In Eastern Europe this is common practice, it was dirt cheap, easy to convert to and way cleaner than burning gasoline.
At one point, Serbia had the biggest “clean” fleet in Europe because of this.
I've seen a video of some dude filming European tourists trying to figure out how to use a gas station propane pump to fill the tires of their rental car
Yeah, 'LPG' is not too uncommon in various places around Europe. Where I live almost all fuel stations have a little LPG pump off the side. The main advantage is how hilariously cheap it is, potentially half the price of gasoline even after inefficiencies. Although nowadays, a decent hybrid gasoline car might get close.
Yep I live in Poland my Ford fiesta 2002 is LPG powered and my wife's Toyota Corolla Verso also 2002 is LPG powered
Almost all gas stations have LPG
Cost of
1l is around 2,60 zł LPG
1l is around 6 zł for Petrol
And the mileage is the same
For a full tank of LPG I pay 80 zł and do 400 km
Convert it yourself to imperial
Hungary too. You can still fill LPG at most bigger gas stations. I used to drive a fiat to university, half of the trunk was taken by the lpg tank. It was a shit car tho, barely made it up on the slope.
Even though they are making Bobby older, I still have hope because the new episodes and movie of Beavis and Butthead (also by Mike Judge) have been great and the humor/quality on par with the original.
![gif](giphy|302R6f6tCjq1O|downsized)
That's amazing! I heard the idea maybe a year ago that it might pick up with Bobby as an adult which I think is a great idea! I was imagining a slightly older than 21 Bobby, but that sounds perfect. One of my favorite shows of all time and I can't wait to see its return!
21 is perfect. Just old enough to be expected to take care of yourself completely while still being a total and complete dumbass. The perfect place for Bobby Hill to be for excellent antics.
Bobby Hill was never stupid. He was a 12 year old kid learning to navigate life with very little guidance from his parents. One parent was a no-nonsense, classic all American dad who never had a father figure of his own to teach him how to raise a son and therefor couldn't relate to him at all, and the other was an actual barely functional dumbass with a size 14 men's shoe.
I can see it now:
Person 1:"Who would win in a fight, Goku or Hank Hill?"
Person 2:"Pre or post time skip?"
Person 1:"Dragonball or King of the Hill?"
Person 2:"Yes."
Well there is the concept of "soft reboot" that allows the story basically starting anew without outright discarding what came before. But nah, the new series will be sequel, a direct continuation of the setting and plot.
They do, but, the production of LPG (which is primarily done in the US), is shambles. A ridiculous amount of LPG leaks into the environment.
Dk figures off the top of my head, it's documented enough on the internet if you wanna learn about the process and issues in the supply chain.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
Let's improve the process, not shit on it (not saying you are, but people tend to take things like this and run with it)
During WW2, propane powered vehicles were used. We moved back to Petrol because it was more energy dense and less cumbersome for cars. Electric is going to be the new alt fuel, especially considering that the only change to existing infrastructure is installing plugs at home and HVDC on highways.
Are propane powered cars good? Given that all fossil fuels are running out, and that burning them is warming the planet, I don't see how looking for ways to burn more propane improves things.
That's pretty cool. I looked it up and LPG has a climate warming potential of close to zero. This should mean leaks basically don't matter, unlike LNG where leaks are disastrous for the climate.
You don’t get LPG without Natural gas (what is turned into LNG). By the time the LPG has been stripped out methane has leaked every step along the way. And LPG’s are VOC’s, which cause all kinds of other problems for the environment when they leak.
Not to mention the higher explosion and fire risk of LPG leaks, which pool on the ground and travel until they find an ignition source
Meanwhile LNG leaks go straight up into the atmosphere and quickly dissipate
With turbocharging, propane can make more than plenty of power. Its effective octane is 110 or so, and its expansion helps cool the inlet charge, so you can run a LOT of boost and timing.
350 miles is great range. I got 8 gallon tank and it lucky to hit 250. I fill up every other day since work is 90 mile round trip.
But filling up cost 9.75 so it’s not bad
If u had one guess. Would I be a Honda civic? Cuz u would be right lol. It’s doing the job nicely so far. It’s still new to me but since it burns “clean” in theory it should run till the tranny goes bad I’d think. And that will be my favorite part of so.
100 miles a day it dosent take long to need maintenance.
Edit: to add some one else did all the hard work. I just bought the thing second hand.
I’m surprised that you are getting such good mileage from it. I thought the wheelhouse for propane vehicles was for stop-and-go traffic instead of long distance and that long, continuous driving greatly reduced their efficiency. i.e. USPS, delivery vehicles, inner city driving, etc.
Idk about where OP is but in my country they advertise it is available, practically every motorway service station has it, in countries where it is more common it may be available at every station
Expansion due to thermal conditions in different locations. It's a legit reason. They fill them 80%. They post on the exchange locations that it isn't fully filled so it's not really deceptive.
