Gas tank

[RegandPat]

On the gas tank (red) there is an indicator saying empty and full but my one says empty, it has been like that for a week and still is working, well the cooker is and we make a cuppa as well.
I thought I had better get ready to bye a new refill so on the site I was staying had a look at the stored tanks but they did not have the gauge on them and as the tank did seem to be still giving me gas I will wait till I get home.
Two questions, 1 do they all have gauges fitter?
And 2 should it say full?
The tank is a fairly new and has had little use but if I open the front cover of the van there is a smell of gas, I have checked all the connections and we have not been gas yet as far as we know.
Is there anything that I can do?
Reg and Pat

 

[Sproket]

Reg
I have fitted one of these to my bottle........
http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Gaslow_Adaptor_Gauge_-_Propane.html
& due to the increase in the price of refilling a 6kg bottle i have swapped one for a 13kg bottle which weighs nearly the same as two 6kg one's but only cost's a few quid more & the gas works out at nearly half the price.....
http://www.jacksgas.co.uk/index_files/buycalorgas.htm

 

[Damian]

Quote "
The tank is a fairly new and has had little use but if I open the front cover of the van there is a smell of gas, I have checked all the connections and we have not been gas yet as far as we know.
Is there anything that I can do?"

Yes there is,,,,if you smell gas get an engineer to check it out AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Switch off the gas at the cylinder and DO NOT use until it has been fixed.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Definitely follow Damaian's advise about getting is checked out. LPG installations should not have any smell of gas around thebottles. If you can smell it it means you have a leak of some sort.

The only accurate way of checking how much gas you have left in a bottle is to weigh it and then subtarct the tare weight of the bottle to arrive at the weight of the remaining gas.

There are a number of other fairly common ways of indicating the status of a gas bottle, One senses the level of the liquefied gas by using a float, These are usually mounted in the bottle its self. I have seem many of these and they are not particularly reliable.

Another is a pressure gauge usually mounted in the valve or in the pigtail. these respond to the pressure in the bottle. The pressure in the bottle depends mainly on the temperature of the bottle, and as long as there is any liquefied gas in the bottle the pressure doesn't change very much, only when the liquid has been fully vapour used will the pressure start to drop more noticeably.

There a stick on temperature sensitive liquid crystal strip. this will change colour along its length according to the temperature of the surface it is attached to. Iit is placed at the lowest point of the bottle. This works on the principal that when a gas bottle is supplying gas, the liquid in the bottle cools slightly due to its heat content being used to vaporise the liquid to its gas stage. The liquid crystal senses the temperate through the wall of the bottle and there is a colour change at the boundary of the vapour and liquid level. This only works when gas is being used, as at other times the liquid and the vapour above assume the same temperature.

There is a high tech method; The gas bottle is placed on top of an ultrasonic transducer. The transducer is configured to emit a high frequency burst of sound, and it them listens for an echo. Because the transducer is in close contact with the bottom of the bottle, the metal of the bottle transmits the sound pulse very effectively. It travels up through the liquid until it reaches the top where the the change in density causes the sound pulse to be refelected back down the through the liquid and bottom of the bottle and onto the sensor. The electronics works out how long the pulse took to travel and converts it to a measurement of the depth of liquid.

Take your pick

 

[RegandPat]

I have looked again at the gas tank and can not smell any gas now but it has been turned off for 4 days, so, I turn on gas and sniff.
No gas smell, okay just a little.
So with spanner in hand I start to undo the gas pipe/ regulator, would you beleive it, it was loose.
I continued to remove the tank and I think it is empty, very light and when I swish it about there is no sound.
I did turn on the tap and gas did come out.
I will bye a refill and see if I can smell gas.
Thank you all for help.
Reg and Pat
PS. I did go out and bye a gas detector £20+ just in case.