Plus you don’t end up with a trashed recycled tank, either. Been having mine refilled for the whole two years I’ve been full time. If you’re new to the refill game, you can usually find refills at Uhaul (but not “Uhaul Neighborhood Dealer”), Tractor Supply, some hardware stores, and some gas stations.
Yes. IME exchange tanks are never completely filled, whether for safety or financial reasons I cannot say. But that isn’t why I do an exchange – I do it to get rid of my janky old tank and get a fresh one that’s not chipped, rusted, or past its inspection date! Then I go on to have that tank refilled as usual, until it’s beat up enough to exchange again.
Two problems I’ve found. First, obviously it only works for 20lb vertical gas service cylinders, e.g. grill tanks. My RV has 30-lb horizontal tanks – no exchanging on those. Oh well.
Second – I’ve only heard this, not experienced it myself, but I’ve heard that some (not all) Blue Rhino tanks have a custom valve body that prevents refilling except by special equipment owned by Blue Rhino. I can’t say if it’s true. I can say I just stick with the other brand, and haven’t had any problem getting those refilled at any standard filling station.
$10.40 for a full tank? Last time I refilled it was close to $15/tank!
For those of us with motorhomes this is the only way.
I get both my 15 lb tanks filled at the same time one time every 2 months for like $30. Super cheap and pretty easy. Full time camper here.
The only time to exchange your tanks is when they have gone past their inspection date. Then I sort thru the exchange tanks for a much newer one! ????
Is there a way to tell if I is close to empty?
