I installed a full tank of propane in my grill and then lit the grill and proceeded to cook. A minute later I noticed it smoking badly. I thought it was a grease flare and opened the grill. I had just cleaned the grill so I was suspicious that it might be coming from underneath. I opened the doors and found the tank was in flames. Luckily I keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen which is very close by. It put the fire out. After cooling the tank down and shutting it off I disconnected the hose and reconnected it to see if I had done something wrong. When I opened the valve I could hear it leaking. As it turns out the valve has a seal in it that you can see if you look in the valve. The seal was cracked. I returned the tank to the store for exchange informed them about what had happened. They gave me a free exchange. I inspected the seal on the new tank and it looks good. Very scary incident to say the least. Inspecting the seal takes less than a minute and is something I will do from now on. You should too.
Thanks for the info! Still useful 13 years later!
I installed a full tank of propane in my grill and then lit the grill and proceeded to cook. A minute later I noticed it smoking badly. I thought it was a grease flare and opened the grill. I had just cleaned the grill so I was suspicious that it might be coming from underneath. I opened the doors and found the tank was in flames. Luckily I keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen which is very close by. It put the fire out.
After cooling the tank down and shutting it off I disconnected the hose and reconnected it to see if I had done something wrong. When I opened the valve I could hear it leaking. As it turns out the valve has a seal in it that you can see if you look in the valve. The seal was cracked. I returned the tank to the store for exchange informed them about what had happened. They gave me a free exchange. I inspected the seal on the new tank and it looks good. Very scary incident to say the least. Inspecting the seal takes less than a minute and is something I will do from now on. You should too.