Will be heading out to hunt this coming weekend and the weather is saying as low as 10 at night. I have heard propane tanks and lines can freeze, and would like to avoid that if at all possible.

Don't worry wade I'm sure your little buddy heater will still work in that insulated box blind.....deer hunterssss....

It will freeze at -44F

-306.4 degrees it will freeze so keep it wrapped

Lmao. I ain't scared about the box blind, it's the cargo trailer immsleeeping in. To be honest, it's more the wife I'm afraid of than me being cold. When she gets cold it's not fun

So you're saying there is a chance

Last time the wife was out it dropped into the 20's and the fuel supply from the 20lb tank outside ceased. The heater turned off and I couldn't get it re lit without having to switch to the small green tanks

You are technically right but on the practice side Propane liquid gives off vapor down to -44 F, so your 10 F night isn't even close. It freezes somewhere around -300 F.

One thing to keep in mind is the lowered pressure you will have in the tank as it gets colder though, so if it is not turned on before it gets cold, and you just throw the valve open, you may have a high flow preventer that will close off the supply. Open the tank slowly.

No worries. Propane tanks everywhere in Wise County, never heard of one freezing.

Had one in varmint camp in Colorado one winter (20#), true temp of -8, not one problem. Tank was also outside exposed to wind as well, for added cooling ya know

We've frozen the valves and lines on a couple of tanks before. A buddy has a 60k (I think, might be 100k) btu heater. In order to get it to put out that much heat, it needs a lot of gas and so it has to run without a regulator. As a gas expands, it absorbs heat from its surroundings. It will quickly freeze a valve and the lines. He had to switch to a large portable tank because the small ones kept freezing up and restricting gas flow.
You can put a small tank in a bucket of water and drop warm beer cans in the water. Run a high btu heater off it and it will get your beer cold in a couple of minutes.

I wouldn't worry at all about the tank freezing, I would however keep a dry towel thrown over the valve

Never thougth about it being the valve, thanks guys

regulator can get water (rain) in it, and freeze; can damage them too - keep them dry.

I always heard that butane did but not propane. But I have no idea. Have never had propane freeze and I used to run it in a pickup until I started to have to pay the road tax then it was not as cheap.

From what I remember Butane stops gassing at around 31, propane at around -41. That is why Butane tanks were always buried in the ground.

The "Propane" you buy is a blended mixture. That mixture varies with the grade and in some areas the blend is varied with the seasons. The more butane (and heavier components), the lower the vapor pressure at a given temperature. It takes a lot of butane in your propane to cause problems in cold weather, so I would not worry about this too much.

The other thing that impacts the lower end temperature you can operate at is the withdrawal rate...because the liquid in the cylinder cools as it turns to gas. The faster you withdraw from the cylinder, the more cooling. That is why a given size tank has a recommended max withdrawal rate. Insulating a propane tank can actually hurt you in cold weather.

A summer blend, from the southern states, would be more likely to be troublesome in 0 degree weather, particularly if you running a big heater or burner on it.

By far the most common propane problem in cold weather is icing within the regulator assembly due to moisture in the spring assembly, on the atmospheric side (you will see a tiny vent hole somewhere on the regulator. This occurs due to the J.T. effect occurring when the pressure is reduced. This drops the temp of the regulator below that of gas/liquid inside the tank. You can freeze a regulator when the air temp is above 32 degrees.
Less common is icing internally in the regulator, due to moisture in the propane. There can also be freezing in filter. These can both occur at temps above freezing, if you have a high withdrawal rate.

Good advice.

I have had several full bottles of propane not work lately, in warm weather. Thought it must be the regulator, so ran to the store replaced regulator and still nothing. Messed with regulator, shook the bottles, opened all valves slowly and fast, adjusted air intake to burners, cleaned the gas ports on burners, checked for blockage in lines etc, nada. Swapped new full tank with almost empty tank from the gas grill and it fired right up. Why? Right now, I have two tanks heavy with propane that either don't put out at all or put out just enough to give me an orange sooty flame that is no weno for frying fish, boiling shrimp etc. Swap out with tank from my BIL's house and it works. WTH? I've been firing up cookers outside for a long time but only started having problems with full bottles a few years ago? Someone educate me. It's damn frustrating when you are trying to cook, especially when you have company. Are they putting Ethanol in propane now or what??

Try a dual stage regulator.

They do make a winter formula and usually automatically change in the fall from what I have been told. If you still have the summer blend, you could have regulator problems. I have been told this at 2 different gas places while getting bottles filled, one place here in Texas and one in Colorado

Butane can and will cause an issue. In some places, LPG is sold that is mixed propane and butane. I had a tank two years ago in Colorado that stopped working in the teens. When I got back to Texas, it was fine. That's when I found out that places that sell "propane" don't always sell propane, but may be a mix.

you will burn more in the colder weather than in warmer weather. It will work fine in 10 degree temp just will use more than you may expect. As long as your regulators are in good shape you will be fine.

Yeah the tanks in question were probably 2-3 years old, gas included

The sooty flame part is a good sign you are dealing with some heavy stuff there.

Screw a fitting or hose without a regulator onto one of the bottles you are having problems with. Turn it upside down and run some out on concrete when its cool outside. If the liquid will last any amount of time on the ground without violently boiling, you have natural gasoline (pentanes or heavier) instead of a propane/butane blend. About your only choices are 1] take the bottles to an exchange place and make them someone else's problem. 2] carefully dump the liquids out somewhere they can safely vapor off. If it is really heavy stuff, you may have to carefully burn it off...a mix heavy in hexanes can sit in a bucket at 90 degrees. Just be careful with this stuff...there is a reason they call it natural gasoline!

Every material has a freezing point.