🚀 go-pugleaf

Almost RVs need a station with filling capabilities.  Some do have
"portable" type bottles, but even then, filling them at the before mentioned
type station is usually cheaper.


"Eric" <ebounds@aol.com> wrote in message
news:a2254aab.0402251719.3b891708@posting.google.com...
> I had a quick question for you guys as I am pretty clueless abour RV's
> and propane in general.
> I will be working this summer researching businesses strictly for
> travlers, one of the many things I will be researching is businesses
> offering liquid propane. My question is this are the small bottles of
> propane that you buy/exchange at many gas stations what the majority
> of RV's require or do most RV need a place with an actual propane
> filling station to refill their propane? It seems to me like those
> small bottles of propane at gas stations are more for BBQ grills and
> such and not what a person traveling in an RV would actually need but
> I really have no clue. I notice quite a few truck stops actually have
> huge propane tanks and have filling stations capable of refilling RV's
> propane supply and I expect this is more of what is needed.
> I ask this because I dont want to say during my research that Gas
> station XYZ which exchanges those small bottles carries liquid propane
> and some RV'er who needs LP go by my research and head towards this
> gas station and finds out its not what he needs and that he actually
> needed a gas station with  liquid propane filling capabilities.
>
> thanks in advance

As far as I know, pickup campers are the only RVs that usually have the
small barbeque size tanks, the 20 pound or 4 to 5 gallon size, which is
what is available for exchange.  Almost all other RVs use larger tanks.
I usually fill mine rather than exchange them, because they are cheaper,
but have exchanged tanks when it made sense to do so.

For what it is worth, I have heard that new regulations are pushing
business away from filling tanks themselves, in favor of exchanges, but
RVers will continue to need businesses that can fill tanks.

Many RVs, especially motorhomes, have built in tanks that cannot be exchanged.

In general, your conclusion is correct, RVers need a place with a big
tank that can fill the tanks on their RV, not a place with exchange tanks.

Richard



Eric wrote:
>
> I had a quick question for you guys as I am pretty clueless abour RV's
> and propane in general.
> I will be working this summer researching businesses strictly for
> travlers, one of the many things I will be researching is businesses
> offering liquid propane. My question is this are the small bottles of
> propane that you buy/exchange at many gas stations what the majority
> of RV's require or do most RV need a place with an actual propane
> filling station to refill their propane? It seems to me like those
> small bottles of propane at gas stations are more for BBQ grills and
> such and not what a person traveling in an RV would actually need but
> I really have no clue. I notice quite a few truck stops actually have
> huge propane tanks and have filling stations capable of refilling RV's
> propane supply and I expect this is more of what is needed.
> I ask this because I dont want to say during my research that Gas
> station XYZ which exchanges those small bottles carries liquid propane
> and some RV'er who needs LP go by my research and head towards this
> gas station and finds out its not what he needs and that he actually
> needed a gas station with  liquid propane filling capabilities.
>
> thanks in advance

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004, Richard Ferguson wrote:

> As far as I know, pickup campers are the only RVs that usually have the
> small barbeque size tanks, the 20 pound or 4 to 5 gallon size, which is
> what is available for exchange.

  May I suggest you expand your knowldge, my last trailer had one (then
two, when I modified it) 20lb tanks, my folks trailer had one, another
friends 2002 has two, as does yet another friends 2000 and some friends
"new" 2004 trailer (27 ft) has two. Infact it appears that "camping grade"
trailers that have two 20 lb tanks are more common then ones withsingle 30
lb tanks (like my current unit has)

 --
-----
Ralph Lindberg N7BSN       n7bsn@amsat.org
RV and Camping FAQ http://kendaco.telebyte.net/rlindber/rv/
Cry bother and loose the Pooh's of War

Eric wrote:

> I had a quick question for you guys as I am pretty clueless abour RV's
> and propane in general.
> I will be working this summer researching businesses strictly for
> travlers, one of the many things I will be researching is businesses
> offering liquid propane. My question is

Almost all motor homes have built in, non removable tanks, which means
that they require being filled from the larger tank directly.

