I just took my tank off and had it sandblasted and powder coated after
getting new shut off valve and regulator. Just remember that propane is
heavier than air. So take off all your valves, unscrew everything and turn
it upside down, light it to burn off the little left. Don't worry, with all
the valves off nothing will explode. It may take a while and you will never
get rid of the odor as it is in the metal.

For the $75 it cost me to powder coat it the tank looks great. You can see
mine at the bottom photo at:
http://members.home.net/holisticdream/vaninterior.htm

Good luck,

William Polowniak
1989 Vanagon GL
1988 Mercedes 300 SE
----- Original Message -----
From: "James T." <jboldway@INTCON.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2002 8:17 AM
Subject: propane tank draining help

> Hello, my Westy is getting shipped to Philadelphia from here in Kansas -
but
> they would only ship it if it had no propane tank, so I took it out. It's
full.
> Now, my thought is to fully empty it, put caps on the ends of the outlets,
and
> put it in a box with the rest of my household goods and have them ship it.
I
> figure if it is empty is is safe. So, how do I drain this critter safely?
Stick
> it out on my balcony and crack open the valve? Take it out in a field and
open
> the auto fill-stop valve (where the fuel come out in a spray when tank is
full)
> all the way and stand upwind? Anybody got any ideas?
> Please pmail
> me.
>
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