"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
. net...

"Adman" wrote in message

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try the thermometer calibration. How
could I test if there was an OPD problem, short of buying a new tank?

Adman

The overfill device sometimes works when it should not work and will
impede the flow of propane. Once some of the propane has been used, it
should drop down on its own, or just a sharp rap of the tank. If it is
below 3/4 full, it should give you all the gas it can. They tend to stop
the flow when the burners are opened to full to fast. The purpose of the
device it to stop the gas if the tank valve is damaged or the tank is on
its side, as when transported in your truck.

OPD stands for Overfill Protection Device. And that is all it is for.
The OPD valves do incorporate a spring loaded one-way valve at the outlet of
the valve that must be physically depressed in order to get the gas to flow.
I have seen hose ends that would not depress the valve far enough to get
good flow.

Dave

basskisser wrote:
wrote:
Hi all... I've done some web searching and haven't had much luck, and
I'm hoping the experts here can help me out.

My parents got me a Vermont Castings VM400 (I believe) from our local
Home Depot. After a few attempts, it appears to work great.



Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

Adman

Something seems to be afoul! I have a three burner almost identical to
Home Depot's Vermont Castings one, and it'll get to 500 degrees in
about 10 minutes Take your meat thermometer and stick in there and see
what's what to start.

I have a VM400 from home depot, bought last year.
500 to 550 in ten to fifteen minutes..except the other night when it
was 10 degrees F and windy as hell..

Rick Brandt wrote:


Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my
local HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill
tank so there's no way they are only charging for what they put in.

HandyMan Hardware! Another St. Louis guy, huh?




Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)

On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:00:42 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
wrote:

Denny Wheeler wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:04:48 -0500, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

I should have mentioned, buy a new tank. YOU want a spare. Tanks
run empty at the worst times. Plus, you pay the same for a 1/4
filled tank to get topped off anyway.

Understand and agree about wanting a spare. BUT.
"pay the same..."??
I dunno 'bout you, but I pay for the amount of propane they put in.
(of course, where I live, there are more places that'll pump it than
ones doing tank exchange. This is A Good Thing.)

-denny-

Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my local
HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill tank so there's no
way they are only charging for what they put in.

You live in a strange Country.

Harry

Default User wrote:
Rick Brandt wrote:


Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my
local HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill
tank so there's no way they are only charging for what they put in.

HandyMan Hardware! Another St. Louis guy, huh?

Yep. North county.

Harry Demidavicius wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:00:42 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
wrote:
Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my
local HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill
tank so there's no way they are only charging for what they put in.

You live in a strange Country.

Honestly, you have places with a "meter" like buying gasoline? I can see that
for a guy that delivers propane to fixed location tanks, but I have never seen
any place that refills carry-ins that doesn't just have a scale to measure when
the tank is full.

I agree that it is a more logical way to sell the gas, but the average barbecue
tank is empty or pretty darn close to it when it's refilled and having a metered
fill-up system would seem a lot more expensive for the seller.

I have also used our local U-Haul place and they do the same thing. Just charge
10 bucks flat-fee to top off a tank.

"Rick Brandt" wrote in message
Honestly, you have places with a "meter" like buying gasoline? I can see
that for a guy that delivers propane to fixed location tanks, but I have
never seen any place that refills carry-ins that doesn't just have a scale
to measure when the tank is full.

I agree that it is a more logical way to sell the gas, but the average
barbecue tank is empty or pretty darn close to it when it's refilled and
having a metered fill-up system would seem a lot more expensive for the
seller.

The propane station does have a meter, but they are not reading dollars like
the gas pump. That means the kid filling the tank will actually have to
compute something. The scale does tell you when the tank is full, a very
accurate method.

At most places, you go to the cashier, pay the flat fee, then the person
goes to the filling station and fills the tank. Mine are always empty so it
is not a big deal. Given the small number of tanks that are partly filed,
it would be more costly to install the proper equipment at the pump, pay
after the filling etc. I'd guess 95% are empty and paying full price
anyway. The number of larger thanks filled is the minor exception.

If U-Haul is charging you a flat fee then I think they are ripping you off.
I haven't gone to a U-Haul yet that didn't have a metered tank. Also,
metered is better because you are paying for exactly what you are getting. A
home grill tank is basically 5 gallons but because of the OPD (Overflow
Protection Device) the tank can only be filled to 80% or approx 4.6 to 4.8
gallons. The OPD prevents overfilling and allows for the gas to expand in
hot temperatures. The scale is the old way of doing it. It uses weight of
the bottle rather than gallons. Both are accurate. As for expense to the
seller to have a meter installed; I think most propane companies will do it
without extra cost. Then too it is dependant upon your state's laws
governing sell of propane.

Just my nickels worth.

Paul

"Rick Brandt" wrote in message
. net...
Harry Demidavicius wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:00:42 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
wrote:
Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my
local HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill
tank so there's no way they are only charging for what they put in.

