Interesting thing I saw with my own eyes..I went with a buddy to purchase a
used propane tank one Saturday morning about a month ago. We are under the
impression from a source that the tank is left over from a tobacco bulk barn
operation. When we get to the place, I could not believe my eyes! It turned
out to be a guy who recycles used propane tanks, and he had at least a
couple acres of tanks of all shapes and sizes, from camper tanks to
multi-thousand gallon ones. As we got out of the truck, we noticed several
tanks about 100 feet away with 3 inch holes burned in them with a cutting
torch, just sitting there slowly burning off the residual fumes in the tank.
Needless to say, this made us rather uneasy. Upon talking to the guy, he
told us he had been doing this for over 20 years, and had never had an
injury or serious incident. He said as the first penetration is made, there
is a whoosh from the tank, then it subsides to a slow burn. They do this all
day, every day.
My buddy bought a used 350 gallon tank from him for $100 and we went on
our way. 123 tanks were $30, and 100 pounders were $10, He throws a
regulator in on the deal if he has one at the time. I checked with a local
gas company about him and the response was "Yeah, he does all our excess
tanks, and everybody else's around". I asked the requirements on them
filling a tank like that on home delivery, and all they required was a bill
of sale or a receipt to prove ownership of the tank, which around here also
gets you a 5 cent discount per gallon. As a side note, I purged a 123 gallon
tank and used it with a relief valve and a bottom drain for an extra
capacity air tank on my sandblasting rig for about 5 years with no problems.
The mercaptan smell went away after a little usage. Sandblasting puts out
large amounts of static electricity, also.

RJ

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Richard J Kinch wrote:
George E. Cawthon writes:

So just add that to the pressure of the
propane which someone suggest was at least 200 psi

No, more like 26 psi (0 deg F), 122 psi (70 deg F), or 190 psi (100 deg
F).

I suppose now someone will ask, "hey, can I use my propane tank to run my
air tools without a compressor?"

Sure -- until the first spark. :-)

A die grinder with front exhaust would be an interesting
experience -- outdoors. :-)

Something else -- indoors -- might be the last thing you do.

Or -- a die grinder with rear exhaust would really call for
Nomex work clothes. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

And just where might this fellow be located? I am looking for a
l;arger propane tanke and so is my friend, to use for a compressor
tank. No one around this area will sell a tank unless its new. Any
used tanks larger than 100# that gas companies have are always
scraped or refurbed and rented out.

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 10:08:43 -0500, "Backlash"
wrote:

===Interesting thing I saw with my own eyes..I went with a buddy to purchase a
===used propane tank one Saturday morning about a month ago. We are under the
===impression from a source that the tank is left over from a tobacco bulk barn
===operation. When we get to the place, I could not believe my eyes! It turned
===out to be a guy who recycles used propane tanks, and he had at least a
===couple acres of tanks of all shapes and sizes, from camper tanks to
===multi-thousand gallon ones. As we got out of the truck, we noticed several
===tanks about 100 feet away with 3 inch holes burned in them with a cutting
===torch, just sitting there slowly burning off the residual fumes in the tank.
===Needless to say, this made us rather uneasy. Upon talking to the guy, he
===told us he had been doing this for over 20 years, and had never had an
===injury or serious incident. He said as the first penetration is made, there
===is a whoosh from the tank, then it subsides to a slow burn. They do this all
===day, every day.
=== My buddy bought a used 350 gallon tank from him for $100 and we went on
===our way. 123 tanks were $30, and 100 pounders were $10, He throws a
===regulator in on the deal if he has one at the time. I checked with a local
===gas company about him and the response was "Yeah, he does all our excess
===tanks, and everybody else's around". I asked the requirements on them
===filling a tank like that on home delivery, and all they required was a bill
===of sale or a receipt to prove ownership of the tank, which around here also
===gets you a 5 cent discount per gallon. As a side note, I purged a 123 gallon
===tank and used it with a relief valve and a bottom drain for an extra
===capacity air tank on my sandblasting rig for about 5 years with no problems.
===The mercaptan smell went away after a little usage. Sandblasting puts out
===large amounts of static electricity, also.
===
===RJ
===
==="DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
=== In article ,
=== Richard J Kinch wrote:
=== George E. Cawthon writes:
===
=== So just add that to the pressure of the
=== propane which someone suggest was at least 200 psi
===
=== No, more like 26 psi (0 deg F), 122 psi (70 deg F), or 190 psi (100 deg
===F).
===
=== I suppose now someone will ask, "hey, can I use my propane tank to run my
=== air tools without a compressor?"
===
=== Sure -- until the first spark. :-)
===
=== A die grinder with front exhaust would be an interesting
=== experience -- outdoors. :-)
===
=== Something else -- indoors -- might be the last thing you do.
===
=== Or -- a die grinder with rear exhaust would really call for
=== Nomex work clothes. :-)
===
=== Enjoy,
=== DoN.
===
=== --
=== Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
=== (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
=== --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
===

