# Propane Tank valve doesn't turn
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propane-tank-valve-doesnt-turn/538566
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 6, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propane-tank-valve-doesnt-turn/538566 "2010-05-06T22:39:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propane-tank-valve-doesnt-turn/538566/1 "2010-05-06T22:39:13Z")
Ok, I have a weird situation. I unexpectedly ran out of propane (doesn’t it happen always). Went to Wal-Mart and got a new one (I think I got the last one). The valve doesn’t turn at all, no matter how hard I try. However, I connected it to my grill (because I was hungry) and it worked! Is this tank, that I cannot turn off, safe for my grill?
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propane-tank-valve-doesnt-turn/538566/2 "2010-05-07T02:39:05Z")
If your grill is outside, yes its safe. But …
Odds are that your grill’s valves don’t turn off as well as a typical tank’s does,so you’ll lose a bunch of gas to leaks.
If you grill every day, that might not matter much; you’ll burn most of it before it has a chance to leak away. But if you’re a once a week griller you might lose 3/4ths of the gas to leaks & need a new tank in just a month or two. If it’s worth the $15 to you, take it back for a fresh non-defective one.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propane-tank-valve-doesnt-turn/538566/3 "2010-05-07T13:59:13Z")
Which way are you turning it? It sounds like the valve is already open but the OPD valve wasn’t letting any gas flow because it wasn’t hooked up to a fixture - see [here](http://www.propane101.com/valveopennopropane.htm). Once you attached it to your grill, it opened the safety valve and let the gas through. I’d try closing the valve.
Is it a new tank you bought, or one of those Blue Rhino exchangeable tanks? Either way, if you can’t close the valve, I’d bring it back - no point losing all your propane or having a safety issue when you should be able to get a new tank for free - one that won’t close is clearly defective.