Butane Cylinder in a hot sealed car?

Eager - It's VERY dangerous, and you don't need high temperatures. All gas appliances should be vented to the atmosphere. Just a slight leak in a sealed vehicle, and you'll blow your car up.
There's been several instances in recent years of tradies with gas bottles in vans, that have leaked overnight, and the vans blew up when the remote locking was activated and a spark ignited the gas. At least one bloke was killed as a result. The devastation from a small amount of gas exploding is nothing short of amazing. If you carry a gas bottle, ensure it is carried outside the vehicle or is vented to the atmosphere.

Cheers - Ron.

See

http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/wsinternet/worksafe/home/forms+and+publications/alerts/storing+gas+cylinders+in+vehicles

Nice knowing you....

Apart from the chance of an explosion there is also a good chance you will DIE inhaling the gas unknowingly, butane and LPG are heavier then air so if you do inhale it you can not get it out of your lungs.... this can build up over time as in a car journey.

It's called huffing when you do it on purpose and it's called unfortunate when you do it accidentally.

Ok thanks guys. You've answered my question. I'm surprised these gas stoves are so popular then.

Anyone got any suggestion of how I could cook on this trip?

Fried eggs on the bonnet?

Thanks :)

hieager 2
this best advice i can give you would be to buy a rooftop box and roof bars to mount it on to suit and carry your gas stove and butane gas cartridges in the RTB they are not sealed tight like a locked vehicle
i have a roof top box i use on my vw golf when i go camping for this reason and there have been no problems
i also lined my rtb with some insulation to reduce the heat factor but it depends on your budget -its up to you
cheers barry

E2COWD... is the gas stove you refer to one of the little aerosol ones?

If not, put a roof rack on the Subie to carry your gas bottle

I'm a little mystified by the responses above.
If I understand correctly, the canisters you are talking about are the aerosol butane cartridges used in any one of the dozens of brands of single burner stoves?

They are no different to any other aerosol can.They will be no more dangerous in your car than a can of aerogard or deodorant. Please note I used the term "no more dangerous", not "not dangerous at all". Any aerosol can leak or explode under the "right" conditions.

Do people suggest ALL aerosols should be carried in a roof rack?


They in no way present the same risks as a standard gas cylinder due to the use of self sealing valves. Ordinary gas cylinders use hand operated taps/valves that can be bumped and can and will leak. They should never be carried in an enclosed vehicle.

Kev

Keep out if direct sunlight and they will be fine. I had a deodorant can go off because it was sitting in direct sunlight.

I always have butane canisters in the 4by no issues

I may have missed it but I think a key point has been overlooked. Firstly the small butane cylinder stoves allow you to disconnect the butane cylinder when not in use. Even better is to spend a whole 10 seconds removing the cartridge from the stove before packing it away. The cylinders have a small cap to prevent accidental gas release so simply store appropriately, out of the sun and well insulated as I’m sure you’d be able to find ample locations in the vehicle to provide safe stowage.

I’ve carried and used them for years and find them invaluable and a lot easier and safer than carrying a large 4 to 9 kg gas cylinder and gas stove.

Cheers Mick

Um... i hate to mention this at this late stage (though answers above still informative, thanks!) but the stove is actually LP.

:s

There is absolutely NO PROBLEM with carrying flammable gas containers, whether refillable cylinders or throwaway canisters, inside a vehicle.............

......UNTIL you get a gas leak, which can and has occurred for any one of a number of reasons. And you have a better chance of getting a gas leak than you have of winning the lottery!

Yep, you have been doing it for years without incident. Been buying lottery tickets too without hitting the jackpot, haven't you? But gambling is such fun, especially with your loved ones.

Experienced?? Well, I have worked on LPG/LNG production and know the efforts we went to in avoiding the risks.

Hi Eager, aside from the LPG hazard aspect, halogen ovens typically consume 1300 Watts and with the inefficiency factor of an inverter you would be drawing some 120 Amps from your battery. So apart from the purchase cost of a 1500W inverter, you would need a good-sized battery and charging system.

Cooking with electricity is simply not a practical option for camping.

What about a Coleman Dual burner stove, set you back a couple of hundred dollars, works perfectly and uses unleaded fuel...

Enjoy your trip...

You could always get a Coleman Duel fuel stove as they are designed to get hot anyway.
Just carry the fuel outside the car.

