r/propane

We bought a house and closed nearly a month ago that uses propane for heat in the garage, hot water, the oven/stove top, and the fireplace. It was fully disclosed to us before closing that the tank was leased, not owned.

We contacted the propane supplier twice before closing, but they refused to talk to us because we were not named on the account.

We communicated with the seller about this multiple times, and he stated that he has clearly told them he is selling the property and given them the move out date.

Shortly after closing, we received a postcard from them about how wonderful their service is and offering discounts for signing a new lease with them with automatic delivery. The postcard listed a specific person to contact and gave their number.

Great! Finally, we'll be able to sort this out. I explained to him that we have no interest in continuing deliveries with them. We asked about buying out the tank as they are required to offer by law. They stated that was not an option.

We then stated that we would like to keep the tank until it's empty then have them take it. They said that's not a problem, but that there is a $1,000 deposit to do that. We agreed and he immediately went into a schpiel about how it's a lot of money and that if we sign up for automatic deliveries, there is no deposit.

No, we don't want you making any deliveries, we just want to use up what we have, and you take your tank back after. If that's an issue, we can get a new tank and transfer over the fuel now.

$1,000 deposit and told it's $100/year starting January 1st if we don't use it up by then.

All was fine until Saturday. They just came by and took it. No calls, no letters, no knock on the door, just sneak in and out, and our propane is gone along with their tank.

Today, I got the pleasure of having to run around to find a supplier that will sell me a tank and regulator, then contact my former employer to ask if they have a propane truck coming out my way tomorrow.

I called the poc that I had and was told that they are processing the refund for my deposit, but won't be giving me any credit for the 65% full propane that they took... unless I sign up for auto deliveries. If I do, they'll reinstall the tank free of charge with the propane still in it.

New tank installed and leak checked today, and tomorrow I'll be running 6 propane deliveries for them in exchange for me getting propane at rack rate for me.

TLDR: Bought a house with a leased tank. We spoke to the tank owner, came to an agreement, then they took the tank anyway and stole the propane inside with no notice.

Hey Redditors!
This sub seems like the most appropriate place for my problem, so here goes.
I’ve been playing airsoft for about a year now, and for those who don’t know, there’s a type of airsoft gun that uses propane to propel the BBs, while also cycling all the moving parts of the gun.
And this is where my problem starts. Airsoft gas bottles are quite expensive for what they actually are (propane… around €8–10 for roughly 300g of liquid propane.)
I’ve seen quite a few people online buying refillable propane bottles, such as Flame King bottles, and even refilling disposable Coleman bottles. As far as I understand, both use a CGA 600 / 1” US connection, which I believe are basically the same thing.
The refilling is done using a refill valve connected to a domestic propane tank, and this is where I’m having trouble.
In my country (Portugal), the smaller propane bottles that are commonly available don’t seem to use the POL connection. The ones I can find without a brand-specific connection are mostly clip-on types: G.52, G.54, G.56 and G.60.
There are propane bottles with a POL connection, but they’re 45 kg bottles, which is… well, extremely inconvenient for what I’m trying to do.
So my question is: is there a safe way to adapt the smaller Portuguese propane bottles (G.52/G.54/G.56/G.60) to a refill valve with a female POL connection?
I’ve been trying to find adapters or some sort of solution online, but I’m having a hard time figuring out exactly what I need.
Any advice from people familiar with propane fittings in Europe/Portugal would be greatly appreciated!
PS: Sorry for the somewhat long and rambling post. This was almost as much a way of venting and explaining a problem I’ve been unable to find a solution to. Hahaha.
Translated with chat gpt... :p

Hi all, as someone who knows very little about propane installations, I come seeking your expertise.

I have a small propane-fueled pizza oven (Pizza Party Ardore, manufactured in Italy but configured to US standards), which I use to bake Neapolitan-style pizza in my backyard. Like many small pizza ovens, the burner is a bit overpowered for its size. Some Ardore owners like to leave the burner on the highest setting to achieve a 60-second bake; however, I prefer to turn down the oven’s valve after preheating to get a longer, 90-second bake, which gives me the pizza results that I’m looking for. Trouble is, the adjustment knob is located at the back of the oven, which means that I can’t observe the flame directly while making adjustments. Also, the knob provides a fairly coarse adjustment, and I’d prefer a finer adjustment.

The propane connection to the oven appears to me to be pretty simple: the provided regulator (Type 698, 11WC) connects to a standard 20lb propane cylinder, and its attached 3ft hose connects to the burner assembly on the back of the oven, which includes an adjustment valve/knob and thermocouple.

I’m wondering whether it’s advisable to add a needle valve to the propane line between the cylinder and oven, with the valve positioned at the front of the oven, which would give me the control I’m looking for. In other words, the connection would look like this:

propane cylinder -> regulator w/attached hose -> needle valve (new) -> shorter hose (new) -> oven

I’ve seen something like this implemented by a couple of people on the internet, such as in this Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/pizzaoven/comments/1lxuula/solved_the_one_flaw_of_pizza_party_ardore/

I envision it functioning like this: I preheat the oven with both the oven’s valve and needle valve wide open. Then, when I’m ready to bake, I leave the oven’s valve wide open but dial back the flow of propane to the oven using the needle valve. I would also open the needle valve again between bakes to reheat the oven’s floor faster.

