We have two, 10-pound aluminum propane tanks on our boat. Our marine survey revealed that both tanks would need valve replacements in the very near future to update the old style valves that lacked the much-needed safety features.
Somehow, this boat project was assigned to me. Probably because it’s generally an easy fix. 🙂
Our tanks had the oldy-goldy valves, which means our tanks were manufactured before September 30, 1998. Do you know if you have a propane tank that was made before September 30, 1998? Well, you might be in for a bit of a surprise the next time you go to fill it.
After chatting with the folks at Grill+Fill here in town, I learned that as of April 1, 2002, all new cylinders must be equipped with an Overfill Prevention Device (OPD). The OPD valves have a safety feature inside the container to prevent overfilling the cylinder. More specifically, a float inside the tank that will close the valve when the tank is 80% full. It won’t measure how much propane is in the tank, but it is supposed to keep it from being overfilled. An overfilled propane tank can explode violently because of physical damage or exposure to moderate heat. And we certainly don’t want that!!!
It is now illegal to fill cylinders (from 4 to 40 pound propane capacity) if they do not have the OPD valve. Don’t worry though, there are about 40 million obsolete cylinders still out there.
So, how do you know if your tank needs to be replaced? The new propane cylinders have a triangle shaped valve knob. Older models had a five-prong, circular knob. If you have the triangle knob, then you should be fine. These were the old valves we replaced…
I also learned that the actual propane tank (or cylinder) is subject to recertification (also known as requalification) twelve years from the date of manufacture and every five years thereafter. In our case, our tank is older than 12 years, so we just got new 5-year recertification dates etched on our tanks. The recertification process (or inspection, if you will) is simple and does not take too long to complete.
I left our tanks at Grill+Fill on a Thursday night, and they were ready to go the next day! So with two new OPD valves and recertification on both, our tanks are ready to hit the high seas!
Total Cost: $88 (2 new OPD valves at $21.70 each; recertification at $8 per tank; and refilling at $13 per tank)
Project complete! 🙂
Impressed with your blog-site, writing, photography, and your endeavour!!
Keep us vicarious sailors posted on your successes and stumbles!
Sail On!
B. (wanna be cruiser stuck in Central Cali)
Thanks B! We’re trying to keep these boat projects moving so we can sail more and work less. 😉 -Kim
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