andrew,

you more or less nailed it. my set-up does not include the float you
describe,
and relies on myself or the filler-up guy to remember/understand the
stop-cock routine.
frankly, this has not been a problem (it's not rocket science), and my
non-float
set-up has given me almost two years of trouble free service, and plenty
of
pancakes too.

good luck whatever you decide to do.

matt greenwell
87 westy

Andrew Fox wrote:

> List,
> I have been doing a lot of researching about propane tanks for the
westy
> lately as a result of the failure of my "stop fill" fill valve.  Here
is
> what i found out, and i'm still not sure what the best thing to is.
Please
> let myself  and everyone else know if any of the following is not
accurate.
>
> Some of our westy's have a "stop fill" brand fill valve identified by
a
> sticker on the propane tank rock guard which says stop fill on it and
by
> the unique set-up whereby a copper tube runs on the outside of the
tank
> from a small hole about 3/4 way up the tank to the fill valve.  The
"stop
> fill" valve is'nt made anymore because it is prone to a failure in
which
> after filling propane continues to leak out of the fill valve until
the
> tank is emptied.  I have heard reports that there is a kit to repair
the
> stop fill valve but have been unable to find anyone who sells this kit
and
> if repaired the valve would still be prone to failure.  One fix
described
> in the archives is to install a "stop cock" or bleeder valve in the
small
> hole 3/4 of the way up the tank and replace the "stop fill" valve with
an
> ordinary acme style fill vavle.  With this fix the upper bleeder valve

> would be opened while filling and when about 80% full liquid propane
would
> shoot out of the valve letting you know its full.  Modern propane
tanks
> work like this except they have float connected to the fill valve so
that
> in addition to liquid propane shooting out the bleeder 80% up the tank
the
> fill valve automatically closes when the float gets up to the 80%
mark.  As
> far as I know the float cannot be installed on a tank that does'nt
already
> have one.
>
> The main question is weather or not to install the bleeder valve in
the top
> hole, and regular fill valve in place of the stop fill valve or to pay

> $220-$600 for a new tank.  With this fix the tank looks exactly like a

> modern tank although if the person filling the tank forgets to open
the
> bleeder they could overfill the tank resulting in the tank bursting.
>
> Any information, experiences, advice greatly appreciated,
>
> Thanks,
> Andrew Fox
> 86 Westy