An 82 tank would be the manual type. Easy to tell the difference. The
Auto type has a small curved metal tube from the fill valve assembly
leading up a few inches to a small fitting on the tank body. The manual
valve tanks have no such tube and instead have a small finger operated
bleed valve on the tank body where the tube of the Auto valve otherwise
attaches.

Personally I would replace any Auto type I owned with a manual type.
There are still lots of Auto types out there being used successfully but
they can fail suddenly as well as be difficult to fill.

Mark

David Clarkson wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dvdclarksn@aol.com
> To: RAlanen@aol.com
> Sent: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 10:22 am
> Subject: Re: Yet another rusty propane tanks question...
>
>
> I'm not sure if it was the plate where the ID tag would have gone but the plate in the center of the tank that is about 1"x2" rusted on my 90 Westy. I thought that it was just a plate welded to the tank and never paid much attention to the rust. I went to the local U-Haul to get my tank filled and there was a huge blowout at that spot. I was lucky that the entire plate didn't fly off and hit the guy filling it. It scared the crap out of both of us. I didn't try for a repair and instead found another good condition tank off of a 82. I'm wondering now about the overfill valve on this tank and if it is automatic or a manual overfill valve. I haven't filled the tank yet to know if there are any problems with the valve but I am wondering about which type it would have in case. Anyone on the list know? Thanks.
>
> David Clarkson
> 90 Westy (242k)
>
>