Will my LPG Stove work with Butane

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Claude_Marie

Absolutely, correct !
I forgot about this, LPG for cars available from petrol station sees its ratio of propane versus butane changing between summer and winter.
In winter time, there is more propane into the mix in order to avoid freezing.

Tahiti...are you sure you got "your" original cylinder back (and refilled), I would bet it was not yours, but another one refilled, hence the week delay for back and forth transportation.

Mine are pretty unusual cylinders being s/s and all STPV - Mariner LPG Cylinder
. May not have been a week but was a few days and had to be dropped off by a certain time/day.

Same deal in Chile and Argentina... due to the Oz/NZ/US fitting they had to go away to get filled... Antofagasta you could drive to the depot, drop off and pick up the next day, Pto Williams drop off and they would return to the boat that evening, BA ... take to the local hardware and get back two days later. Pto Montt was a bit difficult... had to send them to Orsorno.

You would see people decanting from a local bottle... scared the stuffing out of me

[Claude_Marie]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Mine are pretty unusual cylinders being s/s and all STPV - Mariner LPG Cylinder
. May not have been a week but was a few days and had to be dropped off by a certain time/day.

Same deal in Chile and Argentina... due to the Oz/NZ/US fitting they had to go away to get filled... Antofagasta you could drive to the depot, drop off and pick up the next day, Pto Williams drop off and they would return to the boat that evening, BA ... take to the local hardware and get back two days later. Pto Montt was a bit difficult... had to send them to Orsorno.

You would see people decanting from a local bottle... scared the stuffing out of me

Polynesian kindness and laid back attitude.
Lol !
You were extremely lucky that they accepted to refill cylinders from an "alien" origin.


I cannot guarantee it is the case in Nouvelle Calédonie.
It has been said already, and it is absolutely right ( I refrained from commenting in an (again) sarcastic and cynical way), New Caledonia is not Polynesia.
(see Topic, Fidji or not Fidji).


Check pix (text in French)
http://www.banik.org/pratique/LE%20GAZ.htm
Scary, isn't it !

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Claude_Marie

Polynesian kindness and laid back attitude.
Lol !
You were extremely lucky that they accepted to refill cylinders from an "alien" origin.


I cannot guarantee it is the case in Nouvelle Calédonie.
It has been said already, and it is absolutely right ( I refrained from commenting in an (again) sarcastic and cynical way), New Caledonia is not Polynesia.
(see Topic, Fidji or not Fidji).

Never ever having been to New Cal I bow before your superior local knowledge

[Claude_Marie]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Never ever having been to New Cal I bow before your superior local knowledge

No superior knowledge....
In some (many) places, locals are just interested in your m.o.n.e.y.
So the answer is (can be):
We do not do refills, you need to buy a cylinder + matching gaz pressure adjustor + pipe.

They just don't know and do not want to know about your cylinders.

It is a question of person (beyond regulations) depend on who you ask, and how you ask.

Therefore you find stories of yachties saying they had no difficulties having cylinders refilled in a specific place and others saying that it proved impossible in the same place.
It is really like tossing a coin, on a Monday, if shop attendant is nursing a massive hang over, the answer can be no, but on a wednesday it can be a yes.
On a Tuesday, you would have talked with the boss...etc...etc...
Same goes if you speak the local language (but you know that already), if you ask for something and people can understand without difficulties, you are more likely to get what you need.
If you ask in English, and if they cannot be bothered figuring out what is it you are saying, the answer is no.

[secrabtree]

Claude Marie - LPG stands for Liquid Petroleum Gas (Petroleum, not propane). At least here in the United States.

[Claude_Marie]

Originally Posted by secrabtree

Claude Marie - LPG stands for Liquid Petroleum Gas (Petroleum, not propane). At least here in the United States.

And elswhere too...

Thanks for correcting me.

[donradcliffe]

Best solution is to buy a hose which has your tank's connector on one end and the other end open. When you get to somewhere they can't fill your OZ/NZ/US tank, you borrow a full local tank and buy locally a fitting which goes from your hose (use a barbed fitting with a hose clamp) to their tank. Decanting is easy and safe, but is frowned on in some nanny states.

1. Empty your tank completely if it had propane in it (otherwise any residual propane will go the wrong way because propane is at a higher pressure than butane).

