What are cow magnets? For years vets and farmers have had cows swallow large super strong magnets to attract stray pieces of ingested metal to prevent injury to the animal’s gut. Liquid Controls (LC) has creatively used this same concept to help keep the meter strainer clean! Liquid propane may include fine rouge, rust and other contaminants picked up through the distribution chain, from the refinery to the bulk transport truck. Another source of contamination is rust following hydrostatic testing. In order to better protect the measuring chamber, several years ago LC changed from a 100-mesh basket strainer to a more effective 200-mesh basket strainer. Customers have been complaining, however, that the strainers are doing the job too well and are becoming plugged after a relatively short time in service. To help alleviate the problem of premature strainer plugging, LC has added a cylindrical magnet an magnet holder to their meters. Lin’s has been adding these same type of magnets to each new cargo tank for the past several years to help trap metallic debris before it gets further into the piping system. The magnet used by LC is about 1/ 2” in diameter and approximately 3” in length. With meters using the magnet, it should be removed and cleaned during normal strainer cleaning. It is important when replacing the magnet in the strainer basket that it is properly seated in the holder and not allowed to fall into the strainer housing. The magnet and holder are available as retrofit items, Part Number 09387 and Part Number 501401, respectively.