What he said...........if your place doesnt know how to purge....go to the next place.  

> Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2012 18:59:29 -0400
> From: tantonbz@GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: Propane Tank question
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> 
> Having just had a new BD propane installed, the new tank needs to be purged
> according to the directions that came w/ the tank. I took it to my propane
> volks & asked them if they could purge it-ehyah they said in Maineise.  I
> asked what they do, & they showed moi while doing it, took about 20
> minutes.  They need to purge the air out of the tank before they can fill
> it to 80%-sooo they put a little bit of propane in the tank, then hook a
> hose up to another spare tank & bleed the tank as the gas is a liquid &
> heavier than the air inside the tank-they keep doing this until they have
> replaced the air w/ 80% liquid & now the tank is purged.  It used up about
> 1/2 gallon of propane to purge the air out as they ended up w/ 4 gallons
> but the tank @ 80% only holds about 3.5 gallons.
> 
> YMMV,
> 
> Mr. BZ-new tank comes w/ a sticker on the valve warning that tank needs to
> be purged before filling w/ propane!
> 
> On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 4:59 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
> scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> 
> > Maybe no one can answer this question with more information ..
> > but what the heck...
> >
> > ( short version is, no one can seem to fill this  new propane tank on a
> > Westy )
> >
> > An 84 Westy I know of has a new propane tank from Van Cafe on it, , to
> > replace the original tank.
> > No one seems to be able to fill this new propane tank.
> >
> > The van's owner said she had it to 3 places and they couldn't fill it.
> > I took it to an RV place where they fill propane tanks on campers and
> > RV's all the time.
> >
> > Besides myself, 3 other guys there tried and tired and fiddled and
> > messed around .. for about 50 minutes.
> > they even tested their own filling equipment by putting some propane in
> > another tank.
> > I mean we did *everything* we could ..
> > used the bleed valve etc.
> > We finally concluded the tank must be full. And the stove worked too.
> > Sure would be nice if there was a gauge on that tank. My very similar
> > one on my 85 Adventurewagon has a gauge on the tank...
> > very handy.
> >
> > Anyway ...the van's owner tells me she ran out of propane making tea the
> > other day. And that it obviously was not full.
> >
> > So ...and ideas what's going on ?
> > A faulty tank somehow ?
> >
> > I would probably tank the tank back off the van and take it to a major
> > propane only type business I know of near here.
> >
> > open to any ideas.
> > thnx.
> > Scott
> >
> >
> >
> > On 10/2/2012 12:27 PM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
> >
> >> "Also, curious if any of you are still using your original propane tank
> >> setups with updated valves, etc or did you procure a new one?"
> >>
> >> Still using the original tank, it's in fine shape. The regulator had a
> >> leak when I bought the van so I replaced that. The autostop filler
> >> baffled more attendents than not, so I stuck a manual filler on it,
> >> which everyone seems to be comfortable with.
> >>
> >>
> 
> 
> --
> Tom Buese