Propane Cylinder problems

[Ken Juul]

Found on the Blue Water Sailing weekly blog.

The United States Department of Transportation has issued an emergency order mandating a recall of cylinders manufactured by The Lite Cylinder Company, Inc. (Lite Cylinder).

The full recall order is available at: http://go.usa.gov/bbyV

However the Lite Cylinder company has issued the following Statement "Please be advised that The Lite Cylinder Company is no longer in business and is currently evaluating its legal options.

The company's facility is now closed and unable to receive cylinders returned per the instructions detailed in US DOT – PHMSA Emergency Order No. 2013-002. Furthermore, the company is financially insolvent and will not be able to recompense cylinder owners, dealers and distributors for the expenses incurred in complying with this Emergency Recall Order. "

Island Water World and Budget Marine are advising all their all customers to discontinue using these tanks immediately.

Both companies are offering limited assistance as the Lite Cylinder company is insolvent. They will offer to sell their customers any new propane tank close to cost which equates to a 35% discount on all aluminum and composite tanks in stock. You are required to bring to one of their locations any empty "Lite Cylinder" tanks and proof of purchase from one of their stores. This offer is subject to propane tank availability in their various store locations.

Courtesy of www.noonsite.com

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Sure is nice to own a steel propane tank!! 

[Indian Falls]

"According to a May 24, 2013, letter to Lite Cylinder's Michael Higdon, PHMSA states in one example that Lite Cylinder failed to report several cylinder failures related to DOT-SP 14562. PHMSA states that one of those cylinders ruptured in New Jersey and damaged a gas grill, as a result of a flaw in the seam. Furthermore, many DOT-SP 14562 cylinders have been returned because of sidewall or bottom leaks that occurred between 2009 and 2012."

Is this another govt. agency rife with corruption and incompetence putting another US company out of business?
Of 55,000 tanks they have merely "several" leaks and ONE  rupture over 3 years... actually that's not bad at all for a non metal tank, and you must consider the instances of the user dropping them, getting them overfilled, storing them at high temperature and blaming the manufacturer for failure after mishandling.  The other thing that bothers me is: how do you make a seam in a carbon fiber or fiberglass wrapped tank??  Don't believe everything you hear, especially when it's from a government bureaucracy.

See the below message from Lite Cylinder employee Sheri Pierce:

"To all our valued customers,

I have worked with this company 9 years and have been the contact most of you have worked with.  It was never the intention of this company for this to even remotely occur.  We had some internal problems and PHMSA was working with us to get all this resolved.  We did not ever feel any of you receiving this e-mail were in any danger.  They wanted new management and new ownership.  We gave them all they asked for after being shut down for 8 months with no sales. We worked diligently to address any internal issues we had in the past that resulted in a failure in the field. After an incident which involved a cylinder that none of you have they did the mandatory total recall of all cylinders ever made by Lite Cylinder.  All companies experience issues but I stand by this company and its product.  Whether you were just a single order customer or one of our large customers it didn't matter.  I cherish you all.  We all lose in this.  On our side it's our jobs and on your side it's also financial.  I would only hope that if Lite Cylinder could ever get past this recall all of you would still be our customers.  Even though we won't be here we are appealing the recall but we don't know what the outcome will be. I have enjoyed working with you and consider you my friends.  May God bless each of you.

Sheree Pierce
Lite Cylinder Company"

[Ron Volk]

I also received the email from Sheree and also printed out the PHMSA recall information.  I emailed Michael Higdon to try to find out a little more specific information regarding what actually happened.  His response did not have any more detail than what has been described above.  He just referred me to the PHMSA recall reports.  I was also curious about a statement made in Sherees letter 'After an incident which involved a cylinder  that none of you have they did the mandatory total recall of all cylinders ever made by Lite Cylinder', I wanted to know what kind of cylinder it was, I emailed her to try to clarify what type of cylinder failed, but I did not get a response.
My unit was made in 1998 and I have had it on the boat since 1999 and have had no problems with it, still looks brand new.  Since the recall mentioned possible leakage and fire the last thing I wanted to do was leave it on the boat. It was about 3/4 full, removed it, and had it completely purged.  I am curious if the appeal will change anything.