Propane "Odorant" - Can The Odorant Concentrate?

[bigtiller]

Cadplans, I used to sell propane. What you described is exactly what happens, and the older the tank, the more mercaptan oil resting on the bottom of the tank.

 

[CADplans]

Well,, the 1,000 gallon tank was filled in June when we caught a ridiculously low (for our area) price per gallon,,

A couple times, I almost turned on the heat to see if the smell was gone,, but, it never got cool enough even for a test,,
TODAY, the wife acted chilly this morning,, so I jumped up,,, TEST DAY!!
Sure enough,, no smell whatsoever,,, WOOT!! Success!! I gotta be more diligent in filling that tank,,,

:thumbsup:

 

[5030]

For all intents and purposes, that tank is EMPTY. LP tanks are only filled to 80% at the FULL mark (allows for expansion) so you only get 800 gallons to start with and below 20% (which is EMPTY on the gauge), you begin to lose vapor pressure and get the stronger mercaptan smell; same thing with grill tanks, when they near empty, they stink. So in a 1000 gallon tank you really only get 600 useful gallons of LP volume. If you are at 10%, you are cutting it real close to empty; around here, if YOU run a tank out, the LP company mandates a leak test (at your cost) before they will refill.

+10 on that. I hunt with the owner of the local gas company and everything you state is 100% correct. Least the never charge me a recert if I drain one completely. I have 2 500 gallon bottles in tandem.