Why is propane tank line freezing on gas grill?

Answer 1

This is related to the physics of gases under pressure. The short of it, is that a gas under increasing pressure gains heat, or heats up, and a gas under decreasing pressure loses heat, or cools down. The more rapid the gain or loss of pressure, the higher or lower the temperature goes. You can probably get more technical information by typing "physics of gases" into your search engine, and chosing an appropriate website. The tank has been over filled. When the tank is over-filled, it freezes the regulator up the line. Take it back to where you had it filled.

Answer 2

Yes, easily, in a number of differring circumstances; Firstly, when any gas COMpresses, we all know from Grade School, according to the Standard Gas Law; PV=nRT its temperature INcreases. Any propane container re-filling employee can tell you that the 'bottle' warms up as it fills, whereas the tank from which he draws the propane, despite being much larger, grows noticeably cooler. Therefore, when you DEcompress the propane 'bottle', it cools at a rate proportional to the rate of decompression. If the bottle is far enough away from the barbeque, shaded and away from any breezes, a continuous high-temp open-lid barbeque session can easily cause frost to accumulate on the bottle andthe regulator. OTOH, in temperatures below 32F/0C, high humidity and quickly falling temperatures can deposit frost on anything, not just propane barbeque bottle regulators. Luckily, both situations can be easily 'cured' by time; just bring the bottle into the sun for a short while, and even below freezing, passive solar energy will melt the frost and 'cure' the 'problem'

Answer 3

Propane boiling point is at -42 c. But this is at sea level and not in a tank under pressure.

Your tank has a regulator on it that operates with a high pressure on one side to let down to a set lower pressure. As the temp drops the propane in liquid state slows to fill the vapor gap in the bottle. Around -34 c the high and low side of the regulator equalizes in pressure and the vapor stops flowing. Bring you propane bottle in a warm area for 30 mins will usually is enough heat to get the pressure up in the bottle to get it flowing again. Then the heat from the BBQ should maintain the flow until you are done your grilling. DON'T heat the tank with other means although there are electrical propane heats you can buy for tanks that are certified. Never use an open flame to heat a tank unless you have a death wish.

Answer 4

Tempetutre