pith helmet
Well-known member
Both, so I hope my wife doesn’t see that others do it or I’ll have to!
Refilling 1lb tanks at home
- Thread starter trae
- Start date
86scotty
Cynic
I've refilled them for years with a $5 adapter I got on Amazon many years ago. I see no risk. I can smell propane.
My method is this:
1. Put empties in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
2. Carefully set 20# tank upside down on the edge of a table outdoors or in well ventilated area. Has to be at the edge of a table to give you room to work around the nozzle. If this bothers you get a helper to steady tank but I've never had a problem, full 20# is stable enough on it's head.
3. Fill em up, one at a time, walking them directly from freezer to outside fill station. Screw small cylinder on to adapter/big tank with big tank valve closed, open to fill only when tightly attached.
4. Listen for gas to flow. It will be very audible at first and then trickle to a halt. They will not overfill. Keep a big crescent wrench handy because as you fill multiple canisters the adapter will occasionally get loose and you'll know it by gas escaping.
5. Pay attention to your small cylinders. They get rust around the top with age and this is where you have problems.
6. One thing I did at first was get a kitchen scale and weigh empties and then weigh them full. None are the same. There is a wide variance in the quality (amount of metal) in 1# cylinders.
I bear no responsibility for anyone blowing themselves up with this method. It's easy and just as safe as anything else you do with live fuel, such as cook.....or drive.....or maintain temperature in your camper or wherever else you use propane. In other words, I'm not really sure what the big deal is.
My method is this:
1. Put empties in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
2. Carefully set 20# tank upside down on the edge of a table outdoors or in well ventilated area. Has to be at the edge of a table to give you room to work around the nozzle. If this bothers you get a helper to steady tank but I've never had a problem, full 20# is stable enough on it's head.
3. Fill em up, one at a time, walking them directly from freezer to outside fill station. Screw small cylinder on to adapter/big tank with big tank valve closed, open to fill only when tightly attached.
4. Listen for gas to flow. It will be very audible at first and then trickle to a halt. They will not overfill. Keep a big crescent wrench handy because as you fill multiple canisters the adapter will occasionally get loose and you'll know it by gas escaping.
5. Pay attention to your small cylinders. They get rust around the top with age and this is where you have problems.
6. One thing I did at first was get a kitchen scale and weigh empties and then weigh them full. None are the same. There is a wide variance in the quality (amount of metal) in 1# cylinders.
I bear no responsibility for anyone blowing themselves up with this method. It's easy and just as safe as anything else you do with live fuel, such as cook.....or drive.....or maintain temperature in your camper or wherever else you use propane. In other words, I'm not really sure what the big deal is.
Last edited:
dstefan
Well-known member
1 LB Recall Notice - Flame King
1 LB Recall Notice YSN Imports Recalls Refillable Propane Cylinders Due to Fire, Explosion Hazards Recall Summary Name of Product: Refillable propane cylinders Hazard: The refillable propane cylinders can leak propane gas, posing fire and explosion hazards. Remedy: Replace, Refund Consumers...
flameking.com
Keep this in mind, esp. buying off ebay, etc. They’re hard to find — been looking at them for awhile. Wonder if the recall affected the supply, or willingness to carry these (along with the supply chain issues lately)?
You can get plenty of liquid gas into the smaller tank without pulling the release valve if you have a good temperature differential between the tanks. It helps to let the 20# tank warm up in the sun while the 1# tank is in the freezer.
If you do pull the the release valve, you can get more into the 1# tank but you also have to be careful about over filling.
86scotty
Cynic
I have never pulled the relief valve. The way I do it was explained to me many years ago when I bought my adapter and it always seems to refill the canisters right around the 1 lbs. that it should.
perterra
Adventurer
One tank will have 250 lbs or so of pressure, the other will have between 0 and maybe 3 or 4 lbs. The pressure will equalize as you fill the smaller cylinder, The pressure is just pushing the liquid. By freezing the small cylinder you reduce the pressure in it, by heating the larger cylinder by sitting it in the sun you increase the pressure in it. So it equalizes at a higher pressure meaning it transferred more liquid.
shays4me
Willing Wanderer
I use a postal scale when refilling to know when they're full. I refill about once a year when I have quite a few empty bottles and then they sit on the shelf in the barn until they get used the next year. I never carry any propane in my Jeep, it all gets packed in the trasharoo. I personally just got sick of paying the price and throwing them out (what a waste). Availability issues finally pushed me to buy the adapter and learn how to safely fill them. I would happily buy a small reusable tank but they weigh a ton and I rarely use a whole bottle on a trip. I carry two so I have a backup.
1# refillables may exist, but I don’t know if you can get them. Maybe on eBay.
Those are used. I wouldn’t want to buy one of these used.
86scotty
Cynic
I have no problem saving some metal and money by refilling disposables. Just cycle them out. As I said above the threads at top get rusty over time and they won't seal well for refilling. Also the canisters just eventually get beat up and you won't trust them anymore, but I bet I've gotten an average of 5 or more uses per disposable canister. Not sure what they cost these days but I know it's a lot more than it used to be.
Another tip, if you camp at campgrounds a lot of times they will have a recycle bin for these canisters by the trash dumpsters. After an in-season weekend you can get all the fresh empties you like.
Another tip, if you camp at campgrounds a lot of times they will have a recycle bin for these canisters by the trash dumpsters. After an in-season weekend you can get all the fresh empties you like.
GIYF
F350joe
Well-known member
I use the flame king ones and they work okay. Had one leak pretty bad but i may have overfilled it and it leaked going from sea level to 7000ft. Thats the only issue i had but worth mentioning. That bottle is out of the rotation now. Just get a couple extra and only fill until you just start to see propane coming out of the vent. Use the brass caps and store them outside the vehicle or in a sealed case inside. Pretty nice not having to buy bottles.