Do I have any recourse?

I would guess a year later you wouldn't have much recourse, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I've had issues with propane tanks and I just end up swapping them. I lost probably half my last tank because the valve got wonky.

It was just easier than taking it up with the kid at the grocery store!

 

My supplier is very accommodating with issues like this. CO2 is damn cheap. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's nearly all profit, in terms of the product, itself. Just ask. Worst case, you'll be in the same boat you are today. Obviously, YMMV.

 

You didn't go back to the place you swapped the tank?

 

Are you sure it really needs to be condemned?

 

Did they say why it needed to be condemned? Once a cylinder's hydro test is out of date (5 years IIRC), it has to be retested. If it passes, it gets another 5 years. If it fails, it get a hole drilled in it.

 

Before a hydro test your cylinder gets an visual inspection . . . there are guidelines (DOT) on the criteria. If it fails this test you are kaput. Here's a discussion from an industry source:
http://amerex-fire.com/upl/download...irements-but-passes-the-hydrotest-it-s-ok.pdf

It's also industry practice to charge for a hydro test even if it fails. Sounds like you failed the visual and never had it put under pressure. This is a gray area (to me). When a cylinder fails, guidelines call for it to be destroyed. Typically this is explained to the customer before any action but you know the status of "hired help" these days.

You could have returned your swapped tank to the original vendor and gotten an exchange. The extra cost you pay is for the 5 year testing and the occasional failure/condemnation. My experience with gas exchangers is it's a roughneck type specialty . . . not unusual for them to prey on the weak, i.e. if you have to ask their policy they know you don't know. If it has been condemned you don't have much to exchange with.

You're probably screwed, but personally I'd play out the exchange with a condemned tank just to see what happens. The things we do for keg beer . . .

 

Yes.

 

The only time I've heard of this happening is when the tank is returned to a different vendor...coincidence? or best business practice?
I just exchanged a 5#er for a filled 15#er (and$55) and can now get larger tanks exchanged/filled locally at about the same price as a 5#.

 

That's a gray area to me ... in a perfect world this would have been explained to you when you contracted for the test. Once it's failed the actual hydro test DOT guidelines call for condemnation. In all cases you should be entitled to haul off the carcass.

If it's a steel tank and you have access to a machine shop to cut off the bottom end it'll make a helluva bell. If it's aluminum don't waste your time (who wants a bell that only thumps?).

EDIT: just curious, what did they pop you for the test?

 

I asked my supplier about 100# tanks a few years ago. He said they don't sell them, they only lease them. $250 lifetime lease payment or $125 with my 20# tank as a trade-in. Logically, It's kind of the same as buying the bigger tank for $250/$125. I didn't ask what it costs to refill 100#, but I suspect it wouldn't be a helluva lot more than 20#. It's not practical, so I didn't follow up on it. The biggest downside is that a leak will lose a heck of lot more gas than a smaller tank.

 

Good incentive to fix all leaks , but like I said price was about the same.
I had a very slow leak out of a prv fouled with dental floss because I over-filled the keg when xfering from another keg. I tend to use the larger tanks for keg purging/beer gunning for just that reason.

 

I'd ask, but speculating on what that might mean is probably much more entertaining than what actually happened!