Large yard propane tank

michelesleak

New User
Hi! I need some advice. Husband wont let me call the emergency service for propane leaks. He says he knows what hes doing - so I have to ask some of you if someone would please help me understand without being screamed at Id appreciate it so much! The tank had a hissing sound and a smell coming from it. He turned it off and said he has to retape the coils etc. he told me not to call 911 or a gas company. The propane table is probably 250 gallon tank that heats the pool. He did turn off the gas. When I googled this it said not to turn off gas and cool down tank with hose? Anyone know if turning off the gas is the right thing to do? There is 35% left in it and yesterday there was about 75 percent. If anyone is around that could help a crying wife if so appreciate it. If I bring up the subject to him again Im going to be in trouble but if anyone could just tell me if its ok and not going to explode? We only use it to heat the pool it doesnt go into the house or anything. Thanks so much!
 
at 35% it should not be popping of more then likely the valve is bad and tank must be empty to change it out CALL YOUR GAS SUPPLIER NOW
 
I doubt the tank is going to explode. All propane tanks have a safety relief valve, and will vent off if the pressure exceeds a certain pressure. If
the tank is outside that is good. If something is leaking, the tank valve should be turned off is what I would do. Stan
 
In my younger years, I trained in propane tank fires. It is unlikely that your tank will explode. That said, propane is HIGHLY flammable, which can cause its own problems.

As others have said, call the gas company. They are specifically trained and have all tools/parts/know-how to do the job safely. If your husband gets ticked about it, tell him he's got the couch for the rest of the weekend! 8)
 
(reply to post at 00:23:21 05/22/22)
He also says it isnt going to explode but why do others think it could? Im so upset that if I call the propane company it isnt going to be good. If theres a chance it could blow up Im better off just grabbing my pets and leaving. He says its had a slow leak for weeks (just now telling me this - or rather telling me this) and that it only massively leaked once he turned the heater on to heat the pool up for the first swim of the year. Is this really really dangerous or you think it can wait until Monday?
 
Has the tank stopped hissing and the smell is going away? If yes the leak is temporarily stopped and you should be OK in the short term. Propane is heavier than air so it will pool in low areas like pot holes and basements. Don't use anything electrical anywhere that you can smell gas to avoid sparking an explosion.

If it is still leaking I would call the gas company or fire department before you have a major fire or explosion.

It sounds like 100 gallons or more of propane has already leaked out. That is a lot, I'm surprised the neighbors have not noticed yet. Could the reason he says not to call anyone because it is an illegal or unauthorized connection that is now leaking?
 
If it's not leaking with the valve off it will be fine until Monday. Unnecessary charge to call a propane company
out on the weekend.
If you still don't trust your husband take a bottle of spray window cleaner out there and spray all of the fittings. If it bubbles it's still leaking.
 
The reason he doesnt want to is because (I hate to sound nasty because Im a nice person, but hes a know it all. He works as an inspector on aircraft (commercial jets) and he knows it all says he works with more flammable stuff than propane. That being said, he has a bad temper- and doesnt answer questions well for me. The hissing stopped and the smell is gone. Hes upset also because he knows where every dime of his money is, and he says he lost over $200 in propane now. He shut the tank off, turned off the heater in the pool and is grumbling. I knew I smelled something this week when I was outside one day. Then the next day the smell was gone. So since we filled it at Christmas to swim over the holidays and no one ended up coming, we only ran it for maybe a total of 16 hours total since it was filled at 100 percent and now its at 35 he said.
 
Basically he doesnt want to pay for an emergency service call so I hate asking you all but I have no one to ask. The tank was put in by Thompson gas and they are the ones who fill it for us.
 
(quoted from post at 00:54:32 05/22/22) If it's not leaking with the valve off it will be fine until Monday. Unnecessary charge to call a propane company
out on the weekend.
If you still don't trust your husband take a bottle of spray window cleaner out there and spray all of the fittings. If it bubbles it's still leaking.