If you go to a local fill shop they will usually fill your tank full. Some places won't, but most places will. Any excess pressure is bled off so it's not a huge risk of the tank exploding, except that excess pressure is boomable. For a regular person that is going to go use the tank it's not a big deal. But if you have 50 tanks stored in a confined location, if they all start to vent some pressure when the sun comes out it can create a moderately dangerous scenario.
Yep, it makes a big difference if you use a lot of 5 gallon propane cylinders. You're losing 1 gallon per tank, which is about $3/gal when bulk filled at the moment. But the exchange places have a huge markup and it makes it painful. If you pay $30 for an exchange, you're paying $30 for 4 gallons of propane. Or you can get it filled at a place that fills them from bulk and get 5 gallons for $15. Half the money and you get more propane.
The exchange places are only good for easily swapping out your bad tanks. If you have a tank with an old valve or is busted up, exchange it for a good looking one and then just get it filled when needed.
Tanks also need to be tested every 5 years from the date stamped on the last test. When I asked how much a pressure test would be, the nice lady said $20 plus $15 for the fill. A tank exchange was $25 so it is easier to just exchange the tank when the fillers won't fill your tank because of inspection.
It’s supposed to be 75% and it is due to D.O.T. requirements and falls under Compressed Gas Association C-6, and NFPA 58. There are two different capacities for a vessel - 1) Cylinder Capacity - the total volume of the cylinder and 2)Fill Capacity - the maximum allowable volume of product the cylinder can be filled with.
When you get a 20# propane cylinder it is allowed to be filled with 20# of product. The actual capacity of the cylinder is closer to 26#. If ***ANY*** filling station is willing to fill beyond the Fill Capacity they will lose their license and be subjected to massive fines by D.O.T. (and others, and trust me when I say D.O.T. **does not fuck around**) as well as subject all of their filled cylinders to a recall.
The propane exchange services intentionally muddy the water and fill a 20# cylinder with 15# of product. 15 is 75% of 20 - the justification they use. This is how they make their profit of refurbishing and testing older cylinders that are turned in. Ten years from manufacture and every 5 years thereafter these tanks need to be recertified. It ***could*** always be a 10 year interval if these tanks were tested hydrostatically (water pressure test) but most companies only do an external visual inspection because it is faster and cheaper so you only get 5 from that form of recertification. If you have a tank that is within date you should always take it to a refill facility and you’ll get 20# of product for pretty close to the same price as you’d pay for 15# from the exchange services. When your tank is due for hydrotest/recertification then you exchange it for the newest one you can find and rinse/repeat.
Source: managed a shop that was certified to test and refill D.O.T. certified cylinders. When the D.O.T. inspector shows up unannounced for a facility inspection, you’d better have everything in perfect order.
I know of a fire protection company in Michigan that did hydro testing for other fire protection companies - including the one that I worked for when I was in Michigan. A few years after I moved to another state it was uncovered that they weren’t actually testing the cylinders but just filling out the D.O.T. paperwork stating that they did and charged their customers and other companies for it. That company is no longer around and the crater left by D.O.T was impressive
I used to fill these. If it’s not an expired or defective tank you literally can’t fill it beyond 80%. It has a floating bobber connected to the bleed valve. We aren’t “bleeding off the extra” we are watching the valve click up and close off.
I said this elsewhere, but:
In at least a few countries that I've been to, propane prices are listed at gas stations alongside gas and diesel.
In at least a couple of them, this is called "gas" and what we call "gasoline" is some variant of "benzine."
If the rental car is propane powered, then the infrastructure has to be there in that country/region for that.
I guess it's unusual for Americans to use actual gas instead of liquid for their cars.
It's one of the cheaper alternatives where I'm from and fairly popular.
That is a standard propane filling nozzle, I’ve used that same nozzle to fill hundreds of 20# and 100# propane bottles. This one just appears to have an extra line to reclaim/divert the propane you normally lose when you purge the nozzle. All the ones I’ve used just have a little nipple you turn and it vents right out of the side of the nozzle to purge it.
Like I said, regional. The places around me can fill almost anything, and have a box of adapter valves.
The "swap it out" kiosks are getting more common here, though. Sucks for me, my tanks aren't the same size as the swap kiosks so I can't use them.
Most gas stations around me have stopped doing refill, but even big box stores will do refills. I was getting it refilled at Tractor Supply until I learned BJs will do it cheaper.
So, 12 months ago, the majority of gas stations around me had propane stations and could fill this car with no problem. But just in the last 6 months more and more of those stations have removed their propane tanks. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that a lot of houseless folks were pulling in with their rarely-maintained RVs, with their rusted out propane tanks, and a lot of the stations are now worrying about liability if they happen to fill those up and something happens.
The more popular option in America is to sell prefilled canisters that you swap out with your current, empty one.
In my area for example, only the local gas company has a hookup like this to refill tanks. While everyone else (Walmart, gas stations) just offer the tank exchange.