Some, like myself, also carry auxiliary bottles, to use when the m/h is
parked for longer than the contents of the tank would last, which could be
exchanged.  Of course I can't see exchanging instead of filling because of
the cost difference except in an emergency.  We just returned from a trip
to Las Vegas and I saw exchanges ranging from $15.00 to $21.00, while it
cost $11.60 to get a completely empty bottle filled.

Paul

On 25 Feb 2004 17:19:57 -0800, ebounds@aol.com (Eric) wrote:

>I had a quick question for you guys as I am pretty clueless abour RV's
>and propane in general.
>I will be working this summer researching businesses strictly for
>travlers, one of the many things I will be researching is businesses
>offering liquid propane. My question is this are the small bottles of
>propane that you buy/exchange at many gas stations what the majority
>of RV's require or do most RV need a place with an actual propane
>filling station to refill their propane? It seems to me like those
>small bottles of propane at gas stations are more for BBQ grills and
>such and not what a person traveling in an RV would actually need but
>I really have no clue. I notice quite a few truck stops actually have
>huge propane tanks and have filling stations capable of refilling RV's
>propane supply and I expect this is more of what is needed.
>I ask this because I dont want to say during my research that Gas
>station XYZ which exchanges those small bottles carries liquid propane
>and some RV'er who needs LP go by my research and head towards this
>gas station and finds out its not what he needs and that he actually
>needed a gas station with  liquid propane filling capabilities.
>
>thanks in advance

My suggestion would be list both - "propane fill" and "propane bottle
only". This makes your directory more informative and anyone using it
could tell if that station has what they need.

I see where Richard Ferguson <raferguson@att.net> contributed:

>As far as I know, pickup campers are the only RVs that usually have the
>small barbeque size tanks, the 20 pound or 4 to 5 gallon size, which is
>what is available for exchange.  Almost all other RVs use larger tanks.
>I usually fill mine rather than exchange them, because they are cheaper,
>but have exchanged tanks when it made sense to do so.

Back when the Flaming One was a juvenile delinquent instead of just a
braggart, we had a GMC motor home with a 40# horizontal propane tank
that was damaged by some ham-handed "technician".  (Not sure whether
he was chewing gum at the time, but this was before face hardware)
Having experienced similar propane filling stupidity in the past, I
decided to fix the problem by removing the built-in tank and replacing
same with a pair of 20# bottles and a changeover valve.  This not only
made it unnecessary to find the increasingly rare propane filling
stations, but allowed us to be well away from the filling operation
when Ham Handed Henry did his Thing.

Will Sill

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 17:19:57 -0800, Eric wrote:

> I had a quick question for you guys as I am pretty clueless abour RV's and
> propane in general.
> I will be working this summer researching businesses strictly for
> travlers, one of the many things I will be researching is businesses
> offering liquid propane. My question is this are the small bottles of
> propane that you buy/exchange at many gas stations what the majority of
> RV's require or do most RV need a place with an actual propane filling
> station to refill their propane?
<<..>>

The vast majority of RVers who travel need the filling station, and not
the bottle exchange type place. While I agree it would be good to list
both types, the exchange places are getting so common that it would take a
tome of enormous size to list them all (around here, every grocery store,
home center and most convenience stores exchange bottles).

--
Chris Bryant
http://bryantrv.com

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 13:14:54 +0000, Will Sill wrote:

> Back when the Flaming One was a juvenile delinquent instead of just a
> braggart

Bile build up again?
--
Chris Bryant
http://bryantrv.com

Chris Bryant wrote:

> On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 13:14:54 +0000, Will Sill wrote:
>
>
>>Back when the Flaming One was a juvenile delinquent instead of just a
>>braggart
>
>
> Bile build up again?

