Incidents of fire caused by Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders are reported every alternate day. Such incidents have made us extra careful while cooking. But many of us are not aware of the condition of the LPG cylinder delivered to us by agencies.
You can find out the condition of your gas cylinder from the letters and numbers written on it.
Let’s understand it.
In fact, LPG cylinders don’t have an expiry date but have Statutory Testing Due date. Statutory testing of a cylinder is done after every five years. Before putting the cylinders in circulation, they are tested and information regarding the next test is written on them.
You must have noticed that one of the three side collars of a cylinder has either A, B, C or D with a two digit number like C-25. This indicates about the next due date.
A indicates first quarter from January to March
B indicates second quarter from April to June
C indicates third quarter from July to September
D indicates fourth quarter from October to December
And the number indicates the year.
In above case, if you find C-25 written on an LPG cylinder, you should understand it that its next test due date is sometime between July and September of 2025. Similarly, if A-26 is found written on a cylinder, it means its next test due date is from January to March in 2026.
In case you are delivered a cylinder with B-22 written on it, you have to understand it that its test due date is expired and it’s not safe to use. In that case, you have to point it out and ask the delivery boy to replace with another one.