Just a FYI, when you do a swap you get a 15 lb fill in a 20 lb canister for more than it would cost to just fill it up if you have a place that will do it. (u-haul often has propane, plus gas stations)
Did some Googling. Apparently most of the problems with propane and explosions are either because they’re over-pressurized or they have been exposed to an ignition source. There’s a MythBusters episode, and even a guy who puts a bullet through a full propane canister which *does not explode*…but it does when he shoots it with a flame nearby.
They’re fairly common in Europe, or at least they were until electric started taking more foot.
Most commonly these cars use LPG, aka Liquid Petroleum Gas, which is a mixture of propane and butane usually.
Some people even own methane-powered cars!
I seen people on Reddit calling someone a dumbass to be smoking around a propane tank like we don’t store propane tanks a foot underneath a 600 degree grill.
the difference is you don’t know who tightened that valve last on the used propane tanks. there could be a leak. if it’s in your grill, you better be damn sure there’s no leak
When I was a forkie it wasn’t uncommon to have little leaks because the threads were claggy, did once have a blow off valve go, the filling station we had was faulty and didn’t auto shut off, I filled a tank without knowing the gauge was sticking, it got to full and shut off, after I drove the lift a bit and shook the tank the gauge went all the way past red, then the temperature went up and it started blowing off excess pressure and froze the bushes
I bet that changed the color of your shorts. definitely glad everyone has mostly shifted to battery lifts. changing propane always made me nervous. the lift and the tanks were always clapped out lol
I took an environmental health and safety class in college. One of the things we talked about is that there’s a certain range of concentrations where gases such as propane or even gasoline can be explosive. When you get above that range it’s not an explosion risk even if a flame is present, because there’s not enough oxygen. However, if you were to say start venting the room, it would become an explosion risk when it gets back into that range.
I drove a propane Ford 12-passenger van back in the late 80’s as part of a company-sponsored carpool. Had the big 460 engine, which was fun to drive compared to my 3 cylinder Daihatsu. Good times.
The '80s were the heyday of hybrid propane/gas vehicles. Furniture store I worked at had a hybrid cube van, and a band I toured with (as lighting director) had a passenger van for the band that was hybrid also (I drove a regular gas 10 ton truck). On the cube van, the propane system became unusable over time.
I just looked it up and Mike judge is still involved and many other originals so maybe it’ll be good! Personally I’ve still got several seasons I never watched so I could get my fix that way.
For an average price of $2.53 per gallon which is about a dollar cheaper than gasoline right now. I'm sure finding a place to fill it gets annoying, but here in the South there's at least 3 I know of within 5 miles of my house. I have no idea which is more efficient or how hard it would be to convert a car to run on this, but I imagine the cost is only worth it for fleet vehicles.
Update: I went down a rabbit hole. 5% less efficient than gasoline, conversion kits rage from a couple of grand to over 10 grand depending on the vehicle. So yeah, you've got to really, really want it.
It's a scam if they're selling them for $2-10k. A gas conversion kit in Europe costs in the range of €500 - €1000 (this includes a 40 litre tank, all the hoses, electronics, filler line, switches and cabling)
V8 kit (I have one installed) is indeed more pricey, but not up to 10k! About 6k local monies here, which would translate to about 1,5k USD. Maybe let's count more expensive workers and say 2,5k USD, still nowhere near 10k.
My dad drives more than than average (still not close as much as other people who drive professionally) and has saved around 15000€ over the years after the conversion, cost of conversion included. So if you plan to drive your car for longer than just a year you'd honestly be stupid to *not* do it.
But this was some years ago, tax on LPG has drastically risen in my country and it's closer to gas than before.
Because you aren't from Europe. Millions of LPG/gasoline cars, converted or straight from the factory. LPG is commonly sold on "gas" station, but in some country self service isn't available.
Correct. It can also run on biogas (which is also methane):
> Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, wastewater, and food waste
No. CNG is methane.
Propane is LPG. Being pedantic LPG is mixture of propane and butane, but the proportions are really loose - might be 100% one or 100% another.
Nearly every petrol station in Australia had LPG in the late 90s and early 2000s. A lot of ex taxis still run on it. The government would pay you $2k to do a conversion to your car.
[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-13/lpg-bowsers-in-decline-at-petrol-stations/8612570](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-13/lpg-bowsers-in-decline-at-petrol-stations/8612570)
Except in the late 90s it was 15-20c a litre and now it's about $1 because we sell all our LPG very, very cheaply to Asia with little benefit to the Australian public.
Vast majority of taxis are now petrol hybrids.
In USA, there was a brief period in the 1990s where they looked like they might become popular, but then they died out completely.
Some older parking garages still have signs up that propane cars are not permitted below ground level. But those signs are just a curiosity, because nobody has one of those cars anyway.
TIL that propane is LPG... My car has been running on LPG since the original owner, from 2003. No problems with it. Clean fuel, cheaper than gas or diesel. By half.