You live in a strange Country.

Honestly, you have places with a "meter" like buying gasoline? I can see
that for a guy that delivers propane to fixed location tanks, but I have
never seen any place that refills carry-ins that doesn't just have a scale
to measure when the tank is full.

I agree that it is a more logical way to sell the gas, but the average
barbecue tank is empty or pretty darn close to it when it's refilled and
having a metered fill-up system would seem a lot more expensive for the
seller.

I have also used our local U-Haul place and they do the same thing. Just
charge 10 bucks flat-fee to top off a tank.

Rick Brandt wrote:

Default User wrote:
Rick Brandt wrote:


Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my
local HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill
tank so there's no way they are only charging for what they put in.

HandyMan Hardware! Another St. Louis guy, huh?

Yep. North county.

Har, me too, Florissant.



Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)

On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:31:02 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
wrote:

Harry Demidavicius wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:00:42 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
wrote:
Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my
local HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill
tank so there's no way they are only charging for what they put in.

You live in a strange Country.

Honestly, you have places with a "meter" like buying gasoline? I can see that
for a guy that delivers propane to fixed location tanks, but I have never seen
any place that refills carry-ins that doesn't just have a scale to measure when
the tank is full.

I agree that it is a more logical way to sell the gas, but the average barbecue
tank is empty or pretty darn close to it when it's refilled and having a metered
fill-up system would seem a lot more expensive for the seller.

Well, I've bought propane at several places around here, and each has
a meter on the pump. (Chevron station, a 'no-name' station, and one
U-Haul outlet 35 miles from here)

A scale would make sense to me also--but the 'flat rate' some folks
mention...ack.

-denny-
--

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.
The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.

On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:31:02 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
wrote:

Harry Demidavicius wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:00:42 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
wrote:
Most places it is a fixed fee to bring the tank up to full. At my
local HandyMan Hardware you pay before you even go out to the fill
tank so there's no way they are only charging for what they put in.

You live in a strange Country.

Honestly, you have places with a "meter" like buying gasoline? I can see that
for a guy that delivers propane to fixed location tanks, but I have never seen
any place that refills carry-ins that doesn't just have a scale to measure when
the tank is full.

I agree that it is a more logical way to sell the gas, but the average barbecue
tank is empty or pretty darn close to it when it's refilled and having a metered
fill-up system would seem a lot more expensive for the seller.

I have also used our local U-Haul place and they do the same thing. Just charge
10 bucks flat-fee to top off a tank.

We have the exchange system here - very expensive; Costco wants $10
for a refill. Most of us go and have the tank weighed before and
after the refill - that can be as low as $7 or as high as $8.

Harry

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Rick Brandt" wrote in message
Honestly, you have places with a "meter" like buying gasoline? I can see
that for a guy that delivers propane to fixed location tanks, but I have
never seen any place that refills carry-ins that doesn't just have a scale
to measure when the tank is full.

I agree that it is a more logical way to sell the gas, but the average
barbecue tank is empty or pretty darn close to it when it's refilled and
having a metered fill-up system would seem a lot more expensive for the
seller.

The propane station does have a meter, but they are not reading dollars like
the gas pump. That means the kid filling the tank will actually have to
compute something. The scale does tell you when the tank is full, a very
accurate method.

At most places, you go to the cashier, pay the flat fee, then the person
goes to the filling station and fills the tank. Mine are always empty so it
is not a big deal. Given the small number of tanks that are partly filed,
it would be more costly to install the proper equipment at the pump, pay
after the filling etc. I'd guess 95% are empty and paying full price
anyway. The number of larger thanks filled is the minor exception.

Here in Georgia, at our local Ace Hardware, they fill the bigger tanks
for forklifts, etc. and you pay by the gallon, while a 20# tank is a
flat rate, $14.99 for the one I had filled two days ago.

On 22 Jan 2007 09:12:58 -0800, "basskisser"
wrote:

Here in Georgia, at our local Ace Hardware, they fill the bigger tanks
for forklifts, etc. and you pay by the gallon, while a 20# tank is a
flat rate, $14.99 for the one I had filled two days ago.

Hmp. For fifteen bucks, I can do a tank exchange at a couple places
around here.

-denny-
--

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.
The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.

Denny Wheeler wrote:
On 22 Jan 2007 09:12:58 -0800, "basskisser"
wrote:

Here in Georgia, at our local Ace Hardware, they fill the bigger tanks
for forklifts, etc. and you pay by the gallon, while a 20# tank is a
flat rate, $14.99 for the one I had filled two days ago.

Hmp. For fifteen bucks, I can do a tank exchange at a couple places
around here.

-denny-
--
Yeah, it's about the same here both ways. But, what I do here is wait
until I get a good like new tank from exchanging them, then just have
it refilled. I usually end up with a crappy tank if I keep exchanging
them!