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The test for propane or natural gas leaks is very sensitive and the only flexibility is 0% leaks. I have seen first hand what a propane leak can do and I don't recommend it to anyone. Fix it or find someone who can fix it. My two cents? this is a ticking bomb.
I have 2 100 lbs tanks for our gas fireplace and they have to be recertified every 10 years.
Propane is heavier than air. You said the leak at the threads and pressure gauge is in a 2' diameter pipe at ground level, which suggests that leaking propane could settle into the pocket in that big pipe. The balloon usually goes up when there is a stack up of mistakes or conditions. I'm curious. You said you did not think this was a dangerous situation. So why post the question asking for opinions?
RR90. I think your inquiry was a reasonable question and you got some reasonable answers and advice. If I may add, if it were me and I had any doubts that the situation was safe or that I was wasting money on escaping propane, I would contact a heat and air professional and pay a service call to get the issue checked out. Again thanks for confiding in the WGC form for assistance 👍Dan
I like all the responses I have received. This has been a good thread. I have a story about propane from about 48 years ago. I was 26 at the time and have been delivering propane for 2 years in central Illinois out of Effingham. I delivered gas to many customers in this small village about 30 miles away called Herrick. This one particular day was very moist and damp and cloudy. I had filled a 500 gallon tank and when I shut the filler valve I then released the residual liquid in filler nozzle. When I open the small valve on the nozzle it keep shooting liquid which told me that the valve on the tank I had just filled wasn't closing. Back then we had no phones in the truck. So I walked to the house and called my boss. I said Paul the filler valve on the tank keeps releasing liquid. What should I do? He said just disconnect from the tank and it will shut off. Don't worry the pressure will shut the valve. Well I disconnected and the valve didn't close. I released 400 gallons of liquid in the next I don't remember maybe 10-15 minutes. It shot up in the air about 10 feet and then came down and laid all across the ground encompassing a larger and larger area as more gas was released. I realized that this cloud of gas was spreading to other houses and would move into the basements of these house. I thought of all those houses who might turn on electricity or their furnace with an open flame in the basement that is filling with my propane gas. On a sunny warm day with a little breeze and it would have dissipated. But this stuff wasn't going anywhere. I called the local fire chief and he and all the fire brigade boys ran around to all the houses in that area telling people to not use the stoves nor turn on electricity and then shut off their gas to the furnace if they had a gas furnace. A few hours later and the sun came out and all the gas had dissipated and I moved on. Here's the cause and it was my fault. I had not put the safety cap on the end of the filler nozzle on the truck I was driving that day. I pull it across the ground I got a small stone in the nozzle and that stone got stuck in the filler valve on the tank thus preventing it from not closing. I found that out when I came in the next day and my boss had picked the tank up and brought it. He was not to happy with me and I was lucky he didn't fire me.
Yep, back when I lived in the country (still miss my tractor) we had 250 gallon above ground tank and the propane co. would pressure test it every ten years.
Not sure what I'm looking at but it sure looks like a pipe with a protective coating that exhibits heavily corroded spots where the coating failed and gas is leaking through the damaged metal.
That's because they are DOT tanks. Replace them with one 100 gallon ASME tank and you're done with the recert business.Larry
How am I going to carry a 100 gallon tank down to the LP place for a refill? Around here they aren't going to come fill you up if you aren't worth the trip.