The Good Banter Thread

[addy1]

My honey ................he knows to behave himself! I can dig a very nice deep hole with his nice pressie!

 

[j.w]

That's deep alright and so that's where your new propane tank is going to go eh? Sure is handy having that nice toy to play w/ for those big digging jobs!

 

[Big Lou]

My honey ................he knows to behave himself! I can dig a very nice deep hole with his nice pressie!

My nephew and his family live in a quaint small city between Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. During replacement of old city gas lines the contractors crew discovered a very old underground propane tank on my nephews property. The half century old tank still contained propane gas. Of course they were responsible for its decommissioning, removal and disposal. $$$$$. The only bright spot in this discovery is that his wife is a EPA Hazardous Waste Consultant.

 

[addy1]

Right now we are all electric, we are going to use this for heat, a small ventless heater in the living room. Used it last year with bbq tanks, pain to replace if it snows a lot. Love the feel of the heat it creates, hate the heat pump heat.

Only way we can dig jw, we have so many rocks, hard to even dig a hole for a plant.

 

[CountryEscape]

I've never heard of propane tanks being buried. They are in people's back yards where I live. If you live in the city, you have natural gas, and it's provided by the city gas company. If you live in the country, you either have electric or a propane tank, but just never heard of burying one! Sounds like a good idea to me, as long as it's used and kept up to date. I would worry about the connectors in the ground, but maybe it's in some type of a casing? Can you tell us more about how it works? That is a great hole! Not everyone that has a digger can do that clean of a hole. Go Addy!!!

 

[CountryEscape]

OK, I had to get on the DISH chat again this evening . That was the 3rd time in less than 5 days. How crazy is that? And, you feel like you're talking to a computer, not a real person. They ask the same thing over and over, then I realized I was on the third level of "tech". Grrrr .... they did not fix it. I can't get any local channels, and of the channels I like to watch, I can't get at least half of them. Tired of trying to turn one on, have to wait for it to decide if it's going to work, then it doesn't, I get "Partial Signal Loss". So0oooo frustrating! Now they are sending out a tech, but he can't come until Thurs., and I HAVE to be home, so they say for liability reasons, so I have to wait until Saturday. I am not a tv watcher either, I can't imagine if I was a baseball fan right now, or wanted to watch the debates last night, because they were NOT available on my tv.
Time to get off my soap box.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I live in a town of 60,000 people, and that's pushing it!! Awe the thriving metropolis of Medicine Hat, were life is good and small news is Big News! Big enough to get lost in, small enough to find your way out if lost! Ha ha

 

[addy1]

I've never heard of propane tanks being buried. They are in people's back yards where I live. If you live in the city, you have natural gas, and it's provided by the city gas company. If you live in the country, you either have electric or a propane tank, but just never heard of burying one! Sounds like a good idea to me, as long as it's used and kept up to date. I would worry about the connectors in the ground, but maybe it's in some type of a casing? Can you tell us more about how it works? That is a great hole! Not everyone that has a digger can do that clean of a hole. Go Addy!!!

The worse part of the dig, if you catch a edge of a piece of shale in the wall it will dump a bucket load of dirt and more rocks. The shale is stacked at an angle.

underground propane tank 101 ..........

Although the tank fittings, valves and connections are the same among propane tanks, their placement on the tank is different. Above ground propane tanks will generally have the relief valve and liquid withdrawal valve placed outside of the dome usually on opposite ends of the tank. On an underground tank, all fittings and connections are centrally positioned to be protected by the dome walls and cover.

Cathodic Protection - The earth a natural electric current that occurs in water and land alike. These electrical currents have an adverse affect on metal objects that are in the ground or in the water. This adverse affect is called electrolysis and will literally drill a small hole through a metal object. Underground propane tanks are subject to electrolysis and need to be protected to avoid the deteriorating effect that results. To protect a tank from electrolysis, an anode bag is attached by wire to the tank and placed in the hole with the tank before it is covered with backfill. This sacrificial anode bag absorbs the electrical currents in the earth that would have ordinarily targeted the tank resulting in damage to the container. In short, the sacrificial anode bag acts as a "decoy" for the damaging currents that can harm a tank in an underground environment.
Tank Coating and Backfill - The outer surface of an underground propane tank is in constant contact with an environment that can be extremely damaging. For this reason the outer surface of the container must have a protective coating and be covered with a material that will not be harmful to the shell of the underground propane tank. Although propane tanks designed for underground use are coated with a protective material at their point of manufacture, the container can be compromised during installation if the backfill is made up of rocks and/or abrasive materials. Underground tanks are designed to exist in harsh environments but if the backfill is made up of a material such as gravel (which can cut through the tanks protective coating), the anode bag may not adequately protect the tank from underground currents. For this reason, sand or firm earth free of rocks and abrasives should be used to cover an underground tank after installation.

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks for info, Addy. So, sounds like you will be backfilling with sand, rather than you "rocky" dirt, huh? Very interesting!

 

[sissy]

here they leave them above ground mostly ,but also bury them and when you sell your house here tank has to be inspected and if it is over 3 years old it has to be emptied and pressurerized to test for leaks .The cost is just over 300 dollars and has to be paid by the homeowner same thing with septic tanks and wells have to be inspected and test of well water done and septic tank must be cleaned unless done in the past year .I have all electric and no otherutilities out here .Thinking of changing fire place to propane also .Here we did have a nighbor with above ground tank that a hunter accidentally shot at ,how not sure but boy did that thing go up .It was one of those large tanks .They have propane heat pump why I have no clue they still use eclectric to blow the heat and air around ,so they are getting hit twice with that deal .They thought if electric went out they would still have heat and air and when they said that to me I just looked at them like duh you need electric .They found out fast last winter when there electric was turned off for not paying there bill . :razz: oh well live and learn

 

[addy1]

It is quarter minus rock dust, so not really sand. The stuff packs solid which will keep the shale type rocks from nicking up the coating.

Thanks for the info on the inspection sissy! We didn't get the well or septic inspected when we bought the house. Figured if anything wrong we would just fix it.

 

[Big Lou]

Today, October 24, 2012 is the 48 year anniversary of my fathers passing. He was only 44 years old on this day in 1964. My father was a true outdoorsman. He did not hunt or fish just for the thrill. My father provided food for his family from the bountiful forests and waters of South Alabama. During his eleven years in my life he taught me to appreciate, to honor, to speak up for the vast wonders of nature and its inhabitants.

 

[j.w]

Sad you only had him in your life for such a short time Lou but sounds like it was a very good relationship and you both made the best of the times you had together. Sounds like you loved him very much.

 

[sissy]

It could only be for VA addy as they have had a lot of problems with buried stuff here .Lots of really old homes with buried and abandoned oil tanks and no one knew they were there .So guessing the figured check all for buried tanks of any kind .

 

[addy1]

We have to have a permit to install, feet from house feet from boundary. If we decide to sell will think of it then.