Butane Tank Frozen

E

_Eddie_

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We have our butane tank for our cooker outside. I was thinking of changing to propane but was told propane is not safe to use indoors and shouldn't be used for indoor cooking. I was told to just pour a full boiling kettle over the tank and it'll start working again. I tried it once and it worked. Is it safe to be pouring a boiling kettle over the butane tank ? and is propane really not to be used for indoor cooking ?
 
Propane is perfectly safe for indoor cooking. It's used by hotels,restaurants etc if natural gas is not available.
I changed over from butane last January to patio gas which is propane, but in the really severe cold the regulator freezes. It's still better than the butane, though. Couple of minutes with a hairdryer sorts it out.
I rang Calor at the time and they said patio gas is fine for an indoor cooker.
We're only using it for a hob so it's not worth getting the big red cylinder.
 
Thanks Hoagy. I think I will switch to propane. Shouldn't be too hard to change the regulator.
 
OK, it's most likely not the regulator, and if it is, both the propane and butane regulators will freeze as it is just the diaphram that is freezing.

No, it's not safe to pour a kettle of boiling water over it, but possibly wrapping it with an old jacket may help

The real issue here is the nature of the gas, remember it is supplied as a liquid under moderate pressure, as we relieve the liquid boils to a gas, butane boiling pint is -2c, so when it's this cold the boiling action stops and no gas is produced.

Now the boiling point of propane is -42c so even in the harshest of weather we have seen it will still produce gas.

Butane is primarily a 'holiday' gas used for bbqs and summer pursuits, and maybe used indoors in the winter for such things as mobile space heaters, propane under current regulations is not allowed to be stored inside (and does not require it...so far!..brr)

So a changover for you sounds like the best move, do not attempt to do it yourself, get a qualified professional as appliance must be checked for compatibility (may need adjustment or replacement jets) and when the reg is changed and fittings have been made/remade a proper soundness test will be required to confirm there is no leaks!

I recently can across a diy cooker installed with a 'huge' leak under the appliance, how there wasn't an explosion is just shear luck, for the cost it's not worth it
 
DGOBS said:
OK, it's most likely not the regulator, and if it is, both the propane and butane regulators will freeze as it is just the diaphram that is freezing.

No, it's not safe to pour a kettle of boiling water over it, but possibly wrapping it with an old jacket may help

The real issue here is the nature of the gas, remember it is supplied as a liquid under moderate pressure, as we relieve the liquid boils to a gas, butane boiling pint is -2c, so when it's this cold the boiling action stops and no gas is produced.

Now the boiling point of propane is -42c so even in the harshest of weather we have seen it will still produce gas.

Butane is primarily a 'holiday' gas used for bbqs and summer pursuits, and maybe used indoors in the winter for such things as mobile space heaters, propane under current regulations is not allowed to be stored inside (and does not require it...so far!..brr)

So a changover for you sounds like the best move, do not attempt to do it yourself, get a qualified professional as appliance must be checked for compatibility (may need adjustment or replacement jets) and when the reg is changed and fittings have been made/remade a proper soundness test will be required to confirm there is no leaks!

I recently can across a diy cooker installed with a 'huge' leak under the appliance, how there wasn't an explosion is just shear luck, for the cost it's not worth it
Click to expand...

Good Post, well said
+1
 
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