Nope, trolling again.
HD in FL

On 25 Feb 2004 17:19:57 -0800, ebounds@aol.com (Eric) wrote:

>I had a quick question for you guys as I am pretty clueless abour RV's
>and propane in general.
>I will be working this summer researching businesses strictly for
>travlers, one of the many things I will be researching is businesses
>offering liquid propane. My question is this are the small bottles of
>propane that you buy/exchange at many gas stations what the majority
>of RV's require or do most RV need a place with an actual propane
>filling station to refill their propane? It seems to me like those
>small bottles of propane at gas stations are more for BBQ grills and
>such and not what a person traveling in an RV would actually need but
>I really have no clue.

You might drive through an RV park or somewhere and look at what kind of
containers sit on the front of trailer hitches. Those can be exchanged.

Self-contained RVs usually have a big tank built in underneath, so they
have to drive the whole thing to a filling station and get it filled
with a special hose from a big propane tank.


> I notice quite a few truck stops actually have
>huge propane tanks and have filling stations capable of refilling RV's
>propane supply and I expect this is more of what is needed.
>I ask this because I dont want to say during my research that Gas
>station XYZ which exchanges those small bottles carries liquid propane
>and some RV'er who needs LP go by my research and head towards this
>gas station and finds out its not what he needs and that he actually
>needed a gas station with  liquid propane filling capabilities.
>
>thanks in advance

Might be good to clarify the terms, maybe with pictures. I'm never sure
what a 'bottle' is. There are:

1. heavy metal tank built in under the vehicle, needs a special nozzle
from a very big tank at a filling station. Ours held about 8-10 gallons.

2. heavy metal /whatever it is/  that you can carry, holds about 5
gallons, also needs special hose that screws on backwards :-), Works
with "Extend A Stay" tee etc. Some such tanks are taller but have same
fittings. These are the ones that sit in pairs on a trailer hitch. Some
places exchange full ones for empty ones.

3. little green cylinder that plugs into small gas appliances and is not
supposed to be refillable


Gypsy
--
http://www.sonic.net/mary/RV
1985 Coachmen 26' Class C motorhome for sale

> My suggestion would be list both - "propane fill" and "propane bottle
> only". This makes your directory more informative and anyone using it
> could tell if that station has what they need.


I like this idea a lot, Im going to run this one past my superiors,
while I agree that many many places are doing propane exchange it
seems like this would definately be the most informative way to go for
RV'ers from what I have heard.


 Thanks to all who have responded.

On 27 Feb 2004 05:18:45 -0800, ebounds@aol.com (Eric) wrote:

>> My suggestion would be list both - "propane fill" and "propane bottle
>> only". This makes your directory more informative and anyone using it
>> could tell if that station has what they need.
>
>
>I like this idea a lot, Im going to run this one past my superiors,
>while I agree that many many places are doing propane exchange it
>seems like this would definately be the most informative way to go for
>RV'ers from what I have heard.
>
My two cents - any RVer who's checked the prices is unlikely to go the
exchange route.  The only reason I can think of is an emergency
situation when dispensed propane isn't available.

I think those things are aimed at the backyard barbecuer who uses a
tank once a year or less.

--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
removebalmerconsultingthis@att.net

>Gypsy (x@y.z> wrote:

>Might be good to clarify the terms, maybe with pictures. I'm never sure
>what a 'bottle' is. There are:
>
>1. heavy metal tank built in under the vehicle, needs a special nozzle
>from a very big tank at a filling station. Ours held about 8-10 gallons.

Ours is the same as I see in other large motor homes: 38 gallons
nominal, 30.4 before the OPD shuts it off.

>
>2. heavy metal /whatever it is/  that you can carry, holds about 5
>gallons, also needs special hose that screws on backwards :-), Works
>with "Extend A Stay" tee etc. Some such tanks are taller but have same
>fittings. These are the ones that sit in pairs on a trailer hitch. Some
>places exchange full ones for empty ones.

The 30# tanks on our fiver held around 7.4 gallons, if memory serves.
>
>3. little green cylinder that plugs into small gas appliances and is not
>supposed to be refillable


BTW, we have stayed in parks where the propane supplier drives through
the park, filling tanks.

Boondocking, is appears that we are good for about 40 days on our
current tank.