Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Propane filling from your own tank?

I was having my Large propane tank filled Friday ( ouch ) and asked the guy if he had heard of anyone filling their 20# gas grill tanks out of the big tank. He said he had heard of that but didn't know where to buy the parts from.

I looked on the net but didn't find much info.

Anyone heard/done anything like this? More info would be greatly appreciated.

I just saw this in the latest harbor freight catalog. Probably some plumbing involved.

not a good idea. I believe you would need a pump. Plus it is somewhat dangerous.

I know that some people I used to hunt with filled their 20# tanks for the goose blinds out of the big tank. They had no pump, would hook up the tanks and leave them over night. The propane would transfer slowly, IIRC the tanks did not fill all the way full like with a pump, but the propane would transfer...and this was long before the safety valves of today.

if you turn the big tank (100 lb'er) upside down and above the smaller one, whether peanut bottles or 20 lb'ers it facilitates filling them.


as was stated, you can't fill them to the level as to taking them to the station with a pump, but 60- 70% or so is doable.

Like was said before, the big tank has to be upside down to pour the liquid propane out. If it's upright, you only get gas, not liquid. I fill my little 5 lb BBQ grill bottle from a 30lb bottle all the time. It takes longer than at a pump, but it works fine. All you need is a hose with POL valves on both ends. Be sure to open the bleeder screw on the little bottle.

Dick

My tank has what is called a liquid/wet leg. Not all tanks have them from what the propane guy said. It is a male connection that is valved. I would think the liquid would siphon just like anything else.

Maybe I can give Hank Hill a call.

The only way that I have done it is from a big tank with a hose to fill up a farm tractor. You have to have an adapter and I made mine out of old tank parts. The only part hard to come by is where the hose screws on the big tank. The propane company's used to have the adapters but they were stingy with them. Years ago they would fill up your little tank when they delivered gas for the big tank and sometimes you could talk a driver out of one. I don't think that they will fill them now except at the home office. miles

It isn't a problem at all.
Just get the adapter and a hose, but those are gonna cost ya a bit to buy.. You should get set-up by the same outfit you rent the tank from, they may offer the rigging for a couple bucks a month rent. I kept a 500gal tank sitting in my yard just to fill the 20's and 30's I used for portable heaters in my green houses. You don't need a pump, but it is pretty slow process because I think you will be plumbing in the new hose downstream from the regulator on the big tank(?)I think, the propane outfit rigged mine. Might not be so bad if you're not doing it often, I was filling about 20 tanks a week in the winters for 12 years that way. After you get down to about 10 to 20% in the big tank you will fight it to get a smaller tank completely filled..... Do it just like the propane dude does it, wear your gloves and don't forget to open the bleeder valve on the small tank you are filling.

Luckily I own my own tank but I should be able to ask the owner of the propane supplier. He is kind of a one man band so I don't think he will give me corporate grief about filling my own tank.

The valve I speak of which I think is the one I would fill from, is threaded directly into the tank so it doesn't go through the regulator. The tank pressure shows 125 psi.

I'm sure he will get you set up...
I choked as I was making the post on the regulator deal.. I know you have to be working with liquid and that kinda nixes the regulator out of the picture..
The deal was with how I was set up, I couldn't over fill no matter what, it just wasn't possible, the larger tank and smaller tanks matched in PSI capabilities. When my 500 was full it was a quicker but still kinda slow process, I'm pulling back from 10-12 years old memories. I might just be remembering it as slow and grueling due to me having so many to fill so often and it was winter time and cold and I was outside and the sun was in my eyes:-)

But in any case you got a valid, safe plan..Good luck...

i live out in the country on a farm and have a 1000gal butane tank in one corner of my yard, which is used for 2 water heaters and 2 central heating units in my home. filling a grill tank is a no brainer.

all one needs is a 1" hose of whatever length you prefer (mine is 12 feet), an adapter from the hose to let you screw it into the larger/full tank, an on/off control mechanism and a male adapter at the end of the hose which you will screw into the empty/smaller tank. the empty/grill tank will have a bleeder valve. screw everything together, open the bleeder valve on the empty tank, slowly open the valve on the larger/full tank (if your tank doesn't have one the gas company can mount one for you), and let it flow.

the first time you do this have a stop watch or some way of timing the process. then you will know how long the next refill takes.

as the empty bottle fills, butane/propane gas will escape from the bleeder valve. when it does, shut off the gas at the large tank, close the valve on the small tank. then slowly unscrew the hose at the small tank allowing any gas in the hose to escape.

i've been doing this for many years without a hitch. obviously no smoking or anything making a spark allowed anywhere near what you are doing.

One thing I learned from filling CO2 paintball cylinders, is if the cylinder is frosted over you get a lot more CO2 in the tank. The same applies for the little pounder propane tanks. I hook them up turn my 20lb tank upside down and open the value for a couple of seconds and then vent the lber with a nail, I use heavy gloves as the propane can and will freeze your skin. After venting, the cylinder is nice and frosty, then take a lot more propane that way, don't ask me why.

I refill the little 1lb disposable cylinders all the time for my lantern & camp stove. It's necessary to put them in the freezer for 30 min or so before filling them to condense the gas to a liquid or there's too much pressure inside to fill them. They're very easy to over fill so I lay them on their sides which leaves a big air bubble. They won't hold as much that way but overfilling is dangerous. I've seen them swell up in a hot garage. Not good.

Dick

Same here....but in camp I put the 1#'s in the ice chest for a little bit, then turn propane bottle upside down and open valve with 1# attached for 1 minute.....that's what the directions say that came with EZ filler valve. Simple.

That sounds like what you need. I recall from my tar melting days that there were two differant style 100# tanks , one had a tube inside from the valve on top that went to the bottom of the tank to draw the liquid propane , the other did not have the tube and just drew the vapor off the top.
But if you are just using it for your grill at home , wouldn't it be easier to just run a direct line to the grill area and attatch a length of rubber hose to the grill from a shut off and regulator nearby ? The hand held roofing torches we used had 15-20' rubber lines attatched to the 20 and 30 # tanks we used .

Phil

Hey 1936, I recently saw what a handheld roofing torch does when the roofer gets a little overzealous. They burned a section of roof off at the food plant I work at, when all is said and done its going to be about a $5 million dollar loss, not counting a lot of the lost sales. I'm sure their insurance company is happy about now....:)

Yup, something handheld that shoots out a 4' flame at 2,000+F is a tool to be respected. But like firearms , there are saftey practices and I see now even classes required to operate one.
We used to get a jacket for every 100,000 SQ feet we put down. I think I've covered several acres myself , saftey practices like keeping some one there after after the job was done to look for hot spots saved our butts a couple of times.

http://www.csao.org/UploadFiles/ResearchDocument/Roofing%20Safety.pdf

Phil

Now back to the OPs Question.

Works OK with CO2 with LP it vents when the tank is back to temperature.

Ive never had that happen, and Ive been filling the lbers over 7 years.