Annoying problem with propane tanks that I get from the Propane Exchanges here

[JimS]

Hi all,

I used to live in NJ and I owned my own propane tank that I could take down the street and have refilled. I have since moved away and am now in Illinois. It seems there's not anyplace around where I live to refill your own propane tanks, so I have to get them from one of the Propane Exchange places (of which there are many around here). The problem I'm having is that on either side the edges of the handle holes are curved.



Only the round hole opposite the part of the valve where you screw the hose from the grill to, is not curved as you can see on the right above. The curved edges won't fit properly (actually, they won't fit at all) onto the little hook that's shows the weight and the amount of propane left in the tank on the gas grill.

So when I install it in the grill the hose gets stretched around the tank to get it screwed into the valve:



I'm wondering if there's an adapter or something that will allow the curved side to convert to be able to be attached to the weight scale thing on the gas grill? If I had the proper tools and space (I don't have either) I could probably fabricate one, but I almost can't imagine that there's not something out there already that will do this.

Thanks in advance to any help anyone can provide!!

Jim S.

 

[Steve Hoch]

I have a tank that style myself but my hose is long enough that it's not a problem when I use it. I've never seen any sort of adapter, but I know you can buy a longer hose that should also solve the problem. My question to you is how you ended up in Waterloo, IL from New Jersey?

 

[BPratt]

Hi all,

I used to live in NJ and I owned my own propane tank that I could take down the street and have refilled. I have since moved away and am now in Illinois. It seems there's not anyplace around where I live to refill your own propane tanks, so I have to get them from one of the Propane Exchange places (of which there are many around here). The problem I'm having is that on either side the edges of the handle holes are curved.

View attachment 115139

Only the round hole opposite the part of the valve where you screw the hose from the grill to, is not curved as you can see on the right above. The curved edges won't fit properly (actually, they won't fit at all) onto the little hook that's shows the weight and the amount of propane left in the tank on the gas grill.

So when I install it in the grill the hose gets stretched around the tank to get it screwed into the valve:

View attachment 115141

I'm wondering if there's an adapter or something that will allow the curved side to convert to be able to be attached to the weight scale thing on the gas grill? If I had the proper tools and space (I don't have either) I could probably fabricate one, but I almost can't imagine that there's not something out there already that will do this.

Thanks in advance to any help anyone can provide!!

Jim S.

Hi Jim,

I feel your pain. It gets worse in the winter when the hoses become stiff.

I use a longer hose to get around that problem. I believe you can get a Weber regulator hose assembly up to 42” (maybe 1 meter).

I would stick with Weber unless you are comfortable with getting the right after market one. I would avoid anything that says “universal”

 

[Jim Weber]

I had that problem for a while too.... Silly question --- have you tried putting the handle on the hook? It seems to me I finally figured that out after quite some time trying to get it to work --- and bending the side panel with the tank gauge in the process.... It was kinda a <<<DOH!!!>>> moment.... My current tank has a single handle and two holes so it works the way it should --- but another tank has the dual handles and they look thin enough to work on the hanger (both Blue Rhino tanks) that I'm pretty sure worked.

 

[LMichaels]

IDK if you have a Menards there. They refill or exchange, also look for garden centers. But down there with all the farms and such I find it hard to believe you cannot find a propane distributor who'll refill for you

 

[Cody Bratton]

Are there any co-op’s around you? They usually do tank fillings.

 

[timothy]

U haul or Ace are a few more.

 

[BFletcher]

Timothy to the rescue, if this is your current residence:

 

[Jim Weber]

I had that problem for a while too.... Silly question --- have you tried putting the handle on the hook? It seems to me I finally figured that out after quite some time trying to get it to work --- and bending the side panel with the tank gauge in the process.... It was kinda a <<<DOH!!!>>> moment.... My current tank has a single handle and two holes so it works the way it should --- but another tank has the dual handles and they look thin enough to work on the hanger (both Blue Rhino tanks) that I'm pretty sure worked.

Unless that tank has unusually wide handles/grip ---- it should fit on the scale hook. I seem to recall figuring out that the two handled tanks have a thinner 'rolled grip' than the single handled tanks. I would give Weber credit for planning it that way ---- but I think it was just a case of dumb luck myself.

BTW --- you can see the piece of strapping I had to add to the scale assembly after I had creased the side panel trying to make an 'auxiliary/in between hook' --- it has been holding up for 5+ years without any further folding/crumpling of the side panel.

 

[Ed P]

My first thought was a 3D printed adapter that would slip over the existing hook.

 

[MikeLucky]

Tractor supply is my new go-to. In fact on Saturday I had the entire family refilled.



Two of the 20lbers were completely empty and the rest were getting close. Got them all filled to the top, as well, for $65.

 

[Bruce]

I always used to fill mine at my local TSC as well. Now that I am on NG now, I really don't have much need to refill tanks. I get a couple every summer on the rehab grills that I pick up that either full or partially full.

 

[JimS]

I have a tank that style myself but my hose is long enough that it's not a problem when I use it. I've never seen any sort of adapter, but I know you can buy a longer hose that should also solve the problem. My question to you is how you ended up in Waterloo, IL from New Jersey?

