Apparently, gas cylinders have expiry dates on them. Upon expiry, these gas cylinders pose as a threat to your home as it is more susceptible to leaks. A gas leak is not a small matter and can cause many hazardous accidents at home. So check your gas cylinders and be sure to have them returned to the store and exchanged for a new one.
Here is how you can check the code for expiry on the gas tanks.
A gas cylinder typically has 3 vertical bars on them. Check on the insides of these bars and locate a code that contains a mix of an alphabet and a 2-digit number. Refer to the picture below to see an example of the code found on one of the bars of the cylinder.
To “crack the code” to find out the expiry date, refer to this explanation.
You can expect an alphabet that ranges only from A to D and this is what they mean:
A – stands for March
B – stands for June
C – stands for September
D – stands for December
The double digit after the alphabet refers to the year that it remains valid for. In the example above, this cylinder is then read to expire in December 2006.
To help you remember this more easily, just remember that each alphabet stands for a quarter in time for the year. In this case, “A” is for the first quarter of the year which ends in March, and so on for the rest of the alphabets and their corresponding months.
No one knows the extent of truth to this information shared, whether there really is an expiry date for gas cylinders. However, I always believe in prevention rather than cure. It does not hurt to be a little more careful in life.
