The bloke at the garage wouldn’t refill the gas cylinder for our barbeque because it was more than 10 years past its test date.
We could have sent it away to be tested but that would have cost a similar amount to the new one – $60 – and we had steak waiting to be cooked.
So we bought a new one even though there was only one available and its test date was 01-08 which means we’ll get only nine years and not 10 out of it.
I wonder:
1) What is the safe life span of a gas cylinder?
2) How many people send them to be retested after 10 years?
3) How many of those are found to be safe?
Homepaddock 
It seems stupid that it costs so much
You can just take it down to Dunedin and get it testd there for only half the cost of a new one, still seems like madness
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I had 2 bottles tested and approved years ago when testing was cheaper than replacement. They both completed 20 yrs of service without fault.
Replaced them both in recent times as like you I found little cost difference between the options.
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1: Depends on how well they are looked after and the climate they are in.
2: Most
3: See 1 above.
I have been filling bottles for 25 years and have been teaching safe filling for the same time. NZ has a very high usage of LPG bottles as home heating. We have a much tougher regime because of that. Bottles that are on a caravan at the beach are more likely to fail than ones used on BBQ’s in Central. If a bottle leaks liquid it expands into gas at 275 times its own volume. A leaking bottle in a heater is a primed bomb ready to blow and sadly it happens. Common Sense tells us that a rusty leaking bottle would not be used in a heater, but common sense doesn’t exist in reality.
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In Aus, you pretty much can’t get bottles filled at all anymore. You get a swappa bottle – you give them your old one (so long as it is vaguely still in shape) and take a new one. The company that refills them takes on the responsibility for maintaining them in reasonable shape, and keeping them tested. When we first got here I found it to be wrong, and spent time trying to find someone who’d fill our bottle. Till I worked out it was very little cheaper, and that it is really nice to have a brand new (looking) bottle every 6 months or so.
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It’s not worth getting them tested when it costs as much as a new bottle- more when you factor in the transport costs.
I take them out to the range and use them for ballistics testing.
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It is much cheaper to get your bottle retested than buying a new one. To test its only 25-30 dollars for another ten years. You can buy a new bottle for 50 bucks but will have to replace the valve within 6 months at a cost of 35 dollars. Recycling is better for the environment. 99.9% of older bottles pass. New ones rust out within 5 years. The older the better. Dont let this be a throw away society.
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http://www.tanktest.co.nz/sales.html
tests your cylinder for $25.
Better than buying a new one for at least 50 and up to 70.
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Thank you so much for your comment it has helped me so much,from now onwards i know to use it safety.
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