"M Q" wrote in message
news:NypTi.6611$MV4.1268@trnddc03...
Mamba wrote:

...
Does old propane go "bad"? When I removed some of the old piping, there
seemed to be a nasty smelling gel layer inside the pipes. Is this a
congealed version of propane? Do lines need to be reamed out before
reusing?

Propane does not go "bad", but (IIRC) the mercaptan odorant can.
Your local propane company will check that as part of their
service initiation inspection.

Thanks all.

I an hesitant to contact the local propane supplier. It is a real Pop and
Pop shop, the guy runs a junk yard, does handy work, and has less than a
stellar local reputation. However, he did the last fill on the tank before
we bought it so we could prove the utilites worked. The next nearest
supplier I know of is probably 50 miles away.

When you say the mercaptan can go bad, does that mean it can damage
appliances, or that it gels and smells bad (as I found)? I guesstimate the
propane tank/lines had not been used actively for a year or two before we
bought the place.

The outdoor tank has a buried line about 20 feet to the wall of the cabin.
It comes out of the ground into regulator at about 3 feet above grade. Then
the line comes through the wall from the regulator and I have it capped
about 15 feet inside the wall. This is in the "basement" under the cabin
floor.

My intent was to add steel piping to the capped line to run it to the area
under the kitchen floor, then pop a flex line up throught the floor to a gas
range. It's a dead simple operation, my main concern is the existing state
of the propane and regulator.