2. Mount their tank upside down (so that liquid LPG flows out) and higher than your tank.

3. Open both valves and wait. Things will go a lot faster if your wrap a wet towel around your tank and leave it in the shade while keeping their tank in the sun.

4. When your tank is full (can take less than a hour if you use the towel/sun method, or overnight if you don't), close the valves and disconnect the hose. You can tell how full it is by the weight of the tank.

5. There is a faster way to do it, by loosening the vent screw on your tank, and letting gas blow off as you fill-- when you see liquid blow off your tank is full. This is the way they do it at the servo, but it is more dangerous if there is an open flame nearby and is not necessary if you have the time.

[Djarraluda]

Unfortunately we do not normally have access to pure Propane or pure Butane, they are a mix of gasses. As stated above, LPG is Liquified Petroleum Gas and it is a by-product of the metro-chem industry. Every field gives a different mixture.
Yes, they are pretty much interchangeable and the calorific value is close enough, air needed, vapour pressure and combustion etc etc can get a tad technical, but as Claude_Marie stated, just adjust the setting slightly.
Watch-out for any mention of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) because this is Methane based (Coal Seam Gas) and is fundamentally different. Do not normally get that in cylinders though. That is the one needing different jets in the cooker. LNG is lighter than air, LPG is heavier than air.
Different countries have different standards for the threads and many folk end up with 2 or 3 different regulators so they can connect the cylinders from different countries.

[CarinaPDX]

The CE approval for marine stoves requires that the stove works over a range of regulator pressures and for propane, butane, or mixes. Stoves that do not have CE approval may have problems with butane, including many North American products. Older products from companies that are currently shipping CE products may not meet those standards and may have problems with butane. If there is no CE mark then I would contact the factory. That said, European-manufactured stoves have had to deal with a broad variety of fuel/pressure combinations and will likely be good. North American stoves have a rather poor history. (Melted burners look pretty strange but are anything but funny.)

If you insist on doing your own refill 1) be very careful, and 2) don't get caught. Oddly enough some harbormasters are not amused...

Greg

[monte]

We had our camping gaz cylinders filled in the BVIs with butane. They are normally propane.the stove worked fine but the regulator blew the pressure relief valve when I opened the valve. I think butane is normally filled to a higher pressure than propane. After the pressure was lowered it worked fine, so if using the same regulator, just have it filled to propane pressure levels

[Gundy]

Thanks everyone for the information, especially the reminder about safety. I will be talking with a Gas Fitter prior to leaving port.

[Claude_Marie]

Originally Posted by monte

We had our camping gaz cylinders filled in the BVIs with butane. They are normally propane.the stove worked fine but the regulator blew the pressure relief valve when I opened the valve. I think butane is normally filled to a higher pressure than propane. After the pressure was lowered it worked fine, so if using the same regulator, just have it filled to propane pressure levels

I do not know if it is an international standard ???

Butane regulator : 28mbar.
Propane regulator : 37mbar.

Never use a Propane regulator with Butane (and the other way round, of course).


@ Gundy : I do not know how old is your boat and gaz system, AFAIC anything older than 15 years old, I throw away (regulator), soft connecting pipes, I replace by new ones on a regular basis.
Does not cost very much.

[CarinaPDX]

37mbar is the European standard for propane delivery. In the US it is 30mbar. So don't use an American stove with a CE propane regulator if the stove doesn't have a CE rating, unless you like overheating the burners.

[Claude_Marie]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

37mbar is the European standard for propane delivery. In the US it is 30mbar. So don't use an American stove with a CE propane regulator if the stove doesn't have a CE rating, unless you like overheating the burners.

Thanks.
How about :

E.U gaz cylinder + 37 mbar Reg (matching) +Flex pipe+ short lenght of pipe, a few inches, (solid) with welded coupling E.U std - US std (dunno what thread in the US) + 30mbar Reg US -----> Cooker ?
Would that work ?

[conachair]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

37mbar is the European standard for propane delivery. In the US it is 30mbar. So don't use an American stove with a CE propane regulator if the stove doesn't have a CE rating, unless you like overheating the burners.

For ..
"Specification for the installation of LPG systems for habitation purposes in leisure accommodation vehicles and accommodation purposes in other vehicles.."

it's been 30mBar working with either butane or propane since 2004 in Europe.

BS EN 1949: 2011 + A1:2013