So, my questions to you are:

1.       Is it safe to restrict the flow of propane to my oven using a secondary valve in the way I described?

2.       Can you recommend a valve that would offer me the fine adjustment I’m looking for? The valve used in the linked Reddit post is for European standards, and I’m in the US.

3.       Are there any other installation details I should consider? For example, the manual specifies that the propane hose should not exceed 60in – not sure how important this is.

Thanks a million.

Looking for some honest advice from people who have been in the propane industry longer than I have.

I’m in my late 20s and have been involved in the propane business since I was in college. Over the years I’ve worked in multiple areas of the industry and have tried to learn as much as possible. I’ve done service work, sales, operations, customer service, logistics, and back-end P&L/business management responsibilities.

I know I still have a lot to learn, but I feel confident that I understand the business and have the work ethic to eventually run my own company.
This isn’t something I’m planning to do tomorrow. My goal is to spend the next 5-8 years continuing to learn, building relationships, and saving capital so I can put together a solid plan.

My question is: if you were in my position, would you recommend starting a propane company from scratch or buying a small existing operation?
Starting from scratch seems like it would require giving up a steady income while building a customer base, installing tanks, and creating cash flow. On the other hand, purchasing a small company would provide customers, equipment, and revenue from day one, but it would likely require a larger investment and possibly relocating to wherever the opportunity exists.

For those of you who own propane companies or have been involved in acquisitions:

Would you start from scratch or buy?

What are the biggest challenges people underestimate?

How many customers would you want an acquisition target to have?

What level of capital would you consider the minimum to make either option realistic?

If you could go back and do it again, what would you do differently?

A couple years ago, I got a camp chef grill as a gift and just ran out of fuel, but have no idea what’s good. It recommends a 20 lb tank and the manchester it came with has served me well so far. Is it the best option though or is there even a difference?

As for where to refill, I have no clue. I know tractor supply does it and like the store, but how are they with refills? What places would you recommend?

I have two 20 pound tanks. One for my grill one for my gas fireplace. Today I tried to fire up the fire place and at the first quarter turn I heard a click and no gas came out. This was with the gas valve on the fireplace still shut.

I swapped tanks and the other one did the same.

Now the same is happening to both when I hook them to my grill. I can't get gas to come out of either tank.

This is super weird. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Hey yall

I made a post earlier today in this sub when i cut my neighbors propane line. My day hasn't gotten much better, but the knowledge that everything's taken care of and nobody went boom lifts my spirits a good amount. Plus i'm going fishing tomorrow after using the mower and weedwacker that i had to replace 2 parts on today unexpectedly, so i have that to look forward to.

We were originally told that it would be $1500-2000 to fix the line. However, they came out and did it the same day for $840, which seemed to be a lot more reasonable until my dad told me that all they did was splice the wire, not move it, bury it, replace it, protect it, or even re-coat it. They were done within an hour.

For more info that may be needed, we called around 11:30 and they came around 4. My zip code is 19056 and i live in bucks county, PA
....Wtf? is that a fair price?

I own my tank. I often use different suppliers to get new customer discounts etc. We have one supplier in the area that insists on entering the home, pulling all of the appliances out and documenting all the serial numbers and model numbers claiming they "have to" or they will not sell to you. They used to charge $75 but they waive that for some people. This is for existing systems, up and running for years, the tank is not empty there in no sign of any leak. The system is newer and so are all the appliances. I am in CA and the a$$ hole HairGel Hitler is in the process of forcing everyone to replace all appliances' with electric. I see no reason for any of my info needing to be documented. NO other company does this.. Has anyone ever heard of this BS??

What's the easiest way to determine when to use a 1st stage and 2nd stage regulator setup as opposed to just a twin/integral regulator on a system? Is there a rule of thumb for this? Thanks!

The 1/2" fitting to the quick connect is available but the other end that screws into the propane hose is hard to find. Been to 3 different stores and no one has a fitting that works. Thought the propane hose was 3/8 but it's to small. They don't seem to have a fitting that I can find yet. Anyone run into this issue and found a solution please let me know. Thanks.

I have a 20lb propane tank that I pulled out of grill because it wasn’t make much heat, tank appears to be half way full. Is it possible that the gas in it is contaminated with a gas with a lower flash point?
As I said, it doesn’t make good heat in grill. If I hook up my 1lb tank fill adapter, gas comes out.

I've been meaning to post this. Bought a house two years ago, has propane that's underground (57 gallon, 48 gallon filled), and we are paying $200/annually to rent tank. House was built in 2005, and here in Tampa, FL area, code did not require anodes or any catholic testing until 2011. Been thinking about switching companies, to keep our options open. Cost to buy tank is about $400. Will it be fine for another 30 years or is this just a headache? Am I overthinking this? Obviously the allure of renting is to not be responsible for any tank maintenance...

I was also told that due to being in a flood zone, if I were to ever replace this tank I'd need to have a 4" concrete pad on bottom to attach tank to, then rebury it. I figured I'd just throw that out there... Although to be fair it did recently flood and that tank didn't go anywhere. Anyhoo...

What would you do?