OT plumbing together two 20 lb. propane tanks?
William Wixon
propane heater in my workshop, it draws too much propane for one 20 lb.
tank, freezes the propane. i was wondering if i plumbed two together if i'd
be able to get enough gas to run the heater. is this stupid? do people do
this? was wondering if they were plumbed together should it be before or
after the regulator(s)? wondering if that's even possible, to have two
separate regulators on two separate tanks running one heater. i don't want
to get a larger tank, i've collected about 6 - 20 lb. tanks, i don't want to
have to buy or rent a larger tank. (100 lb.?) i usually use propane for
quick heat, warm up the shop until i get the wood stove fired up and making
heat, then i turn off the propane heater so i'm not running propane
continuously, maybe 1/2 hour.
b.w.
Don Foreman
Manifolding multiple small tanks should work OK. I'd do it upstream
of the regulator. Tanks manifolded together would then be similar to
a larger tank. Boil rates in each tank would be similar because
they're at equal pressure, so the boil rate in each of two 20-lb tanks
would be half that of a 40-lb tank serving the same demand, and so on.
A problem with manifolding downstream of regulators is that the
regulators would need to be set to the exact same pressure. If they
weren't, the highest pressure reg would dominate until the tank
feeding it freezes enough so it can't meet delivery pressure setpoint.
sta...@prolynx.com
They do it all the time on travel trailers, although it's usually used
1 tank at a time. I've seen dual 100 lb tanks done that way, too.
Usually done with compression fittings and flexible copper AFTER the
regulators, two ends and a "T". The deal is that 100 lb tanks still
can have the old-style valve, the OPD on the smaller tanks can
restrict gas flow if you look at it funny. 100 lbs and larger is
deemed "industrial" for some reason, guess they figure idiots won't be
screwing up hooking them up to grills. They weren't that expensive
last I looked, a new 100 lb. empty could be had for maybe $80-100.
Just get a hand truck for running the empty back for filling.
Stan
dca...@krl.org
> Manifolding multiple small tanks should work OK. I'd do it upstream
> of the regulator. Tanks manifolded together would then be similar to
> a larger tank. Boil rates in each tank would be similar because
> they're at equal pressure, so the boil rate in each of two 20-lb tanks
> would be half that of a 40-lb tank serving the same demand, and so on.
> A problem with manifolding downstream of regulators is that the
> regulators would need to be set to the exact same pressure. If they
> weren't, the highest pressure reg would dominate until the tank
> feeding it freezes enough so it can't meet delivery pressure setpoint.
I agree with Don, but would add that upstream of the regulators is
high pressure. So you want to manifold with plumbing that will not
rupture or leak. You could manifold after the regulators. And just
use one tank at a time. Open valve on tank A and light heater. After
about 15 minutes open valve on tank B and then close valve on tank A.
( I am assuming that a tank does not freeze up in less than 15
minutes. ) That would only take a few seconds, much better than
having to shut off the heat , change tanks and restart the heater.
Dan
Bob Engelhardt
Yes, but ... "high" is only around 110 psi, depending upon the
temperature. Before the regulator is the way that I'd do it.
Bob
spaco
tanks. There was a T connection that both tanks ran into and out of that
to the regulator. There must have been a check valve in the T, though,
becuase we could remove one tank to get it refilled without loosing gas
out the open side. I don't think this setup would not work for you, as,
I think, only one tank will be working at a time.
There may be an easier answer. Depending on how often you are out in
the shop, all you need to do is to put the tank into a pan of water to
keep it from frosting up. Note that I said "frosting up", not freezing
up. Do you have a low pressure gage on your regulator? I would. Even
if there is frost on tank, it's not a problem unless the regulated
pressure starts to drop, so you only need to warm the tank enough so
that does not happen. Let's say you are supplying 20 psi to the heater.
If so, the actual temperature in the tank could be as low as about -20�
F and still give you full pressure. Even when the water in the pan
begins to freeze, you should still have about 50 psi in the cylinder.
