Worthington horizontal cylinders

[klubko]

Hello,
I am looking for experience with filling aluminum LPG horizontal cylinder from Worthington? Mine is supposed to be a Californian version, which has two valves: one exclusively for filling (the off center one) and one for output (the central one). The problem is that it is problematic to fill these in some countries.
I have already found an adapter to convert the 1" 3/4 ACME to the standard American POL, but so far I have not been able to confirm that I will be able to fill the cylinder, ie. if there are specific requirements to fill the cylinder through this adapter.
I assume that it will be possible to simply pour the gas over as one does with the standard valves (perhaps cooling the bottom cylinder to suck the gas in).
Does any one have any experience with this?
Many thanks
Petr

[Captain Smollett]

Hi Petr

I don't know if this will address your specific question; I also don't know if my horizontal cylinder is a Worthington.  This said, I will offer the following comments.

(1) On my tank, you absolutely cannot fill the tank from the TOP (outflow) valve.  It has a check valve installed, and the tank is clearly labeled not to attempt to fill through that valve.  If the adapter you bought is for the TOP valve (I was not clear from your post which valve the adapter is for) and there is a check valve on my tank, it won't work.

(2) My tank has the tare (empty) weight stamped on the handle, and when filling an "empty" tank, the total was within 0.1 lb of the predicted weight (ie, a 10 lb cylinder with an 11.3 lb tare was full at 21.2 lbs).  "Full" was indicated by the outflow of liquid through the relief valve loosened for filling.

NOTE: I've only filled in the U.S., so I did not need an adapter of any kind.  Please let me know if you have success with the adapter you bought.

Sorry if this does not help you at all.

[AdriftAtSea]

Capn Smollett—

Does your tank have the OPD valve??? IIRC, that restricts filling the tank to approximately 80% of the tank's actual capacity, and is now required by law on all propane tanks.

[klubko]

Hi,
thanks for your replies. Yes the filling valve is OPD. The problem during cruising is that the proper valve is not available at many LPG places.
I have tracked down the adapter, but so far now one who has ever used it, but the assumption is that with the adapter, the filler valve will turn into a standard POL and I will be able to "pour" the gas over from another cylinder as usual.
Captain Smollet, sounds like you have the same cylinder. Also I have been able to learn that the filler valve is actually a standard automotive valve so most gas stations that fill cars, can also fill these. So this should work, but in some countries it might be easier to do it yourself.
One adapter is made by Marshallexcelsior, they call it ME568, which comes with POL inlet. Another is made by Sherwood. I will post my experience with filling through one of these, but I won't be with my boat before May.

Petr

[Captain Smollett]

Capn Smollett—

Does your tank have the OPD valve??? IIRC, that restricts filling the tank to approximately 80% of the tank's actual capacity, and is now required by law on all propane tanks.

Though irrelevant to this thread, since it was brought up, I found this addressed at

http://www.npga.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=534.

(1) Putting 10 lb into a 10 lb tank is not overfilling. Tanks fitted with OPD are to be filled in the traditional manner by weight.  Overfilling would be putting say 12 lb  into a 10 lb tank.

(2) Horizontal tanks manufactured prior to 1 October, 1998 are exempt any way.

To Petr:

I'll appreciate the update on your success with that adapter.  It may be one I'll have to have on hand.

[Auspicious]

I had two real nice 8 kg tanks with my boat. When I got back to the US and ran out of gas I bought US-spec 10# tanks with OPD valves (the locker isn't quite big enough for 20# tanks). Interestingly, the internal thread of the new OPD valve is exactly the same as the original EU tanks. I did not have to change the pigtail on my boat - I just connect to the refill threads instead of the big funny OPD threads.

I have seen the mobile refill in Georgetown move from a US tank with OPD to an EU one with the old valve without changing anything on their side.

Unless I'm missing something important somewhere refills should be straightforward.

sail fast, dave

[klubko]

Do you have two or one valve? POL OPD is not a problem. 1-3/4" ACME is the problematic one. It shouldn't be a problem with a correct adapter.
Petr

[Michael Homsany]

Bula Petr,

We have a Worthington horizontal tank with the dual valves.  After much heartache in these waters (tropical SoPac) getting it filled, I pulled the fill (off-centre) valve and replaced it with an ordinary female POL valve for a vertical tank.

No problems, no worries, so long as you continue to extract gas from the centre valve if it's mounted in a horizontal position.

I do 'hawk' the filling of the tank to ensure that the gas man is putting it in the right hole.

Hope this helps,
Michael

[klubko]

Hi,
I've head about this. Maybe it would be the easiest thing to do.
Now I just have to put my foot down and decide: adapter or new valve :)
Thanks
Petr