Freezing Propane

[chayes]

Has anyone ever froze a propane tank? This is something that has started happening recently. Brand new bbq tank about 3 hours use and the tank is frozen, the ground about 3 inches below the tank is frozen to the tank, and it has frost on it like a liquid tank. I didn't think propane froze, because i've never had this problem before.

[JSR Studio]

I've HEARD of it happening but never had it happen to me. I think it means you're drawing on it too quickly. Do you have a bunch of torches hooked up to it at once?

[Slow]

Is the propane itself frezzing up or just the tank?

If I rage the torch for long hours, the bottom of my propane tank will sometimes develop a layer of ice around it, but this only seems to happen when the tank is almost empty. It seems like the condensation on the tank is freezing (probably some kind of thermodynamic heat transfer due to the propane going from liquid to gas). Very rarely, this will cause a loss in pressure, but a good swirl of the tank should get things running normally again.

[chayes]

It freezes up so much that it acts like the tank is empty.

[menty666]

the hot head crew have had mapp cylinders freeze, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened to a propane tank too.

[JSR Studio]

could there be condensation in the lines that is freezing and slowing or partially blocking the flow of gas?

[n3rd]

i see this after running the mirage full blast for 1.5-2 hours. large marbles and a cold day, it'll happen. i find it happens more frequently when the propane tank is full, less likely if its almost empty. Kaj's said he sees it too, when i asked him what to do he said just have another tank ready to go :-/

[richsantaclaus]

I have had one freeze-up before. I got a big old pot of water and sat the tank in it, worked fine - just keep changing the water.

[chayes]

Luckily i got two 100 pounders the other day so i won't have to worry about this for awhile.

[Frankie Hess]

It could have been overfilled, they say you can't with the new valves but some don't work properly and will let them overfill the tank. But if you were 3 hours in and raging a Delta or multiple torches I would think you're drawing off of it too fast. Get a bigger tank that can boil off more btu's per hour or you can manifold those 25LB tanks together to get twice the head space (twice the head space keeps it boiling at half the rate, the faster it boils the colder it gets). You can get what you need to manifold them together at your oxy supply house or I have a good one I could sale you if you're interested pm me.

[K-Dog]

happens to me all the time, richsantclause has is right.Put the tank in a rubbermaid filled with water. it will still freeze up if your drawing enough, just not to the point that it will stop the flow.

[Greymatter Glass]

Luckily i got two 100 pounders the other day so i won't have to worry about this for awhile.

Good call Chris, we run on 24 gallon tanks and they never freeze up. They're utility tanks, not BBQ tanks, they have a higher flow rating. And I don't know about your supplier, but mines charges extra for the little tanks anyways, so I get a better deal on gas.

-Doug

[chayes]

I just use the bbq ones as a backup when i can't get deliveries for a few days. I just thought it was funny i go out the other night to switch out the tanks and i ripped up about 3 inches of the dirt out of the ground with it. It was frozen solid to the tank.

[phab]

...the only time ive seen a propane tank freeze was a job at 6200 feet in tahoe. they froze up overnight. we had propane for fork lifts and lots of other stuff. ive seen regs and tanks get cold and even frosted from use usually like someone said toward the end of the tank. but the fork lift tanks i mentioned were froze from cold weather.

[Emmett's Glass]

I put my propane tanks on a milk crate with a board on top and it dosen't freeze.
E

[UmaJulz]

the tanks will freeze up quick if there is too much draw on them. we had them freezing up quickly in a class where the propane came in tiny tanks, like way smaller than bbq size. it was crazy because they had to be changed out every couple of hours in order for us to keep working, even though they weren't anywhere near empty. the second day, they had bigger tanks for us.

big tanks=less freezing

[Glassroots]

what psi are you drawing off it? too much can cause it to freeze up.

[VED]

i have a buddy with a hot shop at his house that has this problem when running the glory holes, he has two 100 punders that he puts in a tank of water with a horse troft heater in it, that helps but he still freezes them sometimes, but i doubt a few torches draw like 2 glory holes, so if its a continuing problem try his method out, good luck

peace

[chayes]

luckily i have like 4 bbq tanks and can just go get a freshie at 3am if I need to.

[dws glass]

get your tank good and warm and then wrap it up in a sleeping bag thats what we do here in alaska wen it gets down to -30 degrees outside othwer than that I would say to get a bigger tank and you should not have a problem any more
I use a 100lb tank and dont have any problem with freezing

[Greymatter Glass]

Also, keep it off the ground. A plank of wood, even some old carpet is better than nothing. The milk crate idea is pretty much ideal. In the inter the ground will stay cold much longer than the air around the tank, so it keeps it insulated from there at least.

-doug

[chayes]

I don't have this problem with 100 pounders, just the bbq tanks which i only use when i run out and can't get a delivery.

[J Howard]

that used to happen to me all the time. any big torch and a ragin day will freeze them up solid. sounds like the 100 pound tanks will fix your problem.

you could look into the 400 pound tanks, that's what i got. nice thing with the really big tanks is that you never get to the bottom of them (even if you lag on paying the bill, there's still 2 months left in there). i've heard of people getting dirty propane off the bottom of the 100 pound tanks as they're almost empty.

if you do some research, some of the propane companies will give you a free tank, and a break on the big tank rate (less per gallon than the 100lb tanks) since some heat their homes with that (no tax maybe? - depends on where you are). anyways, i love the huge tank- you don't run out! . once in 8 years did they forget to come fill my tank. i had no idea what was going on. then i GOT THE WHOLE THING FILLED FOR FREE!!!!! (hey i lost business right? ;) )