ACTUALLY - he did do that and said it isn't leaking now that he shut the gas off.
 
THEN STOP WORRING. If it is not leaking , it aint leaking!! Trust him. It won't explode!
 
I hate to get into domestic disputes and also disagree with most other posters, But if it is closed off and no smell. you ate fine
 
I am a gas man, I dont understand what you mean by he has to re-tape the coils. Are you talking about the
copper tubing? If its leaking at either end then taping with Teflon tape will not help, the flare would be
cracked or improperly flared and would have to be cut off and re-flared if theres enough slack. If not then
the tubing would have to be replaced. If he has turned the valve off then you are ok until repair can be
made.
 
I would not get in a panic over it.

With the valve off and the leak stopped, the danger is gone. Now it's just a
matter of finding and properly repairing the leak.

An outdoor propane leak is very unlikely to cause a problem. Where leaking
propane is a danger is when it is contained inside a building. The vapor is
heavier than air and tends to pool in lower areas. If there is an ignition
source and the mixture is right, then yes it can explode violently!

But being outdoors, there is nothing to contain the vapors. It will dissipate
harmlessly once the valve is closed and the leak stopped.
 
Thompson gas. You out west somewhere? I have a small 1,000 gallon tank out in the yard. At $3.00 a gallon to fill, that adds up to a few
pennies at 800 gallons to fill it up. Being less than happy is not a great surprise. It's shut off, not leaking or stinking so he will have
enough time to look at it and fume about it. You can tell him politely, I didn't break it, why are you screaming at me?
I suspect taping the coils tells me it has a copper line in there somewhere.
I went with a flexible metal line to get away from a solid copper line or rubber hoses for just a possible problem as he is having.
If your in a goofy county such as I am, the city folks have to come rubber stamp it to make it official on the install.
You can call the propane supplier (Thompson gas) and see what they have to say.
Or you can listen to a bunch of knuckleheads who don't have a working crystal ball.
Mine was working up until last week when the batteries went dead.
 
Well, if the tank is shut off and there's no smell of leaking propane, it is safe for now. There is no need to call emergency service, which will no doubt be expensive on the weekend. It sounds like your husband is a licensed A&P mechanic, so he should know how to find and fix a leak in your gas line. It shouldn't be difficult to find a leak that vented a hundred gallons of propane in a day. And as someone else said, an outdoor propane leak isn't particularly dangerous.

I suspect your sweet husband knows exactly where that leak is but doesn't want to say because it's probably his fault. A nice cold glass of Chardonnay can be helpful in situations like this. (For you, not for the leak.)
 
Good Sunday Morning, In my experience (a lot of LP on farms over 40 years) its more likely a leak would
occur somewhere in the line OUT OF AFTER the tank versus the tank assembly itself. Therefore, if there's
no more leak or evidence of such including the aroma after the outlet valve is shut off, you're probably
safe for now. I've seen many installations where the LP Supplier buried soft roll copper pipe (not very
deep) from the tank to a regulator outside the home and that's a place to suspect a leak.

As always where fire and life safety are concerned, consider consulting a professional who can make an
inspection ON THE SITE versus or in addition to what any of us here (not being there) might think is the
problem ME INCLUDED !!!!!!!!

Best wishes be safe

John T NOT a plumber or LP Gas professional, trust them not me
 
Good luck with the propane situation, I trust that most of the YT crowd that have experience with propane are correct in that it is safe .... at least for now. Once this little situation has settled down for you, I wish you luck with your domestic situation which sounds somewhat unsafe in itself.
 
(quoted from post at 02:24:46 05/22/22) I would not get in a panic over it.

With the valve off and the leak stopped, the danger is gone. Now it's just a
matter of finding and properly repairing the leak.

