Author Topic: Propane Tank very slow to fill  (Read 1595 times)

Jason Worman

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Propane Tank very slow to fill
« on: April 06, 2021, 08:39:50 PM »
Hi everyone,

It has been awhile since posting last. Our proane tank has been been very very slow to fill the last couple if times, in fact the time before last it did not fill at first attempt. Any thoughts? Anyone ever work on their propane tank? Going camping this weekend and tank almost empty.
Thank you,
Jason Worman

Eric Maclean

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Re: Propane Tank very slow to fill
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2021, 01:37:23 AM »
Jason
The service fill valve has two check valve built into it one which is at the fill point and a second which is internal the internal one allows a small amount of vapour to past through it to seat the soft seat on the external valve by doing this the pressure on the internal valve has equal pressure on both side and there for has a small spring on it to make it seat closed when filling the liquid is pumped in and easily over comes the spring a!losing the propane to flow into the tank the internal valve is there to prevent a bad flow if the external valve where to fail .
The problem you are encountering is caused when the internal valve spring piles up and restricts the movement of the valve blocking flow unfortunately these valves are not serviceable and require replacement of the service valve complete.
In order to do this the tank will have to be emptied completely ( till no pressure is left ) then open the 80% fill valve ( spit valve to equalize the pressure the unscrew the old fill valve and replace it with the new one using the proper pipe dope for propane
Afterwards the tank must be purged to remove any air as it was when it was first put into service this is also a good time to replace any suspect items such as the fuel gage unit as they are known to corrode and leak.
When completed everything should be checked with soap and water for leaks.

This is usually a job for a technician with a propane license like myself.

Hope this helps
Eric
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Jason Worman

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Re: Propane Tank very slow to fill
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2021, 05:17:35 PM »
Eric

Thank you for your reply, now the hard part, finding someone to work on it. ;D

Jason

Jason Worman

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Re: Propane Tank very slow to fill
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2021, 05:47:18 PM »
Eric,


I called around and unfortunately nobody works on propane tanks, it is probably time to replace the tank, It's over 30 years old and found out tanks are not super expensive to replace.

Jason