So hilarious all these people are learning a car can run on LPG
I remember in 2001 my dad got a propane converted Skoda in Poland, my uncle still drives a propane car. It's available in all stations usually
Isn’t this just LPG?
Quite common in Europe, used to be quite an attractive option with LPG costing about 50p a litre while petrol was £1.30 a litre, now it’s about 90p a litre and petrol is (quite cheap atm) at £1.45 a litre so it’s not quite as attractive.
I can’t seem to find a solid answer as to how good it is for the engine or how good the fuel economy is
LPG is more common here, but they are pushing to methane powered vehicles, with the goal of having fuel station connected to the gas pipelines and avoid the thousand of trucks moving fuel up and down the country.
In Eastern Europe this is common practice, it was dirt cheap, easy to convert to and way cleaner than burning gasoline. At one point, Serbia had the biggest “clean” fleet in Europe because of this.
Dacia and Renault have really good LPG engines. The Dacia Duster offers incredible bang for the buck.
Good news! The Dacia Sandero is now available with a propane option.
Anyway…
And on that terrible disappointment...
Are those LPG from factory, or do they go to a third party for the conversion?
You can get the LPG upgrade on a Dacia Duster for around 250€. You just lose your spare wheel in the deal. Fresh from the factory
Your using propane bud, you don't need a spare tire, just inflate it with propane /s
I've seen a video of some dude filming European tourists trying to figure out how to use a gas station propane pump to fill the tires of their rental car
Found James May's account
Good news!
I think they are doing CNG now (methane)
Anyway.
Yeah, 'LPG' is not too uncommon in various places around Europe. Where I live almost all fuel stations have a little LPG pump off the side. The main advantage is how hilariously cheap it is, potentially half the price of gasoline even after inefficiencies. Although nowadays, a decent hybrid gasoline car might get close.
Get this: Taxi drivers in Poland had LPG powered PRIUSes. They would make 100km (63 miles) around the city for about 2-3 dollars.
I have a Toyota hybrid with LPG. I can make 100km with 4 euros.
I even know somebody who drives a LNG/Gasoline hybrid lol. She almost always drives on LNG, super cheap.
Most of the mentioned LNGs in eastern Europe are mechanically added, so you got to keep both injections, you have a switch to choose.
Yep I live in Poland my Ford fiesta 2002 is LPG powered and my wife's Toyota Corolla Verso also 2002 is LPG powered Almost all gas stations have LPG Cost of 1l is around 2,60 zł LPG 1l is around 6 zł for Petrol And the mileage is the same For a full tank of LPG I pay 80 zł and do 400 km Convert it yourself to imperial
> 1l is around 6 zł for Petrol 6? where do you live where it's that cheap?
Bytom Silesia And I said around 6 zł Silesia has much cheaper prices then the rest of Poland
Hungary too. You can still fill LPG at most bigger gas stations. I used to drive a fiat to university, half of the trunk was taken by the lpg tank. It was a shit car tho, barely made it up on the slope.
Was it propane or methane? I know methane powered vehicles would lose a lot of power, propane ones didnt. And fiat had a lot of methane vehicles
Serious question, why isn’t this universal?
LPG is pressurized, so it turns a fire risk into an explosion risk.
![gif](giphy|5HNx2KvUVMEeI)
I don't think I've ever seen a more suitable gif. It's as if you prompted an AI image creator with... "Hank Hill discovers propane fueled cars"
They are rebooting the series so we'll see.
![gif](giphy|2QpH5Khv9ooec)
Even though they are making Bobby older, I still have hope because the new episodes and movie of Beavis and Butthead (also by Mike Judge) have been great and the humor/quality on par with the original. ![gif](giphy|302R6f6tCjq1O|downsized)
For real?!?!
Yeah. Goes forward in time where Bobby is 21.
That's amazing! I heard the idea maybe a year ago that it might pick up with Bobby as an adult which I think is a great idea! I was imagining a slightly older than 21 Bobby, but that sounds perfect. One of my favorite shows of all time and I can't wait to see its return!
RIP Dale Gribble (Johnny Hardwick). I throw some pocket sand in honor of you.
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I read that the creators saw him doing open mic in Austin and pretty much made the character around him.
he had a youtube channel, he totally was. It was awesome.
shh shh sha
Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty too.
Well shit, I was already bummed we wouldn’t get to see Luanne and Lucky.
My headcanon is that Luanne is working as a big Hollywood stylist and Lucky rakes it in from the many injury attorneys in LA
Luanne and Lucky run the Manger Babies kids show on Canadian public TV.
21 is perfect. Just old enough to be expected to take care of yourself completely while still being a total and complete dumbass. The perfect place for Bobby Hill to be for excellent antics.
He's gonna somehow be dumber. Probably since he'll have access to money and a car. Exponentially ups the potential for stupidity.
Bobby Hill was never stupid. He was a 12 year old kid learning to navigate life with very little guidance from his parents. One parent was a no-nonsense, classic all American dad who never had a father figure of his own to teach him how to raise a son and therefor couldn't relate to him at all, and the other was an actual barely functional dumbass with a size 14 men's shoe.