If you are interested, go to:
http://www.spaco.org/Blacksmithing/PipeForge/PipeForgeAndPropane.htm
Go to the bottom of that page and click the "Propane Temperature Versus
Pressure Chart" link.
Pete Stanaitis
------------------------
Stormin Mormon
warm the propane tank. Can you put a reflector a couple
inches in front of the infared, and send some of that heat
towards the tank?
I had a similar moment, using a 16 ounce tank to heat a room
where I was working. I tried using a propane torch to heat
the camping tank. Worked some what. If you try that, heat
low on the tank, so you're heating the liquid. Try not to
cook the label. Move the flame around slowly.
Water has a very high heat energy content. Maybe the first
thing to do, is to heat a pan of water good and hot, and
then pour or drip it onto the propane tank.
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
"William Wixon" <wwi...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:pVf0n.1877$nR4....@newsfe01.iad...
steamer
a quarter-turn valve on each feed line so you can swap tanks without
destroying the ability to have some heat while doing it.
--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Currently broke and
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : looking for a job...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---
David Billington
http://www.bes.co.uk/products/064.asp if available in the US , the page
has automatic and manual versions.
Snag
Our camping trailer is set up with a tee valve ahead of the regulator ,
flip the lever towards the tank you want to draw from . It'd be just as easy
to just use a plain brass tee ... The cutoff point for OPD valves is
considerably lower than 100 Lb tanks , I've got a non-OPD 40 pounder that
I've had no trouble filling . I just tell 'em it's for my foundry furnace -
which it is during cold spells for the same reason the OP wants to manifold
his tanks .
--
Snag
"90 FLHTCU "Strider"
'39 WLDD "PopCycle"
BS 132/SENS/DOF
Martin H. Eastburn
switches on-line a full before the depleted one goes. Shows you what
is going on.
It allows you to replace an empty bottle on-the-fly.
Not really needed...
Martin
Bruce L. Bergman
<wwi...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
It's very possible - the simplest way is to get one of the Double
Check-Valve Tees off an old travel trailer, then remove the POL
fitting from your existing propane hose. Attach the OUT port of the
tee to the Heater hose, then attach the two short whip hoses to the
two IN ports of the tee.
The check valves are Very Critical, if you can't find the purpose
built piece (that they stopped using widely in the 1970's for the
automatic units below) get a regular tee and two spring-loaded ball
check valves rated for 300 PSI.
The check valves ensure that even if some dimbulb disconnects one
tank hose with the other one pressurized, you won't have a huge gas
leak out the whip hose POL fitting.
The hot ticket is an automatic-changeover regulator like this one from
Emerson Fisher
<http://www.fisherregulators.com/products/literature/lp/R962/>
Or this one from Taiwan somewhere...
<http://www.tractorsupply.com/home-improvement/home-improvement/propane-heaters-accessories/propane-regulators/mr-heater-two-stage-auto-changeover-propane-regulator-2136085>
Or the Marshall 250 - nice because it's a lever to show which tank is
the 'preferred' and the red flag shows transfer.
http://www.propaneproducts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=propprod&Product_Code=marshall-auto&Category_Code=Regulators
If nothing leaks, the check valves and/or the automatic changeover
valves let you change tanks on the fly as it runs on the reserve with
no problems - but you want to make sure there are no leaks BEFORE you
try it with a lit appliance anywhere close.
The automatic valves drop a red flag in a window (some more visible
than others) when they have switched to the reserve tank, to indicate
that you need to change the empty. Once you change tanks you have to
follow the instructions to reset the flag, so it pops again when the
second tank runs dry and switches back to the first.
--<< Bruce >>--
Brian Lawson
<wwi...@frontiernet.net> wrote:
Hey Bill,
Standard stuff on recreational vehicles like RV's & trailers. Try a
dealer, or used trailer place.
cl...@snyder.on.ca
and SOME even have a "both" setting.
Some of the automatic ones could possibly switch back and forth when
the pressure drops, even though the tank is still far from "empty"
William Wixon
b.w.