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Eastern North Carolina.

RJ

"Roy" wrote in message
...
And just where might this fellow be located? I am looking for a
l;arger propane tanke and so is my friend, to use for a compressor
tank. No one around this area will sell a tank unless its new. Any
used tanks larger than 100# that gas companies have are always
scraped or refurbed and rented out.

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 10:08:43 -0500, "Backlash"
wrote:

===Interesting thing I saw with my own eyes..I went with a buddy to
purchase a
===used propane tank one Saturday morning about a month ago. We are
under the
===impression from a source that the tank is left over from a tobacco
bulk barn
===operation. When we get to the place, I could not believe my eyes! It
turned
===out to be a guy who recycles used propane tanks, and he had at least
a
===couple acres of tanks of all shapes and sizes, from camper tanks to
===multi-thousand gallon ones. As we got out of the truck, we noticed
several
===tanks about 100 feet away with 3 inch holes burned in them with a
cutting
===torch, just sitting there slowly burning off the residual fumes in
the tank.
===Needless to say, this made us rather uneasy. Upon talking to the
guy, he
===told us he had been doing this for over 20 years, and had never had
an
===injury or serious incident. He said as the first penetration is
made, there
===is a whoosh from the tank, then it subsides to a slow burn. They do
this all
===day, every day.
=== My buddy bought a used 350 gallon tank from him for $100 and we
went on
===our way. 123 tanks were $30, and 100 pounders were $10, He throws a
===regulator in on the deal if he has one at the time. I checked with
a local
===gas company about him and the response was "Yeah, he does all our
excess
===tanks, and everybody else's around". I asked the requirements on
them
===filling a tank like that on home delivery, and all they required was
a bill
===of sale or a receipt to prove ownership of the tank, which around
here also
===gets you a 5 cent discount per gallon. As a side note, I purged a
123 gallon
===tank and used it with a relief valve and a bottom drain for an extra
===capacity air tank on my sandblasting rig for about 5 years with no
problems.
===The mercaptan smell went away after a little usage. Sandblasting
puts out
===large amounts of static electricity, also.
===
===RJ
===
==="DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
=== In article ,
=== Richard J Kinch wrote:
=== George E. Cawthon writes:
===
=== So just add that to the pressure of the
=== propane which someone suggest was at least 200 psi
===
=== No, more like 26 psi (0 deg F), 122 psi (70 deg F), or 190 psi
(100 deg
===F).
===
=== I suppose now someone will ask, "hey, can I use my propane tank
to run my
=== air tools without a compressor?"
===
=== Sure -- until the first spark. :-)
===
=== A die grinder with front exhaust would be an interesting
=== experience -- outdoors. :-)
===
=== Something else -- indoors -- might be the last thing you do.
===
=== Or -- a die grinder with rear exhaust would really call for
=== Nomex work clothes. :-)
===
=== Enjoy,
=== DoN.
===
=== --
=== Email: | Voice (all times): (703)
938-4564
=== (too) near Washington D.C. |
http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
=== --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
===

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.