I can see it now: Person 1:"Who would win in a fight, Goku or Hank Hill?" Person 2:"Pre or post time skip?" Person 1:"Dragonball or King of the Hill?" Person 2:"Yes."
If the first series still counts then it's not a reboot...
Well there is the concept of "soft reboot" that allows the story basically starting anew without outright discarding what came before. But nah, the new series will be sequel, a direct continuation of the setting and plot.
This is the scene when Hank is housing a prostitute (he's unaware that she is) and had just payed him as thanks for letting her stay in hus house
/r/retiredgifs
![gif](giphy|1F1p6zXsYyt8I)
Do I lhook hIKE INOW WATAJPEHGIZZZZZZZZ
Pimpin' sweet lady propane. And he's tricking her out all over this town.
Peggy and I have an understanding about that
I am the mack daddy of Arlen, I tell ya hwat.
*Pimp runs red light* Hank: "Hey, you can't DO that!"
This is another reason why it's my favorite episode. Snoop was hilarious as Alabaster as well🤣🤣🤣
["I keep that thing on me. Goddammit Bobby."](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSaCovQRpQ&si=sbONC6xXJaKW3BSh)
/r/retiredgif
That’s a clean burning vehicle, I tell you hwhat.
That car is a propane accessory
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That boy ain't right. ![gif](giphy|PNFXpaRyw4mAg)
pro-pain
PRO PAIN-IACS ~ PRO PAIN-IACS~~
Jokes aside. LPG vehicles produce less emissions.
They do, but, the production of LPG (which is primarily done in the US), is shambles. A ridiculous amount of LPG leaks into the environment. Dk figures off the top of my head, it's documented enough on the internet if you wanna learn about the process and issues in the supply chain.
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Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Let's improve the process, not shit on it (not saying you are, but people tend to take things like this and run with it)
During WW2, propane powered vehicles were used. We moved back to Petrol because it was more energy dense and less cumbersome for cars. Electric is going to be the new alt fuel, especially considering that the only change to existing infrastructure is installing plugs at home and HVDC on highways.
Are propane powered cars good? Given that all fossil fuels are running out, and that burning them is warming the planet, I don't see how looking for ways to burn more propane improves things.
That's pretty cool. I looked it up and LPG has a climate warming potential of close to zero. This should mean leaks basically don't matter, unlike LNG where leaks are disastrous for the climate.
You don’t get LPG without Natural gas (what is turned into LNG). By the time the LPG has been stripped out methane has leaked every step along the way. And LPG’s are VOC’s, which cause all kinds of other problems for the environment when they leak.
Not to mention the higher explosion and fire risk of LPG leaks, which pool on the ground and travel until they find an ignition source Meanwhile LNG leaks go straight up into the atmosphere and quickly dissipate
And horsepower. But given that horsepower isn’t a necessary thing here, it gets a pass.
With turbocharging, propane can make more than plenty of power. Its effective octane is 110 or so, and its expansion helps cool the inlet charge, so you can run a LOT of boost and timing.
Taste the street not the heat!
V-Hickle
Bobby!
God dammit that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw this.
How do you find places to refill?
You just get a new car every 350 miles
They got vehicle exchange right next to the cylinder exchange now at the buckees
And at the QT for people on the west
Seems easy enough!
350 miles is great range. I got 8 gallon tank and it lucky to hit 250. I fill up every other day since work is 90 mile round trip. But filling up cost 9.75 so it’s not bad
Shit, what model car is this? That sounds perfect for my daily drive
If u had one guess. Would I be a Honda civic? Cuz u would be right lol. It’s doing the job nicely so far. It’s still new to me but since it burns “clean” in theory it should run till the tranny goes bad I’d think. And that will be my favorite part of so. 100 miles a day it dosent take long to need maintenance. Edit: to add some one else did all the hard work. I just bought the thing second hand.
I’m surprised that you are getting such good mileage from it. I thought the wheelhouse for propane vehicles was for stop-and-go traffic instead of long distance and that long, continuous driving greatly reduced their efficiency. i.e. USPS, delivery vehicles, inner city driving, etc.
Idk about where OP is but in my country they advertise it is available, practically every motorway service station has it, in countries where it is more common it may be available at every station
Most UHaul stores offer propane refills.
Cheaper than exchanging the tank, too!
Also did you know the propane tank exchange places don’t fill the tank all the way up
I didn't know that, what is the reason behind this outrage? I'm already typing a letter to my congressman
Expansion due to thermal conditions in different locations. It's a legit reason. They fill them 80%. They post on the exchange locations that it isn't fully filled so it's not really deceptive. If you go to a local fill shop they will usually fill your tank full. Some places won't, but most places will. Any excess pressure is bled off so it's not a huge risk of the tank exploding, except that excess pressure is boomable. For a regular person that is going to go use the tank it's not a big deal. But if you have 50 tanks stored in a confined location, if they all start to vent some pressure when the sun comes out it can create a moderately dangerous scenario.
