I’ve got several of these empty steel propane tanks from heating the chicken coop during the recent cold weather before I got an adapter to run the heater off of a larger refillable tank. Any ideas on what they could be repurposed for?
Seems like there should be some use for them besides tossing them in the recycling. I’d assume I’d need to poke a hole in them before recycling since they are/were pressure vessels.
I know there are adapters out there to refill them but now that I can use a larger, more easily refillable, tank I don’t really have any inclination to do so.
My only thought so far was to cut the top off, drill some holes, and make a little stick burning camp stove. But, that’s not something I’ll ever use.
I’ve got a fairly extensive workshop and metal working tools so pretty much everything is on the table. I can even do really shitty welding if required.
If you absolutely have a desire to do any of these artistic, repurpose or whatever with these: put them out 100 yards and put a bullet through the top of it to make sure there is no propane left in it
You could refill them then give them away.
What about exploring using your metalworking skills artistically? Maybe some interesting sculptural possibilities.
Have fun in an airport
Do not under any circumstances cut into these cylinders with power tools.
They might not contain enough propane to be useful to you, but there might very well be enough in there to mess you up.
Brother of a friend wanted to turn an supposedly empty oil barrel into an outdoor heater. The residual fumes were enough to cause an explosion large enough to fracture his skull and put him into a coma for multiple weeks.
Thread a torch nozzle and just open it set it in the sun and leave it a couple days the thermal transitions will help purge the bottle enough it doesn’t matter. Drums should always be purged and water filled before cutting or burn it first.
Just displace whatever gas is left in there with water first.
That’s easy enough on full sized propane bottles, but more of a pain in the ass on the small ones
I’d punch through the neck, fill with lamp oil, put candle wicks in there.
I do that with cool bottles, but you could strip the label and paint, do something creative.
Could you refill these with methane / biogas from an anaerobic digester? I assume you’d need a specialized compressor.
In my country if you get bottled gas supplied on contract, the cylinders usually remain the property of the supplier. They’d’ take them back and recycle, or the vendor should take them and pass them back.
These are tiny portable 0.5kg cylinders, e.g as a cooking fuel while camping. Not larger bbq or house supply tanks.
They’re fun to use as shooting targets, just do it at 100+ yards
Turn it into a big ass flask, they can’t arrest you for drinking good 'ol clean burning propane, I tell ya hwat
Given that alchohol could concievably be a fuel, you might have something there.
Mini Probot of course…
Under no circumstances should you puncture the container. It’s still a pressure vessel with flammable gas in it and will explode if you try.
My and my buddies get excited when we run out, we use them for target practice. More if a rifle thing where you can get some distance, they are rather unpredictable depending on how you hit it and if gas is still present.
I watched my dad set a forest on fire like that once. We got it out, but it was pretty intense.
Use refillable ones like Flame King. They cost about $20 and can be refilled safely for around $2 per fill. If you’re near Sports Basement and are a member, they will refill them for free within some limits.
Dude. Literally the first sentence of the body text…
I would take them to a recycling center that advertises that they accept fuel / propellents.