I never thought of a longer hose...maybe I'll look into that. What I have now works, but I just don't like it.

Regarding the NJ to IL thing...long story. I hope this isn't TMI, but I spent most of my entire life on the east coast. I grew up north of Boston. I joined the USAF and spent a few months in TX, then a few months at Vandenburg AFB in CA, and finally my final duty station was Tucson, AZ. I lived in Buffalo, NY for a while which is where I met my current girlfriend (in 1993) that I'm living with here in Waterloo, IL. I took a job in NJ that was related to the work I was doing for SUNY at Buffalo so we moved from Buffalo, NY to NJ back in 2004. We were living together in NJ and I was at a great job that I loved. But then I was diagnosed with cancer. 2 rounds of chemo, a month of radiation, and a bone marrow transplant later, I lost my job and I couldn't afford to live on the east coast anymore. My girlfriend grew up in IL around where we are now. It's much less expensive to live here and so we could move here and afford a decent standard of living.

Now as a side note, when you think of USAF, you think of planes, right? No...not me. I was a Titan II launch crew member. I pulled alerts at Titan II missile silos in Tucson, AZ. The missles were 9 stories tall and had a 9-megaton nuclear warhead on the top. They were all decomissioned starting back in 1982 when President Reagan was negotiating with Gorbachev to reduce the number of nuclear missiles that each country had. All the silos were destroyed, except one. I actually pulled alerts at the one that was saved from destruction and is now the Titan II Missle Museum (https://titanmissilemuseum.org).

That first pic is me at the first Blast Lock Door in the missle complex. I took that on the last day I pulled an alert (decommissions started in Tucson, so they were the first to go. The others were in Little Rock, Arkansas and McConnell AFB in Kansas). Everything past that point was Top Secret, so no photos could be taken beyond that point. The other pic is the missle in the silo. It's a professional photo and not one I could take myself (again, it would be Top Secret so no photos could be taken in the launch duct).

 

[JimS]

Hi Jim,

I feel your pain. It gets worse in the winter when the hoses become stiff.

I use a longer hose to get around that problem. I believe you can get a Weber regulator hose assembly up to 42” (maybe 1 meter).

I would stick with Weber unless you are comfortable with getting the right after market one. I would avoid anything that says “universal”

I don't grill in the winter, unfortunately. I'd love to but I have no place that's protected and out of the weather. I break it all down (take the propane tank out, etc.) and store it in the garage for the winter. I need to live in a warmer place. LOL I have an 18-inch Weber Smokey Mountain cooker too, and that gets packed up and stored for the winter. Every winter I can't wait for the good weather to come and I can start grilling and smoking again.

 

[JimS]

Timothy to the rescue, if this is your current residence:

View attachment 115157

AmeriGas Propane Exchange, so no filling, only exchange. I do that at Walmart up the street. I have tried looking up the Midwestern Propane Gas Company and U-Haul but when I go to the addresses on Google Maps, I can see where it's supposed to be and I know the area, but they aren't there in Google Maps. Something else is there. But I will check them out in more detail during the week. I'm familiar with Columbia, IL. Great cigar lounge there. I know where the Ace Hardware is in Columbia and I will check with them and see if they do refills and not just excahanges. Thanks!!

 

[JimS]

Unless that tank has unusually wide handles/grip ---- it should fit on the scale hook. I seem to recall figuring out that the two handled tanks have a thinner 'rolled grip' than the single handled tanks. I would give Weber credit for planning it that way ---- but I think it was just a case of dumb luck myself. View attachment 115159

BTW --- you can see the piece of strapping I had to add to the scale assembly after I had creased the side panel trying to make an 'auxiliary/in between hook' --- it has been holding up for 5+ years without any further folding/crumpling of the side panel.

I can see how your rolled handle edge fits into the existing scale hook, but mine are way too large. I tried that. But I'm thinking I could get a piece of metal and bend it to shape so it's wider and will hold the wider rolled edge. I'm going to have to look into that. I was thinking of doing something like that but I wanted to post here first to see if something was already out there and for sale from someone. Maybe I should go into business and make some of them and sell them?? LOL I actually could do it if I had the facilities to work the metal I was really good at welding at one time. Ocy-acetelyne only though. I could do stick welding but nowhere near as good as I could do oxy.

 

[JimS]

Tractor supply is my new go-to. In fact on Saturday I had the entire family refilled.

View attachment 115187

Two of the 20lbers were completely empty and the rest were getting close. Got them all filled to the top, as well, for $65.

Wow...$65 for all those?? I'm going to have to see if there's a Tractor Supply near me. There's got to be one out here somewhere around the cornfields. LOL

 

[JimS]

After reading all the replies (thanks everyone!!), I know there's a Rural King just a few miles down the road. I never thought of going there and seeing what they have. If I find something there, I'll update this thread.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Good story Jim, and I hope you're doing well health wise. I'm looking forward to the day I can move away from Chicago to someplace like Waterloo to get away from the crazy taxes that we endure in this part of the state.