That's fairly reasonable, thank you for explaining it, I learned something new today
Yep, it makes a big difference if you use a lot of 5 gallon propane cylinders. You're losing 1 gallon per tank, which is about $3/gal when bulk filled at the moment. But the exchange places have a huge markup and it makes it painful. If you pay $30 for an exchange, you're paying $30 for 4 gallons of propane. Or you can get it filled at a place that fills them from bulk and get 5 gallons for $15. Half the money and you get more propane. The exchange places are only good for easily swapping out your bad tanks. If you have a tank with an old valve or is busted up, exchange it for a good looking one and then just get it filled when needed.
Tanks also need to be tested every 5 years from the date stamped on the last test. When I asked how much a pressure test would be, the nice lady said $20 plus $15 for the fill. A tank exchange was $25 so it is easier to just exchange the tank when the fillers won't fill your tank because of inspection.
It’s supposed to be 75% and it is due to D.O.T. requirements and falls under Compressed Gas Association C-6, and NFPA 58. There are two different capacities for a vessel - 1) Cylinder Capacity - the total volume of the cylinder and 2)Fill Capacity - the maximum allowable volume of product the cylinder can be filled with. When you get a 20# propane cylinder it is allowed to be filled with 20# of product. The actual capacity of the cylinder is closer to 26#. If ***ANY*** filling station is willing to fill beyond the Fill Capacity they will lose their license and be subjected to massive fines by D.O.T. (and others, and trust me when I say D.O.T. **does not fuck around**) as well as subject all of their filled cylinders to a recall. The propane exchange services intentionally muddy the water and fill a 20# cylinder with 15# of product. 15 is 75% of 20 - the justification they use. This is how they make their profit of refurbishing and testing older cylinders that are turned in. Ten years from manufacture and every 5 years thereafter these tanks need to be recertified. It ***could*** always be a 10 year interval if these tanks were tested hydrostatically (water pressure test) but most companies only do an external visual inspection because it is faster and cheaper so you only get 5 from that form of recertification. If you have a tank that is within date you should always take it to a refill facility and you’ll get 20# of product for pretty close to the same price as you’d pay for 15# from the exchange services. When your tank is due for hydrotest/recertification then you exchange it for the newest one you can find and rinse/repeat. Source: managed a shop that was certified to test and refill D.O.T. certified cylinders. When the D.O.T. inspector shows up unannounced for a facility inspection, you’d better have everything in perfect order. I know of a fire protection company in Michigan that did hydro testing for other fire protection companies - including the one that I worked for when I was in Michigan. A few years after I moved to another state it was uncovered that they weren’t actually testing the cylinders but just filling out the D.O.T. paperwork stating that they did and charged their customers and other companies for it. That company is no longer around and the crater left by D.O.T was impressive
I used to fill these. If it’s not an expired or defective tank you literally can’t fill it beyond 80%. It has a floating bobber connected to the bleed valve. We aren’t “bleeding off the extra” we are watching the valve click up and close off.
Blue rhino fills a 20 lb tank to 15 lbs on average.
You drive to 135 Los Gatos Road in [Arlen](https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Arlen), Texas
Most gas stations, hardware stores etc have propane refill tanks. Might be regional, though.
I said this elsewhere, but: In at least a few countries that I've been to, propane prices are listed at gas stations alongside gas and diesel. In at least a couple of them, this is called "gas" and what we call "gasoline" is some variant of "benzine." If the rental car is propane powered, then the infrastructure has to be there in that country/region for that.
I guess it's unusual for Americans to use actual gas instead of liquid for their cars. It's one of the cheaper alternatives where I'm from and fairly popular.
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That is a standard propane filling nozzle, I’ve used that same nozzle to fill hundreds of 20# and 100# propane bottles. This one just appears to have an extra line to reclaim/divert the propane you normally lose when you purge the nozzle. All the ones I’ve used just have a little nipple you turn and it vents right out of the side of the nozzle to purge it.
Like I said, regional. The places around me can fill almost anything, and have a box of adapter valves. The "swap it out" kiosks are getting more common here, though. Sucks for me, my tanks aren't the same size as the swap kiosks so I can't use them.
Most gas stations around me have stopped doing refill, but even big box stores will do refills. I was getting it refilled at Tractor Supply until I learned BJs will do it cheaper.
So, 12 months ago, the majority of gas stations around me had propane stations and could fill this car with no problem. But just in the last 6 months more and more of those stations have removed their propane tanks. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that a lot of houseless folks were pulling in with their rarely-maintained RVs, with their rusted out propane tanks, and a lot of the stations are now worrying about liability if they happen to fill those up and something happens.
