Quote:
Originally Posted by SailorSam20500
Out of curiosity, what is the secret to removing the valve safely? Wondering what the dealer who gave you the advice said. Glad you got it taken care of.
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No real secret. The main thing is to have the tank completely empty (which takes a while) and keeping everything extra clean. There’s little chance of creating a spark during valve removal. However, if the tank is not empty then when the valve is being removed it’s possible to have enough pressure to make it self eject. Obviously one doesn’t want that to happen.
I connected the propane fire pit and lit it to use up all the propane, which took almost two days since I didn’t want it unattended. Even after the flame went out, and after activating the stove, water heater and furnace, the tank still had some content. When I opened the little relief fitting I could hear (and smell) propane escaping for about a minute or so. I left it open overnight and all the smell was gone.
Removing the valve is not hard but there’s not a lot of room to work. Using a 1¼” open end wrench I could only turn the fitting about 45 degrees before having to flip and reposition the wrench. It took a lot of wrench moving but I finally got it out. When I did the last bit of turning (by hand now) I held a shopvac next to the fitting to catch any debris that might be present. The sealant used has a tendency to get brittle with age. As recommended I brushed the threads to clear any remaining debris while holding the vacuum hose at the opening to keep the debris from falling into the tank.
The propane dealer “painted” the threads on the new fitting with the sealant they use. Forgot to ask what it was but it was really sticky. Putting the new fitting in is easy because I was able to use a 1¾” socket. Set to 125 ft. Lbs. torque and it’s done. Took the MH to the dealer who helped and he leak checked it while putting 9.5 gallons in the tank.
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