I’ve got several of these empty steel propane tanks from heating the chicken coop during the recent cold weather before I got an adapter to run the heater off of a larger refillable tank. Any ideas on what they could be repurposed for?
Seems like there should be some use for them besides tossing them in the recycling. I’d assume I’d need to poke a hole in them before recycling since they are/were pressure vessels.
I know there are adapters out there to refill them but now that I can use a larger, more easily refillable, tank I don’t really have any inclination to do so.
My only thought so far was to cut the top off, drill some holes, and make a little stick burning camp stove. But, that’s not something I’ll ever use.
I’ve got a fairly extensive workshop and metal working tools so pretty much everything is on the table. I can even do really shitty welding if required.
Important! Before you drill, cut, puncture or do anything with them you need to remove the residual gas or they may explode on you!
- obtain or make a valve tool for propane cylinder valves (check youtube).
- screw on a torch head and try to light it to burn off as much as you can EVEN WHEN THE TORCH WONT LIGHT THERE IS STILL PROPANE IN THE CYLINDER
- outside in a well ventilated area remove the torch and press the center valve in to verify that pressure is equalized
- look for the fill valve off center on the top, using the valve tool remove the valve.
- fill the cylinder ALL THE WAY with water, this will force out any remaining gas.
- the cylinder should now be safe to work on
This guy Propane’s, I tell you whut.
Wonder hwut he thinks of butane.
I tell you wut, I prefer propane and propane accessories
Do not under any circumstances cut into these cylinders with power tools.
They might not contain enough propane to be useful to you, but there might very well be enough in there to mess you up.
Brother of a friend wanted to turn an supposedly empty oil barrel into an outdoor heater. The residual fumes were enough to cause an explosion large enough to fracture his skull and put him into a coma for multiple weeks.
Thread a torch nozzle and just open it set it in the sun and leave it a couple days the thermal transitions will help purge the bottle enough it doesn’t matter. Drums should always be purged and water filled before cutting or burn it first.
Just displace whatever gas is left in there with water first.
That’s easy enough on full sized propane bottles, but more of a pain in the ass on the small ones
I refill and reuse mine, I got an adapter I can use a grill tank to fill them up with and take them camping for my lantern and camp grill
Nothing. It’s why they are being phased out. recycle them at any place that sells propane tanks.
I hadn’t heard that. What are they being replaced with?
California (only so far) banned specifically disposable propane tanks of any size.
Small propane canisters will still be available, but they must provide provisions for being refilled and reused. Which is fine by me, I always hate throwing the steel tanks out at the end of a camping season and usually try to refill them if I can.
It would be nice to refill them instead of taking 5 partials left over from previous trips.
I switched to using ethanol for that very reason. It’s nice and quiet and you can use it to help get wood fires started too.
Reusable ones. Looks like it’s only California: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/camping-with-propane-canisters-in-california-is-set-to-change-how-to-choose-what-to-buy-now/
They’ve always been refillable with an adapter from the hardware store but it’s an enormous pain, so few people bother. I’ve always hoped Coleman would start an exchange program at REI or somewhere similar.
If I recall, the adapter hooked to a grill tank but to fill the green cans you had to have the larger tank above the smaller one and it’s impractical for most people.
And upside down, and that will still only fill it 2/3 or 3/4…
I’ve read tricks like chilling the cylinders. And depressing the Schrader valves. But some sound pretty sketchy.
Here you take them back and you get a discount off the next one.
Put them next to chickens and take a photo that makes it look like you have enormous chickens.
Maybe you could use them to store gas
We always used them for target practice. They need to be punctured for disposal anyways, you know when you hit one, and They’re about the right size for sighting in on a 100yd range.
I would take them to a recycling center that advertises that they accept fuel / propellents.
Terrorism.
*resistance
Tomato/tomahto
Mini Probot of course…
You could refill them then give them away.
Exactly. The hose to refill them from a propane tank isn’t that expensive, and it will save you loads of money in the long run if you go through those small tanks at any reasonable pace.
They’re fun to use as shooting targets, just do it at 100+ yards
You can get adapters to partially refill them from the 20lb bottles.
Under no circumstances should you puncture the container. It’s still a pressure vessel with flammable gas in it and will explode if you try.