Why can't they just deem the tank unusable and replace it if it's bad? Propane tanks are so overwhelmingly numerous it really shouldn't be an issue
A new tank is between 50-75 dollars for a small one at that. People who are homeless tend to find that expensive
Thought you refill propane at costco
Shouldn't every gas station have propane stations ? Atleast in Europe it's like that
The more popular option in America is to sell prefilled canisters that you swap out with your current, empty one. In my area for example, only the local gas company has a hookup like this to refill tanks. While everyone else (Walmart, gas stations) just offer the tank exchange.
Just a FYI, when you do a swap you get a 15 lb fill in a 20 lb canister for more than it would cost to just fill it up if you have a place that will do it. (u-haul often has propane, plus gas stations)
Did some Googling. Apparently most of the problems with propane and explosions are either because they’re over-pressurized or they have been exposed to an ignition source. There’s a MythBusters episode, and even a guy who puts a bullet through a full propane canister which *does not explode*…but it does when he shoots it with a flame nearby.
Dawn of the Dead (2004) did it right. Tape that flare on there, then go pew pew to make the zombies go explode.
Goated zombie movie and no one can tell me otherwise
It's the perfect blend of humor, violence, and gore in a zombie movie. Great casting too, most seemed perfect for their roles.
There's also a sex scene that involves the dad from Modern Family if you *really* want to throw someone for a loop who hasn't seen it.
Fuck me harder Steve
James Gunn wrote it and Zach Snyder directed.
Well, that'll do it.
Shaun of the Dead though
I wish they'd make a Sean of the 28 days Later
Burn Notice also covered this
They’re fairly common in Europe, or at least they were until electric started taking more foot. Most commonly these cars use LPG, aka Liquid Petroleum Gas, which is a mixture of propane and butane usually. Some people even own methane-powered cars!
>a mixture of propane and butane Ugh. Butane's a bastard gas.
I seen people on Reddit calling someone a dumbass to be smoking around a propane tank like we don’t store propane tanks a foot underneath a 600 degree grill.
the difference is you don’t know who tightened that valve last on the used propane tanks. there could be a leak. if it’s in your grill, you better be damn sure there’s no leak
When I was a forkie it wasn’t uncommon to have little leaks because the threads were claggy, did once have a blow off valve go, the filling station we had was faulty and didn’t auto shut off, I filled a tank without knowing the gauge was sticking, it got to full and shut off, after I drove the lift a bit and shook the tank the gauge went all the way past red, then the temperature went up and it started blowing off excess pressure and froze the bushes
I bet that changed the color of your shorts. definitely glad everyone has mostly shifted to battery lifts. changing propane always made me nervous. the lift and the tanks were always clapped out lol
Yeah, fucking stunk too, luckily my colleagues didn’t light up a cigarette in the nearby smoking hut
>I bet that changed the color of your shorts . > Yeah, fucking stunk too
I took an environmental health and safety class in college. One of the things we talked about is that there’s a certain range of concentrations where gases such as propane or even gasoline can be explosive. When you get above that range it’s not an explosion risk even if a flame is present, because there’s not enough oxygen. However, if you were to say start venting the room, it would become an explosion risk when it gets back into that range.
I drove a propane Ford 12-passenger van back in the late 80’s as part of a company-sponsored carpool. Had the big 460 engine, which was fun to drive compared to my 3 cylinder Daihatsu. Good times.
Uncle had one of these, granted it was gas powered but that baby shit and get. He’d light the tires up all the time
I drove a propane passenger van for awhile when driving for a cab and shuttle company in OKC. I was hella nervous the first time I filled up. lol
The '80s were the heyday of hybrid propane/gas vehicles. Furniture store I worked at had a hybrid cube van, and a band I toured with (as lighting director) had a passenger van for the band that was hybrid also (I drove a regular gas 10 ton truck). On the cube van, the propane system became unusable over time.
If only Hank Hill was able to see this
hes coming back next year :)
I really hope they don’t fuck it up.
I just looked it up and Mike judge is still involved and many other originals so maybe it’ll be good! Personally I’ve still got several seasons I never watched so I could get my fix that way.
Except dale as his voice actor has passed. Along with this I believe there is a time skip Bobby should be 28? Maybe I’m not totally sure
Need a Fury Road War Boy sitting on the trunk with propane cannisters and you'll never have to stop driving.
He sticks the nozzle in his mouth, opens the valve, inflates his lungs, and the blows it into the fuel line.
Witness me
For an average price of $2.53 per gallon which is about a dollar cheaper than gasoline right now. I'm sure finding a place to fill it gets annoying, but here in the South there's at least 3 I know of within 5 miles of my house. I have no idea which is more efficient or how hard it would be to convert a car to run on this, but I imagine the cost is only worth it for fleet vehicles. Update: I went down a rabbit hole. 5% less efficient than gasoline, conversion kits rage from a couple of grand to over 10 grand depending on the vehicle. So yeah, you've got to really, really want it.
It's a scam if they're selling them for $2-10k. A gas conversion kit in Europe costs in the range of €500 - €1000 (this includes a 40 litre tank, all the hoses, electronics, filler line, switches and cabling)
Do you think that’s an American pricing thing or could it be that the cars are generally bigger?
