This video made me feel like such a rookie because it's both simultaneously brilliant, obvious, and probably common knowledge. In my defense this was never discussed on King of the Hill.
@@rayray8687 hahahaha tank coming and going is my husband's job.... I can cook absolutely anything on a grill, but would be hard pressed to hook one up.
Cool to see a young guy like you using this "ancient" trick. I learned this from my dad when I was 6 years old and we lived in a trailer with propane cooking and heat. I use this method to this day for checking the tanks on my travel trailer, even though the gas regulator / selector valve has a nominal gauge on it. I've had the gauge float occasionally stick giving me a false reading. The hot water method NEVER fails. I use the side of my hand to start "feeling down the tank" from top to bottom. When I find the "cool line" I mark it with a pencil. Since the tanks are mounted outside on the hitch "A - frame" there's no need to disconnect anything or turn off the gas to safely and easily do this 30 second test.
Always have a backup tank just in case. I once had a nightmare that I ran out of propane halfway through the fourth of July cookout. That's the last time I huff propane before bed.
Just when I've convinced myself that RU-vid comments are an irredeemable cesspool of awfulness, someone comes along and restores my faith in humanity. God bless you, Mr. Hill. And don't you worry, Bobby's gonna be just fine.
@@aceg81 bobby is doing great. he has been buying some really pure propane off me. so he can huff all he wants an not worry about dying from fake propane sold by chyna
I use a digital luggage scale to weigh my tank then deduct the tare weight of the tank. A gallon of liquid propane weighs 4.2lbs. You can find out exactly how much is in your tank that way.
Thanks very much for this tip! Not all countries have gas mains underground. We cook using tanks of propane connected directly to the stove. Great tip!
Look at the rim or tag at the top of the tank, and you will see "TW" followed by the empty weight in pounds. For example, if you see "TW18" the empty weight of the tank is 18 pounds.
If you were using it the water would freeze at the level of the propane because as you release compressed gas the temperature drops as liquid propane vaporizes
With time you will memorize how much a full tank weighs when you lift it up, same for an empty tank. Big difference. By lifting the tank up you can tell roughly how much propane there's left. If it's on the lighter side, I move the tank around and can hear the liquid that's left move inside the bottom of the tank. If it's really empty, you hear nothing.
easier to weigh it when you get it home and then when in doubt weigh it before you start. 20 pound tanks hold ... you guessed it, 20 pounds of propane.
The tanks are never full to the top so do this with a full one first if you wish to work out the hours remaining. Hours remaining will depend on a LOT of factors such as the burner size and how much it is turned up. 20 hours sounds fine but the style of B-B-Q and how you use it will make huge differences.
Find the weight of an empty tank , you can do this with a bathroom scale , have the tank filled and weigh it again on the scale , this is the way I like to check
Easier way, simply weight the tank. A empty tank is around 16 lbs. Full A propane tank that size is 36 lbs. Supermarkets and 7/11 sell tanks Underfilled. Blue Rino doesn't release the air inside while filling.
There should be a temperature guage strip that you could apply to the tank that'll tell the difference in temperature instead of just relying on feel, something more accurate.