An outdoor propane leak is very unlikely to cause a problem. Where leaking
propane is a danger is when it is contained inside a building. The vapor is
heavier than air and tends to pool in lower areas. If there is an ignition
source and the mixture is right, then yes it can explode viol


But being outdoors, there is nothing to contain the vapors. It will dissipate
harmlessly once the valve is closed and the leak stopped.
 

YA - If I knew then what I know now.

When you live with an expert on everything, you learn quickly you will never ask questions because there's no need to.
 

YA - If I knew then what I know now.

When you live with an expert on everything, you learn quickly you will never ask questions because there's no need to.
 
(quoted from post at 09:23:18 05/22/22)
YA - If I knew then what I know now.

When you live with an expert on everything, you learn quickly you will never ask questions because there's no need to.

Is your husband's name Richard Cranium?



This post was edited by Carlmac 369 on 05/22/2022 at 06:17 am.
 
not to be a wise guy leave sounds like you will never hear the end of it. would tell you ask him if life insurance is paid up and how money will you get? maybe that will make him think. seems like he doesn't care about you.
being a hot head maybe not a good idea.
 
(quoted from post at 10:02:14 05/22/22) > Can't you use a match to find the leak?lol

Well, it will help illuminate the problem.
.......and possibly stop the leak, too! :twisted:
 
If you have a husband you can't talk to and are fearful of him getting angry you have alot bigger problems than a propane leak. Hopefully everything works out well for you.
 
(quoted from post at 18:24:46 05/21/22) I would not get in a panic over it.

With the valve off and the leak stopped, the danger is gone. Now it's just a
matter of finding and properly repairing the leak.

An outdoor propane leak is very unlikely to cause a problem. Where leaking
propane is a danger is when it is contained inside a building. The vapor is
heavier than air and tends to pool in lower areas. If there is an ignition
source and the mixture is right, then yes it can explode violently!

But being outdoors, there is nothing to contain the vapors. It will dissipate
harmlessly once the valve is closed and the leak stopped.


We ran all butane tractors until I was in high school, so I know what you mean in your post.

BUT - years ago we had a house catch fire in an explosion in our community - that was on the low end of a field from a big lp tank.

It was one of those super still nights - and the investigators said appeared it was caused by a leak in the tank - that traveled down the lister ridges that night to the low end of the field and hit a combustion source in the house.
 
Tank probably belongs to the gas company and they dont want any problems with their products in case of lawsuits. Call the gas
company now.
 
(quoted from post at 02:10:16 05/22/22) I am a gas man, I dont understand what you mean by he has to re-tape the coils. Are you talking about the
copper tubing? If its leaking at either end then taping with Teflon tape will not help, the flare would be
cracked or improperly flared and would have to be cut off and re-flared if theres enough slack. If not then
the tubing would have to be replaced. If he has turned the valve off then you are ok until repair can be
made.

GRAYRIDER - I read him your post and he said "he's exactly right"- meaning you. He goes "You know, I bet that's exactly what it is". THANK YOU AND THANKS ALL SO MUCH!!!
 
(quoted from post at 05:19:42 05/22/22) THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I KNOW I SOUND CRAZY OVER THIS, BUT AS YOU GET OLDER, YOU WORRY MORE! THIS WAS ONE THING I COULDN'T FIX ON MY OWN, AND I USUALLY LEARN AND DO THINGS AS I NEED TO. HOPEFULLY THE PROFESSIONAL WILL COME TOMORROW. THANKS AGAIN! I BET IT SOUNDED LIKE YOUR OWN WIVES WORRYING!!!!! WE CANT HELP IT!

People need to watch fewer movies and more Mythbusters.

Common misconception is that you look crosseyed at a propane tank and it explodes like a nuclear bomb, taking out a square mile.

To get a propane explosion you need the right mix of fuel and air, which is a lot harder to do than you think. Outside, it's just about impossible. Normal airflow dissipates the propane to the point where it is no longer flammable. These horror stories where the propane follows terrain and ends up pooling in a basement, then causing an explosion, are exceedingly rare. You need just the right conditions for that to happen.
 

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