Honky

No, don't carry butane gas cans inside your vehicle. It is just asking for trouble when it is so easy to carry them outside on the roof.
We have a Coleman dual fuel stove and it is great, better than LPG for cooking and you don't have to carry those big mother cylinders just 4 litres of ULP outside the car.
It is a little more fiddling to get set up but who cares. You are on holiday anyway.
The reason I won't carry LPG or butane inside is that I lost a young friend to a LPG explosion in his Hiace van in about 1994. It literally blew him to pieces and nearly killed his younger brother. It is too easy to put it outside!!
Ian

Yes I'm definitely talked out of carrying gas inside the car. I'd rather live on tins of tuna for 3 months. Though that might lead to mercury poisoning.. :)

Carrying petrol on the roof isn't too appealing to me. I've had so many costs I hadn't thought of already and although I do have a rails on the roof of the Subby (both ways) I don't have a rack and I'm guessing they are not cheap, not to mention another stove. Also, I'm thinking that would be costly on fuel economy over a 13,000 km trip?

Another suggestion I've been given was to get a separate battery, deep cycle/truck size and use the inverter off that (i've already got a 1500W/3000 modified sine wave one) , and recharge it when I stop at powered site/motel etc.

Is that a good/workable plan?

As well as cooking I was also hoping to recharge my laptop battery.

Thanks!!

I think from the responses here so far the answer is yes, no,yes, maybe, don't know, yes, should've, could've, would've, make up your own mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We spent 3 yrs on the road full time. We had a small single burner butane gas stove tucked away in one of our drawers with 3 spare cylinders wrapped up in a cloth beside it. It was our emergancy cooking back up. Never had a problem, if we did I wouldn't be here now!!...
People have suggested placing them on the roof instead. I don't see how that is any better. On a 30 degree day, go sit on your roof in direct sunlight. No thanks.
They sell thousands of these burner stoves every week and I have never heard of one going off. I have heard of gas cylinders for the car going off or acetylene bottles but never a small butane bottle.
Does anyone on here know 1st hand of one of these small bottles going bang??

Josh

Any thoughts on the separate deep cycle truck battery idea?

Your damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
I have travelled in the car for almost twenty years with one.(not any more) Yes it can explode, but so can the 60+litres of fuel your sitting on. Both rare, but when it happens it is known about real quick via the news.
Batteries in cars can explode if leaking and a spark is present.
We drive potential bombs

Generally accidents would occur from a fault in the product, or even something as simple as the valve not being turned off.


How many of you store bottles, jerry cans of fuel, etc in their shed? They can get hot. I would hate to be a fireman near a shed fire.

I had an aerosoll gas canister go boom once on my bike trailer, so even those are not fool proof

Common sence is required no matter what you do, and accept the consequences for each and every mishap.

Remember your the driver/owner of the vehicle, or appliance. The ultimate decision is yours, and the buck stops with you

SDG - The laddie asked about the risks involved in carrying butane stove canisters in a sealed car, and the largest number of contributors have advised it's an unsafe practice.

Not for nothing is butane recognised as a hazardous load, is listed under the Dangerous Goods Act, and has a UN Hazmat code (over 500ml containers).
It's not helped by the fact that many butane stoves are produced with poor QC in places such as China and South Korea. It's not helped again by the fact that the butane canister stoves require exceptional care in setting up and in use.

Gas leaks are usually only found when an explosion occurs, and the numbers of people seriously injured by these stoves and canisters world-wide, is enough for safety authorities to issue regular alerts.

Yes, petrol, batteries and LPG vehicles all pose risks, but these products and their delivery setups are all built to completely minimise risk to the user. Risk to users of butane cartridge stoves is far higher than any other fuel/power system.


Eager - As you have no way of storing gas canisters or bottles outside your car, and no method of storing them inside, in a vented compartment - if I were you, I'd be looking at using a simple kerosene stove.

The old pump-up kerosene stoves have been in use since WW1 and are a proven, reliable, and virtually trouble free, cooking/heating operation.
Small amounts of Lighting Kerosene are readily available in any hardware store, and can be safely stored in a sealed car. If the kerosene leaks, you can smell it, and kerosene leaks don't pose the high danger of a butane or LPG leak.

Have a look on eBay for "kerosene stoves", and examine the Swedish Optimus stove that is available for sale there. These are military stoves built to a high level of QC and are very effective. The only thing you need to take care with on these stoves, is keeping the fuel clean, and occasionally cleaning the nozzle with the pricker tool provided.

Cheers - Ron.

Looks as though Im off to get the Coleman dual fuel stove this morning. Im going to buy a good quality jerry can and carry a few litres of shellite inside the car, being careful to keep it out of the sun and opening the lid to release any pressure regularly.

Will also get a siphon hand pump thing in case i run out of white gas i can use ulp.

Sound ok?