Ever wonder how much CO2 or Propane is left?

This little gadget will help.



It's a digital luggage scale for $22

• ABS plastic, steel
• Automatic hold feature allows you to lift luggage, set it down and then read the weight
• Measures in lbs. or kgs. Up to 100lbs./44kg.
• Large digital display for easy reading

I plan on using it to weigh my CO2 cylindars and propane tanks. I am also going to use it when I swap my tanks out to make sure I get a full one. I have rejected some propane swaps just cause the tank felt a bit "light".

That's a pretty nifty gadget and idea Ed!

And I thought I was done buying stuff for the brewery.

I use this;

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9605596

Cheap enough to have more than one and I can leave it in place.

Also, beer left in Keg... Nice find.

another neat trick for propane tanks is to pour very hot water on the tank and feel where it gets cold again. i know it sounds wierd but it works great. i got six brew sessions off of one tank.

Okay silly question...How much does a full 20 lb propane tank weight full? 20 lbs?
They seem lighter then 20 lbs empty, and heavier then 20 when full.

38 lbs says the bathroom scale....!

Glibbidy said:

Okay silly question...How much does a full 20 lb propane tank weight full? 20 lbs?
They seem lighter then 20 lbs empty, and heavier then 20 when full.

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The TARE weight should be stamped on the tank. That's the empty weight. Add that to whatever they are supposed to add and that is your full weight.

That's great...but my co2 tank is a 50#'er and between the 50 of Co2, and the tank, the whole deal must weigh around 250#...Guess I should fill the 5# bottle.

Glibbidy said:

Okay silly question...How much does a full 20 lb propane tank weight full? 20 lbs?
They seem lighter then 20 lbs empty, and heavier then 20 when full.

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Engraved on the side of the tank should be the letters TW then a number. This number is the empty tank weight.

Each gallon of liquid propane weighs 4.23 lbs.

A 20 lb. tank has 20 lb. of propane in it when full.

Therefore 20 lb. + TW# = Total weight when full. (usually around 37-38 lbs.)

* See "Propane Tank Remainder Measurement" in the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane

beergears said:

38 lbs says the bathroom scale....!

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Just keep in mind that the tare weight is not the same for all tanks. That's why the TW is stamped on them. If you exchange your tanks rather than having the same one filled every time, you should check the tare when you get the new tank.

When I exchange an empty cylinder at Lowe's (Blue Rhino brand tanks), it says the net fill is 17.3 lbs. Are those of us that exchange our tanks getting ripped off?

danotts said:

When I exchange an empty cylinder at Lowe's (Blue Rhino brand tanks), it says the net fill is 17.3 lbs. Are those of us that exchange our tanks getting ripped off?

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Between reply #10 and this one propane costs between $4.69 to $4.96 a gallon and the bottle exchange at HomeDepot is $19.95. Price of propane will go up. This and you get less than a 5 gallon refill. This is making a fully electric heating system more desireable all the more. I live in a city with natural gas heating but still will go electric.

When I got mine filled a couple weeks ago The guy filling it actually told me it is only about 17.5 lbs per fill. This si the only place local I have to fill rather than exchange.

I finally got around to getting this scale.


It's pretty handy to take with. It had pretty good reviews at Amazon.

Here I am getting ready to weigh a 5# CO2 bottle. It's zero'd out. It's a phone pic, sorry. The TW of this bottle is 7.6#, so I should have 12.6 in there, but I got screwed by AirGas to the tune of 20% on this swap. No big deal this time, but next time I will be prepared.



Here it is after I picked it up. When it beeps, it is done and the display stays there for 1 minute.


Here it is with a 20 lb. propane bottle I picked up today. I exchanged 2 bottles and had to go through 5 to get 2 bottles that were full. This bottle has a TW of 17# and the sign on the exchange cage says net weight 17 lb. of propane.



The kid at my local HEB store thought the gadget was cool, especially when we found a "Full" "Sealed" bottle with only 4 lbs. of propane in it. At $19 bucks it will pay for itself pretty quick, plus the added feature of keeping luggage under 50# for checking baggage.

Have you checked it against another scale? The one you use for grain perhaps?

"plus the added feature of keeping luggage under 50# for checking baggage."

That's probably the intended feature

if you go to an exchange place for propane you are not getting the full 20#. they call it a safety measure to leave extra room for expansion.

i am in the propane business. i know for a fact that companies like PPX(amerigas) and blue rhino only put 15-17 # of propane in their exchange tanks. it says it right on their wrapper. the only way to get 20# is to go to a place that fills your tank, (such as my place)(shameless plug) (John S. Posen Inc. 1214 Skippack Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422)


but seriously, it will say it right on the outside, and its not even in the small print.

Well god damn...I work 6 miles from you in montgomeryville. You're getting my business next time. Mapquest is telling me it's Skippack Pike. Do you do CO2 also? EDIT: Google says you do.

fixed.

its already been a long morning. plus i am a terrible speller. thats unacceptable though

we also fill Co2, oxygen, argon, helium, and just about every other gas.

plus we have regulators and a bunch of beer system related items. the stock for that is fairly limited though, were just getting into that.

Has anyone messed around with one of these tanks?



http://www.lpgastanks.com/propane-tanks/lc20

No I haven't.


