Propane tank under chassis mount

[jrfromafar]

I’ve downsized from my Alaskan camper to just a shell on my 2014 F-250. Installed a Torklift under chassis bracket for a group 24 battery for my Engel fridge. Now wondering the most efficient way for a propane tank. I don’t want to mess with filling 16 oz canisters. Am thinking of mounting an 11 lb / 2 1/2 gallon tank under chassis. It is only 12” tall & 12” in diameter. Then I’d carry another tank (same size) to replace when it’s empty. Thoughts?

 

[jacobconroy]

Sounds like it would be a pain to change it out. 11 lbs. isn't going to last for too long if you are running a propane heater in there.

Have you looked at horizontal propane tanks (like for a forklift)? This would not hang down any lower and provide at least 20 lbs. of propane at a time. I had some luck on Craigslist by posting a "Want to buy" for used ASME certified RV under-chassis propane tanks. They are out there, cheap, and usually have a pretty big capacity. You can also have them filled without removing the tank if you drive to the propane place (which you will have to do anyway).

If you look for a used, just measure the max diameter and length that will fit under your rig...then post on CL and start going around to salvage yards.

 

[dreadlocks]

definitely horizontal, the ones they use on westfallias are really low profile.. but expensive: https://www.gowesty.com/product/lp-tank/2447/lpg-tank-with-regulator-?v=

 

[Adventurous]

Is this to run a propane heater, a camp stove, or both?

 

[jrfromafar]

Thanks - yes, taking it off would be a pain. I just posted an ad for a horizontal tank
- over $500 new - too much!

 

[jacobconroy]

Thanks - yes, taking it off would be a pain. I just posted an ad for a horizontal tank
- over $500 new - too much!

I found one from a 1-ton Ford RV (for my 1-ton Ford van) for $150.00. It's rusted, but I can paint it to save $400.00. The frames look the same. Hopefully mounting it will be very easy. Near as I can calculate it's a 13 gallon tank too.

The ASME tanks are much thicker than the portable tanks. Even if they are rusty, chances are that they will be OK.

 

[Adventurous]

I found one from a 1-ton Ford RV (for my 1-ton Ford van) for $150.00. It's rusted, but I can paint it to save $400.00. The frames look the same. Hopefully mounting it will be very easy. Near as I can calculate it's a 13 gallon tank too.

The ASME tanks are much thicker than the portable tanks. Even if they are rusty, chances are that they will be OK.

Careful with painting it, some places consider painting a tank to be tampering with it and will refuse to fill it.

 

[dreadlocks]

nonsense, they have to have good paint or the'll refuse it.. it has to be light colored (white/grey/tan) and no visible rust, because rust is dark and dark colors heat up metal and vent gas.. a freshly painted tank is safer than an old rusty one.

ASME tanks dont have any recertifications, they last forever.. they fill up the 45 year old one on my westfallia just fine, after I painted it.. thats why ASME is so much more expencive than DOT, my 30# horizontal DOT manchester tank was $200 brand new.. but it will expire in a decade and can only get re-certified a number of times after that before having to be replaced.

Go to salvage yards and look for camper vans and class A RV's, most have asme tanks you can refurb for cheap.. if they have DOT tanks, check the dates and make sure they are not already long past due.

I'm pretty sure all under body tanks are required to be ASME, if not they should be.

 

[Adventurous]

YMMV, but Uhaul specifically states that they will not refill repainted tanks. I've run into several other places along our travels with similar caveats, none of which differentiated between DOT and ASME tanks.

 

[dreadlocks]

your misunderstanding the specific statement then, they will not refill tanks painted non standard colors.. its in federal fire safety requirements, you try to make a cute lego head propane tank yellow and the'll nope you right out.. or paint it black to match your trailer, nope.. but I took 5 20# bottles and a 30# bottle in this year to uHaul, 2 of em I've painted my self and a few came out of exchange lockers and have countless layers of paint and they all filled em fine.. but they are all white.

