Propane tank?

merlynr

Member
How do you fix a shut-off valve leak and also the fill valve? They're two different tanks and each has a small leak. One is shut off valve stem and it bubbles soapy water like a small leak in a tire and other is leaking very slowly from the fill valve. The propane smell is easily detected.
 
merlyn,

I have no idea how you can fix your leaks, but I GUARANTEE you that my solution would be to call my propane supplier immediately and ask them to fix the problems.

It would seem to me that the tanks are going to have to be pumped out into some kind of holding tanks before tearing into the shut-off valves.

But, that's just my opinion.

Tom in TN
 
Call your distributor or supplier.He shuold have the means or expertise to repair them.In emergency training at the Chemical plant I retired from we trained on a device to encapsolate the valve with a miniture dome to seal it. the tank will probaly have to be emtied to repair. These two tanks are a ticking time bombs . Google propane Bleve. It will scare yuo to death.
 
The stem seal can be done by closing the valve, taking the knob off, then take off the stem nut off while not letting the stem turn at the same time. Watched the lp guy do it last time. The leaking fill valve can be fixed by buying an adapter that screws on over the fill valve. Its just another fill valve, so you can still fill just like before, used this on tractors that had a leaking fill valve. chris
 
As others wrote, call your supplier. That is the only SAFE way to get this done.

My supplier here in N. CA doesn't charge for the service call or the actual repair, only for any parts required. Reasoning being that they really don't want you to blow something up or burn down your house!
 
Those are very large tanks, Unless you are 100%
positive you will not blow yourself or others up
trying to fix the leaks, call a professional, and
let them do it. Messing around with that much gas
is not a good idea, it can be set off by the
smallest spark, the professionals use mostly brass
tools for a very good reason. Leave it alone,
call them out to fix it. Save your life, call
them out.
 
Down at work we do that with steam system valves. Close the valve tight and check for leak. Take knob and packing nut off. Some have a tapered compression ring piece inside the stem also. Got to get that out. The Teflon rope goes under it. You need a little Teflon packing rope. Comes in several sizes. Put in two wraps of rope and reassemble. I add a drop or two of Motorkote lube so everything is nice and smooth. Do not over tighten the nut. They can split. Pi$$ed off on old timer who told me you can never get those dam things to stop leaking. HA HA idot...not one of them has ever leaked again. Bozo
 
(quoted from post at 08:41:31 03/02/15) The stem seal can be done by closing the valve, taking the knob off, then take off the stem nut off while not letting the stem turn at the same time. Watched the lp guy do it last time. The leaking fill valve can be fixed by buying an adapter that screws on over the fill valve. Its just another fill valve, so you can still fill just like before, used this on tractors that had a leaking fill valve. chris

Thanks for the info. I'm going to have them fixed by a professional,but I was wondering about the procedure because someone told me they don't need to be pumped out to fix.
 
For the shut of valve, is it open all the way? That valve should
backseat, open all the way the stem is sealed from the gas.
 
I've changes quite a few valves on motor fuel tanks. The only ones I changed without draining the tanks were when the temperature was below -30°F. Move the truck to an open area. Unscrew the old valve and screw the new one in. The tanks have very little pressure in them at that temperature and once you remove the valve the remaining propane will start to boil off so that in about 30 seconds the pressure is low enough it is no problem to get the new valve installed.
 
(quoted from post at 07:37:46 03/02/15) Call your distributor or supplier.He shuold have the means or expertise to repair them.In emergency training at the Chemical plant I retired from we trained on a device to encapsolate the valve with a miniture dome to seal it. the tank will probaly have to be emtied to repair. These two tanks are a ticking time bombs . Google propane Bleve. It will scare yuo to death.

Kingman AZ 1962. But no way a little gas leaking from a valve on top can BLEVE. In order for it to be really dangerous you would have to build a containment of some sort around it to bring the concentration up to the lower limit of possible explosion. Loose propane is dangerous if it leaks inside a building or especially a basement where it can concentrate. In order to prevent that, once you have determined that there is no low level place that it could have accumulated, is to light it, so that it is under control. if you can see that there is a lower level place nearby that it could have pooled in, EVACUATE!
 
(quoted from post at 06:59:18 03/02/15) How do you fix a shut-off valve leak and also the fill valves? They're two different tanks and each has a small leak. One is shut off valve stem and it bubbles soapy water like a small leak in a tire and other is leaking very slowly from the fill valve. The propane smell is easily detected.
I am a propane supplier.I sell 3,000,000 gallons a year
Both of these are easy fixes for someone who knows what they are doing. Then service valve may pr may npt be able to have a stem seal kit put in it w/o pumpinh out the tank. Depends on what model it is. This is not a job for the faint of heart. The fill valve can have what we call a band aid valve put on it. Its a temp fix, but alot of them turnmore permanent that they should. The absolute best and safest is to have the tank pumped out, if it can because some cant. Revalve the tanks then refill and leak check. One thing I will tell you is the service valve should be all the way open or close. It will weap if in between. Also, dont torque on it , either in the open or close position.
Just open or close to the stop.
 
(quoted from post at 19:53:18 03/03/15) [pumped out, if it can because some cant. Revalve the tanks then refill and leak check. One thing I will tell you is the service valve should be all the way open or close. It will weap if in between. Also, dont torque on it , either in the open or close position.
Just open or close to the stop.


The service man fixed the leaky fill valve by tightening the center screw and bumping it to allow some gas out and it sealed up. He said the leak was so small it was less than a pilot light uses. The low pressure regulator on the house is dated 1972 and he gave me a yellow tag which means I have 6 months to replace it.
 

I take it that it's your tank? Other wise if it's the suppliers tank it's their responsibility to maintain the regulator and lines.
 
(quoted from post at 17:28:39 03/04/15)
I take it that it's your tank? Other wise if it's the suppliers tank it's their responsibility to maintain the regulator and lines.
Correct
 

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