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[MONAHAN STEAM MODELS]

No prob at all.

I actually had to order another one of these taps last week. Its considered a "special" tap. Instead of paying an arm and a leg for one through our normal machine tool supplier I managed to find one on Amazon for 5 bucks. The company who was selling it was Victor Machinery Exchange in Brooklyn, New York.

[Bunkerbarge]

The thing is though if you are going to fit a normal valve in place of the Ronson type then surely you need a tap to suit the new valve rather than one to suit the Ronson valve?

[steamboatmodel]

The thing is though if you are going to fit a normal valve in place of the Ronson type then surely you need a tap to suit the new valve rather than one to suit the Ronson valve?

If you make the normal valve with the same thread as the Ronson you can always switch back if you want too.
Regards,
Gerald.

[knoby]

Thanks for your help & thoughts guys
i haven't got any way of making a valve to fit the ronson thread, so it looks like its going to be drilled out & tapped to take 1/4 40 tpi valve.

Bunkerbarge, how long did you make your dip tube?

cheers Glenn

[Bunkerbarge]

From what I remember I made the tube about 1/3 the diameter of the tank.  This was supposed to give me enough of a gas space without too much reduction in liquid carrying capacity.

[MONAHAN STEAM MODELS]

Glenn,

Who is the manufacturer of your refillable tank?

This is just an idea but the Ronson Valve bushing on  the refillable tanks from Phil at Forrest Classics I believe are already tapped for both the Ronson valve as well as 1/4"-32 0r 1/4"-40.  The tapped area of the bushing for the Ronson valve is recessed deep into the bushing as what you normally see on all refillable tanks. However on Phil's tanks the upper portion of this same bushing which protrudes above or outside of his tanks are tapped to 1/4"-32 or 1/4"40 I believe? This is done for being able to thread a fitting into the tank for hydro testing. I would call Phil first to confirm the thread type. My point is, if you have one of Phil's tanks than all you would need to do is simply remove the Ronson valve to allow your dip tube to pass through when you screw a globe valve into the upper portion of that bushing.

Actually I just thought of a another possibly better idea if you don't have one of Phil's tanks. Normally most refillable tank use a bushing which has the Ronson valve recessed deep into the bushing. If you're really careful you can remove the Ronson valve from your tank's bushing and just tap the upper portion of the bushing just deep enough to be above the threaded area which is tapped for the Ronson Valve. This way you can have your cake and eat it too. It's just an idea.

[knoby]

Thanks Bunkerbarge 

Nick, the tank isn't a commercial one, it was made by an engineer. Just had a look & your idea of just tapping the first half  seems feasible, thanks for the idea

grateful thanks Glenn

[benjaml1]

Quote: "OK, filling the tank, how do you know when it's safely full ?? I know there should be an airs pace etc.etc. Is there a sign to look for "?

I read somewhere to open up the burner supply valve to allow venting whilst filling. Is that common practice ?

[MONAHAN STEAM MODELS]

You would not want to open the valve to the burner since the gas take off height is typically the highest point in the tank. This would cause you to come really close to filling the tank 100%.

If you instead fill the tank through the burner valve and bleed off the vapors from the new valve with the dip tube then once you see liquid squirting out you would then know the tank is approximately filled to the height of the dip tube. I would recommend trying this a few times first, starting with an empty tank and weighing it. Then filling it up till liquid comes out the bleeder valve and weighing the tank again to see if the weights are consistent each time. To get an idea of what the tank would weigh 100% full, you could try filling the tank through the new bleeder valve until liquid fuel squirts out of the burner valve.

I would definitely recommend experimenting first. Before experimenting with gas you could first fill the tank with water to see if the method works. Then try gas to see if it behaves any differently. What is nice about the bleeder valve is it can have a line plumbed from it to vent the liquid and gas overboard while filling. I began playing around with a similar refilling system about 2 years ago but the valves I designed for mine were push button open and closed so to speak instead of being rotary opened and closed like a normal valve. I never did get a chance to finish it cause I was waist deep in work at the time. It's another one of those "some day down the road projects".

Glenn keep us posted on your findings.

[MONAHAN STEAM MODELS]

Glenn,

BTW, before tapping your bushing with a 1/4"-40 tap, you will need to use a 5.7mm drill to open up the diameter of bushing area to be tapped. After using a standard 1/4"-40 tap to start cutting your threads, you may need to switch to a 1/4"-40 bottom tap to get a decent depth of threads cut for your valve to screw down into. Of course this is depending on how deep the bushing goes before it steps down in diameter for the Ronson valve's threads. Remember measure twice and cut once!  Good luck.