Filling propane bottles

[Qweaver]

Is it possible/safe to fill 20# lpg bottles from a home tank?

[beenthere]

Apparently you will need a "wet leg" connection on your large tank.

[Raider]

Yes I do it all the time. With the right safety procedures and equipment.

[goose63]

Do it all the time here aint blew any thing up yet :D

[Chuck White]

Talk to your propane provider, I'm sure they can fix you up!

[stumpjumper83]

Yes, but remember they are filled by weight, not volume.  If you have Amish in your area, they use it for lighting and stuff, they have a slick balance system that they manufacture.

[sandhills]

We do it all the time too, but we have a farm tank for 2 propane tractors and the fittings to fill small bottles as well.

[Gary_C]

There are a number of ways to fill your own tanks.

But first you need a high pressure hose connected to the liquid valve on your propane supply tank. You should be able to obtain one from your propane supplier. I have the heavy duty right angle fill valve just like they have on the trucks plus I have an adapter that screws into the fill valve with a POL fitting on the end.

The first way to fill your tanks if they are completely empty is to just hook up the fill valve to the tank and just open both valves quickly to get enough liquid into the tank before the pressure is the same in both fill and filled tank. It's hard to get much liquid in this way as the liquid will vaporize as you are filling and then when the pressure equalizes, the flow stops. Not a very efficient way to fill but you can get the tank partially filled. Works better the colder the temperature.

The way I fill is to use what is called bleed filling where I hook up the fill valve and then open the little bleeder valve on the tank being filled. Most 20 and 30 lb cylinders have a bleed valve with either a screwdriver slot or small knob on the valve. That bleed valve has a small tube that extends into the tank and as you are filling you can see and hear when the propane coming out of the bleed valve changes from vapor to liquid. That tube extends down to the 80 % full level in the tank and you stop filling when you get the tank 80 % full. The newer tanks with the OPD valve also have a float that will shut off the filling when you get the tank 80 % full of liquid. But those tanks with the new OPD valve are much slower to fill than the tanks with the old valves.

I also fill 100 lb cylinders but I had to replace the valves on my tanks with new ones with the 80 % tubes bleed valves.

The other way is with a pump system where you force the liquid into the tank and it automatically vents vapor back thru the pump to keep the pressure down. This is the way most fill stations and propane trucks fill the tanks. They also have calibrated meters and usually a scale to weigh the tank also.

Incidently the reason for the new OPD valves is so an inexperienced clerk in a convenience store could fill a propane tank and not burn someones place down by overfilling a tank. You never want to allow a propane tank to let liquid out when connected to an appliance. Sure way to start a fire when you burp liquid out in a burner.

[Den Socling]

I just set empty forktruck bottles at the tanks that supply the house. When the house gets propane, the delivery man fills the bottles for me. He has an adapter for the small bottles. It's cheaper and a lot more convenient than going to a filling station.

[goose63]

If you do fill your own tank's be carful when you take the hose off the gas left in the line fast freez your hand :(