I use this to tell me when a tank is about empty.


http://www.gaswatch.com/products_gaswatch_212.asp

jonp9576 said:

if you go to an exchange place for propane you are not getting the full 20#. they call it a safety measure to leave extra room for expansion.

i am in the propane business. i know for a fact that companies like PPX(amerigas) and blue rhino only put 15-17 # of propane in their exchange tanks. it says it right on their wrapper. the only way to get 20# is to go to a place that fills your tank, (such as my place)(shameless plug) (John S. Posen Inc. 1214 Skippack Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422)


but seriously, it will say it right on the outside, and its not even in the small print.

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Yep, I wish I had a place that filled tanks that was close to me. I know they do not fill tanks to 20#, but my problem is that many times, they don't fill them to their advertised net weight either. This little luggage scale helps make sure the tank I get is full to the net weight.

dstar26t said:

Have you checked it against another scale? The one you use for grain perhaps?

"plus the added feature of keeping luggage under 50# for checking baggage."

That's probably the intended feature

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Yep, and it is accurate to a 10th of a pound weighing the same 10 lb. dumbell.

Schlenkerla said:

No I haven't.


I use this to tell me when a tank is about empty.

Propane Level Indicator & Safety Gauge : GasWatch (TM) Model 212

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I like the gas watch a lot! Pretty cool.

I just keep an old bathroom scale in the garage, I weigh my tanks after each brew session. +1 to what Ed say's, you will get screwed on propane guaranteed. Blue Rhino is the worst. I fill my own tanks and usually get around 4.5 gallons in a normal tank. I have yet to be able to fill a Rhino tank past 3.5 gallons.

Anybody ever try one of these?



Propane Tank Level Indicator on Sale

TommyBoy44060 said:

I like the gas watch a lot! Pretty cool.

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I have 3 of them one for each of my tanks. I'm going to see if there is a place locally that will fill mine rather than do the exchange.

I use this to tell me when a tank is about empty.


Propane Level Indicator & Safety Gauge : GasWatch (TM) Model 212

Click to expand...

these things are not al they are cracked up to be. much like the co2 in our tanks, the propane in there is liquid. its like the high presure guage on the co2 reg. it will stay stationary till the liquid is gone.


a scale works best.

those stickers on the sides of the tank are fairly accurate as well.

as far as that fiber tank above, they are "OK" but they are at least double the cost of the regular steel tanks for a weight reduction of only about 8 lbs. its not really worth it

jonp9576 said:

these things are not al they are cracked up to be. much like the co2 in our tanks, the propane in there is liquid. its like the high presure guage on the co2 reg. it will stay stationary till the liquid is gone.


a scale works best.

those stickers on the sides of the tank are fairly accurate as well.

as far as that fiber tank above, they are "OK" but they are at least double the cost of the regular steel tanks for a weight reduction of only about 8 lbs. its not really worth it

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That's true to some degree. I have seen mine drop over time. A brand new tank shows full and after brewing one batch it shows a lower level. I think I get about 3 batches per tank. (Guessing though) I will never start a boil if the gauge is in the yellow. When it is I move it over to the other burner for my HLT. This burner heats water super quick so it doesn't use much gas. Then I grab my another full tank.

I have three tanks and they are usually in this range; A full one, about 40-60% full, and another below 40%.

Works for me.

sounds like a good system you have worked out there. i

wish most of my customers could work something out like that. most of them that have multiple tanks for their grill say they use one, and then switch it to the next and it gives them time to get the other one filled. next thing you know they have 2 empty tanks and raw burgers.

somehow they find a way to blame that on me.

I have two CO2 tanks and two propane tanks, just in case.

However, that looks like an easy solution to the "How long till the keg blows?" Granted it can't handle a full cornie, but when the cornie is full, I'm not concerned.

Or even better: Travelon Travel Scale 32 kg and a nice big hook.

I have 2 30lb tanks and 2 20lb tanks I have them filled at techair in Fishkill NY the weight the tanks when the fill them and he even has said different tanks can take different amounts of propane. I just had the 20lbs filled and one took 18.5 lbs of propane before the OPD stopped the flow the other just a tiny bit over 18#.

When they were no OPD the old guy there used to bleed them as he was filling them. Dont know if that was a good idea or not. But it seemed they lasted longer

there is no problem using the bleeder. thats why its there

jonp9576 said:

sounds like a good system you have worked out there. i

wish most of my customers could work something out like that. most of them that have multiple tanks for their grill say they use one, and then switch it to the next and it gives them time to get the other one filled. next thing you know they have 2 empty tanks and raw burgers.

somehow they find a way to blame that on me.

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On more than one occasion I have argued with SWMBO about needing a spare for the grill. She always makes a fuss about about having two for the grill.

(BTW - I don't use a gas watch for my grill, I'm too cheap)

I always have to remind her of this

1. When do you usually discover its empty? When you are cooking.
2. When is it least convenient to go get another? When you are cooking and you have a houseful of people.

Durrrr..

I think I have this argument with her about 2 times each summer.

its always funny working the weekend after a holiday(memorial day, 4th of july, labor day) annd hearing these guys come in with their tail between their legs and how they ran out with a house full of people