Just returned from Home (away from home) Depot.

My brother and I were looking at some shed storage ideas and I remembered that I had seen a good deal on propane tanks at HD. I took him over and showed him the various sizes and prices and the salesman blurted out, "That one is on sale for $59.00 reg $89.00." It was a 25 gal tank I think. Anyway Bro asked him if it was ready for the change in 2000. Well the poor fellow got a queer look on his face and said "huh?' Bro asked him again if it was ready for the change over. Well all our tanks are y2 compliant" snicker.

Bro asked him if he even knew that the new laws regarding the regulators going into effect in Jan. would make it impossible for the owner of the old style to get a fillup. The salesman mumbled something and went away. Bro explained that after Jan the fillup would require the commercial type reverse thread nozzle hookup and that one could self service at most service stations. ONLY!!

Curious, I checked out the sale item tanks, and sure enough they still had the old style regulator with the bleeder valve on the side of the brass valve, while the non sale five gallon tanks all had the new style with the threads on the exterior of the nozzle including the reverse threads (safety so nothing else can be pumped into the tank accidentally). A good thing to know for those in the NW if you have propane on your prep list or already use it and are not aware of the coming change. I am not sure if the change will affect other parts of the country.

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), June 13, 1999

Answers

More information please,never heard of this.

-- Daryll (twinck@wfeca.net), June 13, 1999.

Just checked with the propane expert in the house and she pointed out that there are "old " style and "new" style valves, and that we had seen adapters in (I think) Cheaper than Dirt catalog. Adapters are available.

chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), June 13, 1999.

My brother is an Motorhome/RV owner who is going to be required to change the propane tanks on his motorhome to a new style. These regulator valves look very similar to the old style.The first thing I noticed was the pressure relief/overfill is not controllable by the end user any longer. The small bleeder valve (that used to be an indicator of a full bottle) is gone. Also the threads on the regulator are now on the outside of the nozzle and are much larger that the old type.They look like a large spigot (water faucet on the outside of your house for a garden hose).

A person filling the bottle (ie; at a service station) will be able to do so unattended if state law allows persons to pump their own gasoline. Oregon still requires gas jockey assistance, Washington allows self attendance. So a person in Oregon will not be allowed to fill their own propane bottle, at least this is my understanding.

As of Jan. 2000, a person will no longer be able to fill the old style here in the NW. So why (answer obvious) is Home Depot selling the old style propane bottles as a sale item? Duh I guess, except that I was considering having a backup heating/cooking system that included propane as 1 element. I had considered buying one of these tanks and filling it just before the prices goe through the roof this fall. I had no idea of the ramifications, until my brother shed some light on the subject for me. Possibly for the salesman too. This would have reeeaalllly PO'd me in Jan or Feb if I had purchased one of the old style!

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), June 13, 1999.

Thanks Chuck,

I will definately check it out. The old style bottles *are* cheaper. 30% off on this particular 25 gal tank.

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), June 13, 1999.

I didn't know the "new style" connectors would be required after Jan 1, 2000.

-- Chuck (robertsc@accn.org), June 15, 1999.

It is my understanding that the 25 gal. Bottles do not require a regulator change. Only the 5lb thru 30lb bottles were affected. More input....JB

-- Jack Bailie (Mrjack2@att.net), January 25, 2004.