V8 kit (I have one installed) is indeed more pricey, but not up to 10k! About 6k local monies here, which would translate to about 1,5k USD. Maybe let's count more expensive workers and say 2,5k USD, still nowhere near 10k.
Yes but nobody gets taken advantage of in your scenario. Very un-American
My dad drives more than than average (still not close as much as other people who drive professionally) and has saved around 15000€ over the years after the conversion, cost of conversion included. So if you plan to drive your car for longer than just a year you'd honestly be stupid to *not* do it. But this was some years ago, tax on LPG has drastically risen in my country and it's closer to gas than before.
Up to a grand, including the installation, around where i live
![gif](giphy|wRpol8sPLIF7NaOeyj)
Why is this the first time I hear about propane powered cars?
Because you aren't from Europe. Millions of LPG/gasoline cars, converted or straight from the factory. LPG is commonly sold on "gas" station, but in some country self service isn't available.
Correct, we are not allowe to fill our cars ourself with LPG here in Italy.
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My buddy has a gas/ propane hybrid. He has a switch on the dashboard to switch back and forth. Really cool.
I knew someone that had a truck that did that in the 90s. Super cool
My car is like that as of today o’clock. I’m in Europe though.
> I’m in Europe though. It'll be okay. I hear they have a cream for that now.
Both of my Range Rovers have that. It runs really cleanly on LPG, so much so that it broke a roadside emissions test.
My car runs on CNG. That's not propane, right? I thought it was methane. Edit: in Sweden, I assume it's the same in the rest of Europe.
Compressed natural gas. Different than propane.
Correct. It can also run on biogas (which is also methane): > Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, wastewater, and food waste
CNG is used in Texas because it's plentiful, cleaner than other fuels, and cheap. Our city bus fleet runs on it. Big improvement over diesel.
No. CNG is methane. Propane is LPG. Being pedantic LPG is mixture of propane and butane, but the proportions are really loose - might be 100% one or 100% another.
Nearly every petrol station in Australia had LPG in the late 90s and early 2000s. A lot of ex taxis still run on it. The government would pay you $2k to do a conversion to your car. [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-13/lpg-bowsers-in-decline-at-petrol-stations/8612570](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-13/lpg-bowsers-in-decline-at-petrol-stations/8612570)
Looks way different then our LPG nozzles. LPG is liquefied petroleum gas, it's usually a mixture of butane and propane.
Except in the late 90s it was 15-20c a litre and now it's about $1 because we sell all our LPG very, very cheaply to Asia with little benefit to the Australian public. Vast majority of taxis are now petrol hybrids.
Seeing people confused, is this rare in USA? In Europe its surprisingly common for cars to have propane tanks installed so you can use gas or propane
Yes, this would be very rare in the USA
Their gasoline is way cheaper than our propane, so they have no reason to spend the money converting a car.
In USA, there was a brief period in the 1990s where they looked like they might become popular, but then they died out completely. Some older parking garages still have signs up that propane cars are not permitted below ground level. But those signs are just a curiosity, because nobody has one of those cars anyway.
I've personally never heard of it before, I grew up in the midwest and have been living in Washington state for some years now
Just tryna get a little propane propane
Time to start the game
Ricky ruined my fucking life Julian
"fill her up bubbles" "these are already full"
we have a f150 that runs on compressed natural gas with a similar fueling apparatus. costs about half what normal gas costs here.
TIL that propane is LPG... My car has been running on LPG since the original owner, from 2003. No problems with it. Clean fuel, cheaper than gas or diesel. By half.
All the public and school buses around me are powered by propane. Upstate New York.
when the day is done, and you want to ride on propane
![gif](giphy|kfsk1YvTKkdry)
Yeah. LPG cars are a thing. That doesn't seem so rare to me
I live in the US. I've never even heard of this before.
So hilarious all these people are learning a car can run on LPG I remember in 2001 my dad got a propane converted Skoda in Poland, my uncle still drives a propane car. It's available in all stations usually
I drove halfway across the country in an old hippies converted school bus that ran on propane, didn't even realize it was possible before that
Isn’t this just LPG? Quite common in Europe, used to be quite an attractive option with LPG costing about 50p a litre while petrol was £1.30 a litre, now it’s about 90p a litre and petrol is (quite cheap atm) at £1.45 a litre so it’s not quite as attractive. I can’t seem to find a solid answer as to how good it is for the engine or how good the fuel economy is
My city uses CNG (compressed natural gas) buses. Never seen a single car that runs on it here lol.
LPG is more common here, but they are pushing to methane powered vehicles, with the goal of having fuel station connected to the gas pipelines and avoid the thousand of trucks moving fuel up and down the country.
It's quite popular in Türkiye
My car will go 300 hectares on a single tank of kerosene
More common than you'd think, also like 90 percent of gas stations and truck stops can fill your propane and in most places it's cheaper than gas