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.

  • AbidingOhmsLawEnglish
    67·
    1 day ago

    Important! Before you drill, cut, puncture or do anything with them you need to remove the residual gas or they may explode on you!

    1. obtain or make a valve tool for propane cylinder valves (check youtube).
    2. screw on a torch head and try to light it to burn off as much as you can EVEN WHEN THE TORCH WONT LIGHT THERE IS STILL PROPANE IN THE CYLINDER
    3. outside in a well ventilated area remove the torch and press the center valve in to verify that pressure is equalized
    4. look for the fill valve off center on the top, using the valve tool remove the valve.
    5. fill the cylinder ALL THE WAY with water, this will force out any remaining gas.
    6. the cylinder should now be safe to work on