Refilling disposable camping gas canisters with BBQ gas - Is this a good idea or not? Should disposable mean
disposable ie Don't refill them??
I bought this refilling gadget of eBay from China, cost around $10 that allows you to refill a camping gas canister with straight propane
from your BBQ gas bottle. Not sure why the BIX ceramic burner's flame was jumping up a little bit every now and again as you can see?
I'll try it tomorrow and see if after some time has passed, that stops happening.
If you have any thoughts/suggestions after watching the video, I'd be happy to read them.....thanks!
https://youtu.be/2vn971lFoy8
The way I see it with things like this...if it works, then it works
Jim ... I haven't watched your video yet, but I can speak to your question without doing so.
The canister that you are refilling was made to contain a mixture of butane/propane at a given ratio. Straight propane requires a significantly higher confining pressure to be kept as a liquid, than does butane, or a butane/propane mix. However, that is only part of the issue, as a direct relation to the vapor pressure point at which the liquid in the can starts "boiling off" into a gas, is also related to the actual temperature that the liquid is being confined at in the can. The reason camp fuels have gone to adding a percentage of propane into their butane fuel canister, is that at temperatures near freezing butane no longer vaporizes, and so will stop feeding the flame in your lamp or stove. Propane operates, that is continues to vaporize, or boil off gas, to a much lower temperature, thus at any given temperature the propane is at a much higher pressure than is butane or a butane/propane mix.
Now here's where you can get into trouble with this. Propane canisters are typically built to a significantly greater strength than are butane and butane/propane mixed gas canisters, and for a good reason. They must be designed to safely contain the pressure of their contents in the hottest conditions that could reasonably be encountered, when the internal pressures will be the greatest, and propane is going to generate far greater pressures than the butane or a mixed fuel as the temperature rises. So you fill your mixed fuel canister with straight propane on a comfortable winters day, but leave that same canister in your automobile on a blistering summers day several months hence. That improper, under strength canister may just let go under such conditions, and then your car becomes a gas bomb. Not a pretty thought.
I believe it is my duty as a friend to point out this potentially serious problem, but I'll leave it to you to decide how you wish to proceed in this. For my money, I'd just use the proper gas in the proper canister and call it a day.
Now as disclaimer, I do refill my camping sized propane canisters from my 5 gallon tank, that I take to the gas station to refill. I do also use mixed butane/propane in a couple of my steam locomotives that have tanks that were originally intended for butane only. Problem with butane only in a small tank like my models have is that the absorption of heat by the liquid boiling off into gas inside the tank, rapidly cools the tank below where the pure liquid butane wants to vaporize, especially on cool winter days. By adding a little propane into the mix, typically 10-25%, it lowers the boiling point enough that gas still flows to the burner, even though frost may be forming on the outside of the tank, and being only a small admission of propane into the mix, it doesn't raise the tank pressure too significantly. I have checked with Accucraft on this, and they cautiously suggest that this is acceptable for the fuel tanks they put in their models, but also recommend only straight butane on really hot summer days when the fuel freezing problem doesn't exist anyway.
Hope this thumbnail of the issue is of help to you.
I'm told that propane burns hotter than butane, though butane releases more heat, and thus the two are considered about equal in heating ability; it therefore seems all right to replace the mixture with the single gas.
What I don't know is the pressure in the large tank as opposed to the smaller one. If the propane tank pressure is higher than what the little tank is designed to take, it might be dangerous to refill the little tank.
You've probably already considered this, but I thought I'd mention it; I may just learn something new.
Wow, Stoker, you got in ahead of me!
I have indeed learned something today: it's better to just buy the little cylinders of mixed gas.
Thanks for the replies from the forum brains trust.
I've emptied the refilled cans and tossed them,
Looking on Youtube, there's no shortage of people refilling these disposable primus camping type gas cans using the same method and lots of other different hacks to get them refilled, but better to be safe than sorry and I steam my engines with my Grandchildren.
I don't have any worries using BIX burners with straight propane (from a propane tank) I've run my largest BIX burner on my Stuart 504 boiler for hundreds of hours.
https://youtu.be/8m6oxdjX1aEThis is an easy way to use the cheap butane canisters and they work out at around $1 each here in Oz and I think the adaptor was around $8 on eBay. The shape of the can is the major hurdle as its not as convenient as the flat sitting primus can.
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I could've started up a local business -
https://youtu.be/ZTDEihoBxMY
When you get down in that position mate, I hope Jenn snaps a picture...cause I wanna see that 😂
Jim, there is a reason why propane cylinders have to be tested on a 10 yearly basis, due to the high pressure, a thin butane canister would never pass the test.
I would suggest that if you want to use propane then get a small propane bottle.
Butane is cheap enough from bunnings as is propane.
Please do not risk it mate.
Serious injury awaits just go and buy the proper canisters they are cheap enough.
Roy