On John Howard, Faulty Cylinders and Hoax Emails – Part II
The second in the series: On John Howard, LPG Cylinders and Hoax Emails
Some of you may have read this “hoax” email about LPG Cylinders… The email usually has this subject line: “LPG gas cylinder’s expiry date….!!” and it typically reads:
*** Hoax Email Begins ***
Expired Cylinders are not safe for use and may cause accidents. In this regard please be cautious at the time of accepting any LPG cylinder from the Vendor.
Here is how we can check the expiry of LPG cylinders:
On one of three side stems of the cylinder, the expiry date is coded alpha numerically as follows A or B or C or D and some two digit number following this e.g. D06.
The alphabets stand for quarters –
1. A for March (First Qtr),
2. B for June (Second Qtr),
3. C for Sept (Third Qtr), &
4. D for December (Fourth Qtr).
.
The digits stand for the year till it is valid. Hence D06 would mean December qtr of 2006.
Please Return Back the Cylinder that you get with a Expiry Date, they are prone to Leak and other Hazardous accidents…
The second example with D13 allows the cylinder to be in use until Dec 2013. Kindly pass this to every one, and create awareness among the public.
UR kind cooperation will save ife of many people and create awareness among the public.
*** Hoax Email Ends ***
The reality is more prosaic and far less scary.
As this post on a wordpress blog mentions: (The) Date shown in the cylinder is not the date of EXPIRY of PHYSICAL LIFE of the CYLINDER . The digits stand for the year when the cylinder is due for Statutory testing. Hence D06 would mean that the particular cylinder is to be taken for the next Statutory Testing by December 2006.
The post quotes from FAQs on the Indian Oil Corporation‘s website. The information is clear and unambiguous:
On one of three vertical stay plates (side stems) of the LPG cylinder, the date is coded alpha numerically as A or B or C or D and a two-digit number following this e.g. D06. The alphabets stand for quarters – A for Qtr. ending March (First Qtr), B – Qtr. ending June (Second Qtr), C-Qtr. ending Sept (Third Qtr), & D for Qtr. ending December (Fourth Qtr). The digits stand for the year when the cylinder is due for Statutory testing as explained above. Hence D06 would mean that the particular cylinder is to be taken for the next Statutory Testing by December 2006.
In any case, this is not the date of EXPIRY of PHYSICAL LIFE of the CYLINDER .
It is further clarified that, during service, every empty LPG cylinder when it comes from the Distributor to the Bottling Plant for filling, is checked for its condition including the marked date for Statutory Testing due. Cylinders due for testing are segregated and sent for testing.
Every cylinder after its filling with LPG is checked for correctness of its weight and soundness, before despatch to the Distributors. Every care is taken to ensure that cylinders which are safe for use are only sent to our Distributors for further distribution. It means if a customer gets a cylinder in June 2006 with marking as B06, it does not indicate that the physical life of the cylinder has expired. It only means that this cylinder is due for Statutory testing by end June 2006.
Pl. add your own favourite hoax emails here…via the comments section. Thanks.
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I agree that its a hoax mail, but still the information/message it conveys is important.
2 weeks back, in July, I received a cylinder from a gas agency which had date B-09 (mandatory testing was due by June 2009). I immediately called Bharat Gas HO (distributor didn’t care) and within 30-40 minutes they replaced the cylinder!
Similarly, my friend has got a cylinder with date as D-08 from the same distributor… there may be so many who are not aware of this ‘date’.