# getting my own lp 100# tank??



## yknotcarpentry (Sep 20, 2009)

Hi all,

I have an lp modine 75k btu hot dawg heater in my barn/ shop. My question is this. Right now Its hooked up to a standard 100# insulated lp tank outside the barn, it costs me here in Maine well over $200 to fill it and when I'm busy in the shop (which is insulated) I can burn through it in 2 weeks. Is it possible to for me to buy a 100# tank (like a standard 20# bbq tank but bigger)  and install it in the shop? I can get it filled at mt local gas station for about $80. of course it will be heavy but I have a big truck and hand trucks (dollies) etc. My concern is this, when I use lp bullet heaters etc on job sites the 20# tanks tend to "freeze" up. Is this just due to them not being insulated? could I wrap the tanks or perhaps make a spray foam case for it to sit in?  Anyone ever try this?


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## EatenByLimestone (Sep 23, 2009)

Yes, you can buy and fill your own 100lb tank.  I picked one up at Tractor Supply for just over $100 a few years ago.  

You shouldn't have any vaporization problems until your tank is near empty and the temp is pretty cold outside.  Here is a chart:

http://www.flameengineering.com/Propane_Info.html


You may want to have a few propane tanks so you don't loose work going to fill only one.  


Matt


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## Hogwildz (Sep 23, 2009)

Don't think you want to keep it in your shop.
Thats like having a bomb sit there. Heck, round here, its illegal to carry them in your car trunk or in the car cab area.
Better safe than sorry.
Lowes has 100 pounders in stock here.


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## yknotcarpentry (Sep 24, 2009)

hey guys thanks for your input.  I saw 100# tanks at HD for $128 bucks and I actually checked today at my gas station where I can get it filled for $55 bucks. I am a little leary of keeping it in the shop but I thought if it was located in the heated area it would keep it from "freezing up" like I get when I run bullet heaters at job sites. If I did place it in the barn, I would most likey strap it to the wall underneath a stair case where it would be away from the work area/ walk paths. Having used bullet heaters etc for years and years on job sites I guess I have become a secure with having propane tanks and a firing heater near by, but I definatly understand the concern. So for that matter, Placing it outside, if I where to make an insulated sleeve for it (build a box around it, inject it with spray foam, remove box and then split the foam in half so I could pull it off and on in two parts) do you think it would keep it from freezing up? I guess I can be the guinnea pig on this one. After I figure out tommorow if my house furnace is dead or not and deal with that I may get my plumber over here to help me hook up a regulator and fitting that will fit a tank. We WILL try outside tha barn first.....fyi


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## EatenByLimestone (Sep 24, 2009)

I wouldn't put it in the shop.  Too many chances for something to go wrong.  Set it outside, raised off the ground and strapped to a wall.   Plumbing is cheap with copper tube and black iron.  I wouldn't worry too much about it freezing up.  Do you freeze up the 100lb tank you already have?  Do you heat the tank or just insulate it?

Matt


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## yknotcarpentry (Sep 24, 2009)

I already have all the "plumbing" installed for the unit, right now there is a 150g tank supplied by the propane co. outside on the back of the barn. Standard set up, regulator off the tanks to copper to just inside the barn, then the yellow shielded flex tubing ran to the heater where it converts back to copper going into the unit. This was proffesionally installed 4 years ago. I was under the impression that the big tanks you get from suppliers where insulated on the inside??? Maybe they are just a thicker gauge of steel that keeps them from "freezing" up? That was my main concern I suppose switching to a thinner gauge steel tank. I'm in Maine so Its very possible that we will see a month or so of temps 10 degrees or below (avg last yr; two years ago I think we saw 2 months of sub zero) I am already plumbed up outside do thats where I want it to go, just didn't know if it would work or not. the current tank is just on the standard concrete pad, not heated or insulated...


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## SolarAndWood (Sep 24, 2009)

When I had my run in with the propane company, I replaced the 500 gallon tank with standard grill tanks (and a big pile of wood).  I haven't had any problem with the tanks sitting outside.  Not sure what the regs are in your area, in NY you can only carry 90 lbs of propane in your vehicle and some places wont fill the bigger tanks even to just 90 lbs.


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## EatenByLimestone (Sep 24, 2009)

When your tank freezes up, it's because you are pulling propane faster than it can vaporize in the tank.  Just to understand what you are saying you want to do here...

Your shop runs off a 100lb tank that is owned by the propane company.  They charge you $200 each time you want to fill it.  You want to own your own tank.  

Your barn runs off a 150 GALLON tank.  You want to put it on a 100 lb tank also?   Why? A 100lb tank only holds 23.5 gallons.  

Are your barn and shop so far from each other that you can't run a line between them?   Can you fill your 100lb tank from your 150 gallon tank?  It may be a bad idea to fill it from the big tank but it never hurts to ask.  I imagine it would be cheaper to work off the 150 gallon tank and buy the propane in bulk.

Matt


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## EatenByLimestone (Sep 24, 2009)

If you are using 200-250 lbs of propane a month maybe you should upgrade the big tank and work off that.  Propane may end up even cheaper with the volume and larger deliveries.

Matt


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## yknotcarpentry (Sep 25, 2009)

thanks for all the great info! and fyi sorry the barn/shop is the same location. the last few posts brought some real clarity to this for me. yes I have a 100 GALLON tank hooked up already, I was looking at 100LB tank (which hold less LB) I think I got confused as to the poundage/ gallons aspect change of the whole thing, I knew it was to good to be true. Again thanks for your feedback and sorry for my lack of knowledge/ confusion. But what I get out of it is yes I can put a 100# tank on myself, but I would have significantly less lp feeding my heater. I will probably leave it as it is.... I have other concerns now as my house boiler is dead a 20 yr old burnham(oil) Im sure I'll be on another thread!


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## Edkin (Oct 2, 2009)

Hello I work For a lp co, when you say freezing up what do you mean? Is the tank forming ice on the side or is the reg freezing up ?  If it ice on the tank then there a problem with the way the system set up. If the reg is freezing up i could vary well be moister in the tank. Get back to me i would love to help you find out what going on.


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## yknotcarpentry (Oct 2, 2009)

Hey thanks for the reply, the way the system is set up now is fine.(done by my lp company).... I was wondering if I switched it to a #100 tank (Big BBQ style)  would I get that freeze up, yes ice, on the side of the tank.  It happens often to me on construction sites as Im running bullet heaters or tower heaters, is even that normal? I have decided to just leave my shop/barn system as is, since I think I would end up having to fill the 100# tanks too often....But in an off chance do you think that would happen if I did hook one up?


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## Edkin (Oct 3, 2009)

well the freezing is because you are pull vapor off the tank faster then it can replace the vapor propane boils at -44 degrees.  The tank works like a presser cooker. The liquid boils till the presser causes it to stop. So at colder temp the tank does not build presser fast enough. So the tank start to chill and well then comes the ice. So really the only way to stop it is to use a bigger tank that can keep up with the draw. Now we set 100 lb. tanks for temp heat like that and it happens all the time. Putting something around the tank will not help because it coming from inside. does any of this help you understand what going on?


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