me the wrong way. The standard small propane tanks for gas grills etc are 20 lb propane tanks. Back in the day before all the propane exchange places you would take your tank to a fill station. They would put the tank on a scale, zero out the scale then literally fill it with 20 lbs of propane. Fast forward to today's propane exchange prevalent everywhere. Notice on the plastic label it says "Net Weight 15 lbs." What gives that tank is rated for 20 lbs of propane? Curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to figure this out. An empty propane tank weighs approximately 16 lbs. (It's tare weight) Full from the exchange place it weighed 31 lbs. Yup 15 lbs of propane. I then took an empty tank a proper fill station. They no longer use a scale system, now they use a regulated system but that is irrelevant. When I got home and weighed this tank, 36 lbs. Yup a true 20 lbs of propane as I suspected it would. The couple fill stations I can use are the same price as the exchange places. Takes an extra couple of minutes but worth it to get the extra 5 lbs of propane. I'm sure if you called the exchange companies they would site safety concerns but that's hockey puck. The less propane they give you the more frequently you have to do an exchange - CaChing more money in there pockets. I try and use fill stations as much as possible. Well there you have it. Reef's propane exchange rant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 That is a huge discrepancy, pay for 20 lbs and get 15 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FotonDrv Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 This sounds about right for corporate greed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 It's worse for home brewers. When you take your CO2 tank in to get filled, they don't fill your tank, but give you another one that has already been filled. You own the tank, so sometimes you turn in a new one, but get back an old one. Granted, they are all certified for their pressure rating, but it still sux to give them a nice shiny one and get back a "beater." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschaaf Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 I'll have to re-check here, but it's typically a lot more expensive for me to re-fill than it is to swap, even with the difference in quantity. The only time I would use the re-fill is if I was doing a long cook on the gasser and my tank wasn't empty, but I didn't know if I had enough to finish the cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 Where I live at most it's $2 more. Typically the refills are $20. The exchange use to be $16.95 now they are all up around $18.95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 1 hour ago, tony b said: It's worse for home brewers. When you take your CO2 tank in to get filled, they don't fill your tank, but give you another one that has already been filled. You own the tank, so sometimes you turn in a new one, but get back an old one. Granted, they are all certified for their pressure rating, but it still sux to give them a nice shiny one and get back a "beater." Just curious who pays for the 5 year hydrostatic test and annual inspections. Do they have those tests like scuba tanks have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 Yes, and the tank owner pays. I've been procrastinating on taking mine in, as it needs recertification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 3 hours ago, tony b said: Yes, and the tank owner pays. I've been procrastinating on taking mine in, as it needs recertification. There in lies the crap. If you buy a new tank it's got 5 years on the hydrostatic date. They give you back one that only has 2 months left you just got majorly ripped off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschaaf Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 4 hours ago, ckreef said: Where I live at most it's $2 more. Typically the refills are $20. The exchange use to be $16.95 now they are all up around $18.95 Wow, last time I had one filled was 2 years ago and it cost me $40 - and that wasn't from empty. After that, I never bothered going back. I think it was close to $3/lb The other part is - the only place in town that fills is Tractor Supply. That means you have to go in and stand in line at the register, because that's the only visible employee. Then you tell them you need a tank filled. If you're lucky, they understand what you mean. If not, you have to explain that the do, indeed, fill tanks there. Once they are convinced, then they have to call in the back to find 'Gus' - since he is the only one that is checked out on filling the tanks. Problem is, even the people in the back don't know where Gus went. Maybe he's on break? Oh, he did say something about going to lunch... but it seems like that was a while ago... let me go look.... Eventually, Gus is located, then you have to go meet him by the big tank. He grunts at your tank and suggests you go to Home Depot and exchange it the next time you need a refill. Gus sighs a few times, then decides to go ahead and fill the tank. Now you have to go back inside to pay. And they say, "Oh, didn't Gus show up? Let me go find him..." "No, no, no... Gus filled it, I just need to pay..." "Okay, that'll be $40" ugh The Home Depot used to be easy - it was a self-serve exchange. Took me about 8 minutes round trip. Now you have to go inside to pay for the swap first. It's also a challenge trying to find someone in there that knows the SKU for 'tank swap' so they can ring you up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billg71 Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 I get my tanks filled at BJ's, they're a lot cheaper than the exchange places and I get an honest 20 lb. of propane. I think my last refill was $10.99 but I'm a member. It's easy, walk into the tire department, pay for it, meet the guy at the refill station, take your tank and leave. The local Ace Hardware will refill tanks but they're more expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Ora Posted December 26, 2016 Report Share Posted December 26, 2016 Well spotted ckreef it's a bit dodgy for sure .my gripe down here is we got rid of our one an two cent pieces ages ago our smallest is five cents so the shops round up or down if I go to the servo the petrol station and say I get $20.02c worth of fuel and I pay cash I only pay $20. But if I pay buy card they charge the card $20.02 it may seem like nothing but add those ones a twos up that don't exist they are cleaning upSent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2016 One day the US will get rid of the penny. Probably cost them more to make a batch of pennies then the penny is worth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted December 26, 2016 Report Share Posted December 26, 2016 10 hours ago, ckreef said: Probably cost them more to make a batch of pennies then the penny is worth. It does and that's after they removed most of the copper in them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