Can I Paint My Propane Tank? ~ Lin-Gas, Inc.

Before you paint your propane tank, be sure you know what you're doing

lingas.com

 

[jacobconroy]

your misunderstanding the specific statement then, they will not refill tanks painted non standard colors.. its in DOT guidelines, you try to make a cute lego head propane tank yellow and the'll nope you right out.. or paint it black to match your trailer, nope.. but I took 5 20# bottles and a 30# bottle in this year to uHaul, 2 of em I've painted my self and a few came out of exchange canisters and have countless layers of paint and they all filled em fine.. but they are all white.

Can I Paint My Propane Tank? ~ Lin-Gas, Inc.

Before you paint your propane tank, be sure you know what you're doing

lingas.com

I'm glad you pointed this out. I was going to paint mine blue to match the rig...but now I will paint it white. Had no idea that color mattered.

 

[Adventurous]

your misunderstanding the specific statement then, they will not refill tanks painted non standard colors.. its in federal fire safety requirements, you try to make a cute lego head propane tank yellow and the'll nope you right out.. or paint it black to match your trailer, nope.. but I took 5 20# bottles and a 30# bottle in this year to uHaul, 2 of em I've painted my self and a few came out of exchange lockers and have countless layers of paint and they all filled em fine.. but they are all white.

Can I Paint My Propane Tank? ~ Lin-Gas, Inc.

Before you paint your propane tank, be sure you know what you're doing

lingas.com

"If a propane tank is uncertified, damaged, has a bent or missing collar or foot ring, excessive rust or has been painted violates national propane gas rules and policies and will not be refilled."

Propane safety tips | U-Haul

When handled correctly, propane gas is a safe, clean-burning energy source. Follow these basic propane safety tips when handling propane.

www.uhaul.com

Now, maybe they mean 'has been painted in a way which Violates national propane gas rules', but that is not what it says.

 

[dreadlocks]

Well then I guess they cant fill up anything but aluminum tanks then, those are the only ones I've ever seen thats never been painted and is raw metal.

every single one they fill has paint on it, if you give it a good enamel white paint job and tape off the valve correctly there is no fundamental way they could tell if it had been painted by you or some magical certified painter.. I can tell you the ONLY LP tank I got that has any stickers on it was the 30# one I just bought and was made 6mo ago, the rest I dug out of the back yard to go refill long ago lost anything like that and a few were about to expire and had a bit of rust so I made em look new got em filled up and now they are backup cylinders for zombies or whatever.. the expiration dates are stamped on em and could be read through many layers of paint

Pretty much every exchange tank I've got has been painted so many times with such little prep work its comes off if you bang it into anything.. they dont even blast the old paint off or seemingly even bother washing em since they end up just putting shrink wrap labels on em.. unfortunately they paint em grey so its really noticable and looks terrible when the white below comes out.. they fill these obviously painted tanks too because light grey is an ok color.. but its a great reason to never go drop off your nice good looking 20# LP tank off at an exchange, the'll give you this ugly beat up much older one that all the paint flakes off in return.. lesson learned there, always refill if you can.

 

[jacobconroy]

I have to admit that this very premise gave me pause when deciding if I was willing to purchase a new ASME tank vs. buying a used one. In short, "Will they fill it?".

If a used tank is 20% of the cost of new, then I decided to take the chance. Could be that I lose the gamble. In reference to the discussion in this thread...I don't refill at U-Haul. All that matters to me is whether or not the local yocals will pump propane into the tank.

I have a pretty good feeling that the yocals will fill a painted tank. Time will tell.

 

[jrfromafar]

Are you all referring to permanently mounted tanks? If so, I imagine a propane remote fill kit is required to fill it? I am thinking if so, who the heII is going to check if the tank has been painted?

Will start calling auto junkyards on Monday found a horizontal 5-1/2 gal. 23"L, 10" diameter for $469.00 - pretty pricy...