Tech Stuff

EDITOR NOTE: This is a reprint of a series entitled Just the Tip authored by Thomas Brobst. His ‘make-do-with-what-you-got’ and ingenuity makes for interesting reading and maybe help a poor soul out of a perplexing repair. See if you agree with me this is fun reading.

Just the Tip
Tip #2

‘allo CMGC MG’ers. It’s me again with my second Just the Tip column. I didn’t receive any tips from readers last month, though I did receive one rave review, so onward and upward with another of my personal amazingly useful and simple tips. This month’s tip probably will be more useful next summer during barbecue season...so you might want to cut it out and clip it to your refrigerator door to remind you again next spring…. but it will also be helpful to anyone who uses a propane garage heater like I do.

The tip solves the problem of transporting an empty 20lb propane tank when it’s time for refilling. As we all know, these tanks are round...cylindrical actually. That means they are difficult to secure in the trunk (oops...I meant boot!) of a moving vehicle when it’s time run them down to the store to swamp or refill. We often take our lives in our hands when we throw the tank in the boot and race to the refill/swamp station because we ran out of propane in the middle of a cookout, right? Sometimes we can actually have two of them bouncing around because, though we were smart enough to buy a backup tank, we were too lazy to get the first one refilled before the second one went dry (or is that just me?).I’ve been working on old cars since I was in high school.

Well, I have an easy fix...though it might not be completely illegal. Disclaimer: how you obtain the necessary component for this tip is all on you. I’m not recommending anyone steal anything. Fact is though, you’ve probably already committed the crime years ago and are already past the statute of limitations so I’ll continue. The tip is….plop the diabolically cylindrical and inertially unstable propane tank into a standard, everyday, ubiquitous plastic milk crate! (I don’t want to hear where the milk crate come from, ok?) Boom!

That’s it! It not only keeps the bloody propane cylinder from rolling around in your boot (nailed it this time) risking a deadly, explosive fireball but also makes the tank easier to carry. I’ve noticed that some milk crates are even sized so the gas cylinder actually provides a mild interference fit with the milk crate so even it you lift the tank by it’s handle the crate comes along with it. Cool, right? Try it! You’ll love it!

I hope you enjoyed this tip. Don’t forget to share your comments or your own amazing tips with us all by emailing me at thomas.brobst@gmail.com or our esteemed editor Greg Prehodka at MGracer53@aol.com. You’re get full credit….. unless of course you’d prefer to be anonymous.

Safety Fast!
(that always cracks me up)

~~ Tom Brobst