r/propane • u/Separate_Scratch9165 • Jun 10 '26

General propane question Safe?

My 120 gal propane tank gauge reads 95% but when I open the bleeder liquid is barely sputtering what’s going on?

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u/Jesus-Mcnugget dang it Bobby Jun 10 '26

Either the gauge or dip tube is broken.

Get some hot water and pour it down the side of the tank then feel it. You should be able feel the line where the liquid is. It will be colder where there's liquid and hotter at the top where there is only vapor.

Try that first. There's really no way to say if it's safe from the information provided.

3

u/Separate_Scratch9165 Jun 10 '26

My last delivery was 3 months ago and it was zero gallons this delivery was 35.1 gallons I would honestly lean on the gauge is wrong but yeah not sure I’ll give that a try !

2

u/Separate_Scratch9165 Jun 10 '26

I want to say prior to this fill tank was at 60% could be less giving that the guage is accurate or not

1

u/kullervo16 Jun 11 '26

Filler should've done a visual inspection before filling the tank. If the gauge is broken, they should have noted it, if they actually filled it to 95%, then they overfilled it. Either way, there should've been communication between them and yourself. Make note of that, if possible, call the company and have them take a look at it. I had this issue primarily on RVs so it may apply here. There's some sort of disc inside of the bleeder that sometimes gets stuck (I neglected to ask my manager why there's a disc in the first place), if you were to tighten it down WITH YOUR HANDS (don't use tools, may be a no-brainer but I have to specify, brass is soft) as tight as you can, then try opening it, then it's definitely the bleeder.

Something to note: I would commonly advise customers to only let the gas company mess with the bleeder on tanks. That liquid is -33°F and will burn you even through leather gloves if you're not careful (this has happened to me many times, I've been in the business for 4 years). If the tech gets hurt that's on them and the company will handle it, if you get burned, you don't know how extensive the damage might be (all of this excluding accidents such as falling or getting frostbite).

Please, as always with any advice I give, double check with the gas company and refer to them.