Gas cartridges ... how cold is cold.

Simple solution is to rotate a couple of cartridges. Keep one near the cooker whilst cooking with the other, and if it starts to flicker then swap the cartridges over.

I think truckster keeps one in his undies overnight so he can make a cuppa in the the morning.....or was that his sleeping bag?

Leroy

Hi Loughma

You can expect a problem , if you are referring to those cheap 220g cylinders and a bigger problem if using them in one of those $20 stoves that you see everywhere.

Butane freezes just below zero and it has to vaporize to make gas.

At 5 degreesc there is little temp difference to make much gas.

The more full the can is the easier it is to get more gas as less volumne and more liquid inside the can.

A partial solution is to check and make sure you buy the ones marked 80% butane and 20% propane - usually same price at say bunnings.

Propane freezes much lower and hence vaporizes more easily.

Haven't seen'em in stock lately but Kovea make a 30% propane /70% butane.

This is a better mix again and is quite common in other size cans.

So once you have gas right , you move on to issue 2, which is that the liquid gas turning to gas gas generates cold and freezes the can particularly around were the gas comes out.
This of course stuffs things up even worse, and is the reason why those stoves often start off ok and the flame dies after a few minutes.

A test I did beteewn a $20 stove and a small free standing type using the same 80/20 mix , revealed that cheap one would operate for around 5 minutes compared to 20minutes for the other type.

The suggestion to keep you gas cannister warm works for a short time in those $20 stoves but as the cannister is enclosed the freezing effect reduces there performance quickly.

Some keep there gas cannister inside there sleeping bags to keep them warm , however further research has revealed that this is not compatiable with female company.

Robin Miller

'however further research has revealed that this is not compatiable with female company'

lol

Leroy

Thanks for your comments,

Now know why a friends very expensive instant hot water system would not work at Stanthorpe during the weekend. 0c and -4c in the mornings.

The billy on the fire worked well.

Redeye

Go low pressure gas stove - Coleman - with cylinder gas. More expensive to purchase the stove ($120) but has two burners and works well at least down to minus 5 C in my experience. Also a lot cheaper on gas in the long run.

Mike Harding

We had this problem travelling inland WA and found that as silly as it sounds wrapping a single canaster in a towel and popping it at the bottom of the sleeping bag overnight worked perfectly! You only need to be able to boil a billy in the morning to get going. Within a few hours its warmed up and your normal gas stoves will work.

Quite true. Have had a few issues on cold mornings. One big problem is as the gas expands the container cools. Just makes the problem worse. We just got a Colman duel fuel single burner stove I think it was $60 on sale. Also useful when you run out of gas canisters.

Steve