TOPEKA, Kan. - Charles Bauer is a Kansas resident who was upset his propane tank didn't weigh as much as he thought it should. Now, there is an investigation underway. Bauer expected a full tank, and was surprised to find out it only weight 15 pounds even though he bought a 20 pound tank.
While you buy 20 pound tanks, for safety reasons they are never filled to capacity. The State of Missouri says full is around 18 or 18.5 pounds, even though most exchange retailers sell a maximum of 17 pound tanks.
Call For Action conducted an open records request to the State of Kansas Department of Agriculture for complaints filed by consumers regarding smaller propane tanks. That's how we found Charles Bauer.
See the Call for Action Investigation Here
We have now learned the State of Kansas is conducting a statewide investigation to see if the propane tanks for sale weigh as much as the label declares. Kansas law requires every tank be labeled with its net weight. The actual weight of tank has to meet or exceed the labeled net weight, but there is an acceptable level of variation before a cylinder is considered out of compliance.
Horizon Out of Compliance
When Kansas inspectors tested three retailers in Bauer's area, one store had to stop the sale of propane. The Queens Price Chopper in Paola, Kansas, sells Horizon Propane Cylinders. The State says its tests showed eight of the twelve tanks were underweight, but only one exceeded the variance tolerance. Therefore, the State made sales of those tanks stop immediately. Horizon spokesman Adam Donahue said he is not trying to cheat consumers. He says the company was having problems with its valve closing too early while filling them with propane, so some cylinders did not get the full 17 lbs of propane. It was simply a mechanical error Donahue says. He is making it right by cleaning out all cages that have propane cylinders that were filled during that batch when the mechanical error happened. They are refilling those propane tanks, and all Horizon cages should be updated by the end of the week.
Horizon says it will continue to sell propane at the 17 lb weight. The company made a decision last summer that it didn't feel it was right to change the volume because you can't change the size of the cylinder. The company didn't think that was fair to the consumer.
The State also checked the weight of tanks at a Home Depot and Walgreens in Lawrence, and many of those tanks were overweight within the allowable tolerance. We are making those reports available to you [
Home Depot Inspection Report,
Walgreens Inspection Report] and the State will continue its checks at stores throughout the state.
