Propane refills around the world

[NoTies]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Great info...So to get this straight...you take the full cylinder elevate it (upside down) above the empty aluminum cylinder, and open both valves?

Yes, that's exactly how you do it. The other advantage this has over traditional decanting methods is that you don't need an ullage valve on the cylinder being filled and even if you do have one you don't need to open it so you don't end up venting gas vapour to the atmosphere. The only caveat is that the filling hose will often be full of liquid when transfer is complete so care needs to be taken when disconnecting it.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by NoTies

A standard size cylinder will completely fill a same sized cylinder through an appropriate hose so long as the emptying cylinder is inverted and above the filling cylinder. I do this all the time since some bureaucratic jerk wrote off my aluminum cylinder because I had lost the "lie flat" documentation for it.

Pete, good to know..... I thought it was a pressure equalizing thing

[NoTies]

The pressure will equalise but as long as the filling cylinder is completely above the empty cylinder gravity will still allow the liquid to flow and will completely fill the lower cylinder.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Actually, the mis-spelling of the word Aluminium, as Aluminum is a North American (USA & CAN) aberration (to which I adhere). The rest of the world uses the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) preferred spellinging, ending in ium.

Google:
etymology aluminium

Spellinging, Gord? I don't see it as a mis-spelling; there are simply two variations, and IUPAC recognizes both. The etymology is rather confused - Sir Humphrey Davy originally coined it 'alumium', then later changed it to 'aluminum'; it was a scientific journal editor who changed it to 'aluminium' under the logic that it was keeping with other metals such as cadmium and strontium. Somehow he failed to consider that the 'um' suffix was also common - platinum, molybdenum, etc. 'Aluminium' was the form used in North America throughout the 19th century - it was in the early 20th century when a manufacturer started advertising it as 'aluminum' which was possibly a typo in the advert, but the name stuck. Proves the power of advertising, doesn't it.

Kevin

PS, Good tip, Pete.

[dsk]

This is a problem in northern Europe too. Norway, Denmark and Finland use the same connector as Spain and parts of Ireland. Sweeden uses POL and this is common in parts of GB too (In norway you get POL as "industrial standard") Germany has another standard.
Scandainavien countries do have an exchange system, and as a tourist you may pay a deposit witch you may get back at the same company if you return the cylinder whitin 3 months.

One way to do it is to rent a local tank, bring a set of adaptors, and refill your own tank. The upper tank (upside down) will tranfere approx 90% to the lower thank whitin a day or two. If the upper tank is hotter than the lower it goes faster. (Black plastic bag around the upper, wet towels around the lower, and put it in the sun.
It is important to have a good scale to be sure the tank is not overfilled. Do not fill more than 80%, the rest of the volume is needed to take care of expansion.

Be awere of some countries use Butane, and theese tanks may not resist the pressure of propane. (but they usually do). Butane contains more energy, and should be used at a slightly lower pressure, but moast exuipment do well at 30 millibar as propan use to be here (Norway). Somtimes you get a litle of soot.

LPG filling stations for cars uses propane in several countries, with the right adaptor you may be able to refill.

Here it is illegal to refill by youselves.


dsk