propane v butane (1 Viewer)

gail

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May 27, 2010
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Sorry fairly new to mhoming. When we picked our mh up back in July this year it was equipped with 2 x butane gas bottles, however after telling my brother we are going away for a few days twixmas he strongly suggested we make sure we take a propane bottle with us as well, as the butane may well freeze. 1st question is are the existing connectors for butane easily adjustable to propane? 2nd question can we just convert to propane for all gas appliances in the mh? The mh is an autoroller 600 if that makes a difference.

Hoping someone can advise
 

MisterED

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Blue and Red

Hi Gail,
Blue has frozen on me last winter:Eeek:
Rather cold.

Need a tail to fit the other red bottle as the connections are different.
Easy to get at most good MH Caravan outlets.

Red will be ok on all appliences, I actually think it burns cleaner.

Enjoy::bigsmile:

Terry
 
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bigmillie

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Hi Gale

Terry is correct Butane
stays in liquid form and will not produce gas below about 0 degrees

Charlie

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Apr 27, 2008
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Apart from changing the bottle adaptor (pigtail or regulator whichever you have) all your appliances should be absolutely fine. Calor will exchange butane cylinders for propane of the same size and vice versa. The majority of people only use propane all the year round.
 
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pablomc

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Propane is red yes.

You will need to change the tail to use (hose that connects the bottle to the regulator).

You may already have a tail supplied with your MH. I know mine came with both.

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MisterED

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OOOPS:Blush:

My mistake yes the red is the Propane bottle, just got used to calling it red and Blue.

Now do not use Red or Blue as I have gone to Yellow:Cool:

Gaslow refil units, now these are great.

Take Care
Terry
 
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chatter

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We use propane all year round, cant be doing with faffing around changing to one from the other for summer/winter use, everything works just fine on the propane (red) especially when jack frost is around.

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Feb 4, 2010
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Terry is correct Butane
stays in liquid form and will not produce gas below about 0 degrees

As I discovered a few weeks ago in Cornwall. Woke up to find water outside freezing, temperature in gas locker hovering close to zero. Campingaz bottle is butane - I got a couple of minutes of decent flame from the hob and then the flame dropped away. Tried again 10 minutes later - little flame.

An hour later....everything warmed up....back to normal.
 
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sedge

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Is propane still quite a bit cheaper than Calor, I know it used to be when we were tenting and caravanning, but we also have Gaslow on M/H, so haven't priced bottled gas up recently!
 
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madbluemad

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Dont get confused as I did Sedge. Calor is a Manufacturers Brand Name and not the name of a gas.

Calor can provide Propane or Butane and many other gasses a well.

Jim
:Smile:
 
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rainbow chasers

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Butane is cleaner burning, and is more suitable for higher temperatures. It is widely usedin the UK as we have a 'variable' climate, and as it burns cleaner and not as hot as propane, it causes less appliance breakdowns. It is more stable at higher temperatures.

Its' downside is, that is stops boiling at -2, and starts for fail at 0 degrees.

Propane on the other hand is more suitable for colder climates, and will continue to boil to somewhere around -26. It does burn hotter and 'dirtier' than butane causing some appliances to suffer with blocked jets, or sooting. Check with the manufactuer of certain appliances, as some will require re-jetting, or adjustment to run on propane.

So in short - butane, clean and capable in moderate/warm climate.

Propane better for colder climates, but may require more maintenance.:thumb:

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oldun

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Hi Gail,
Blue has frozen on me last winter:Eeek:
Rather cold.


Terry

Where were you? You must have been on somewhere like Pluto to have the gas freeze.

Butane (Calor Blue) stops gassing off around 6 Celsius and so is of no use below that temperature.

Propane (Calor Red) stops gassing off around -40 Celsius so is much better in colder weather. I do not know the temperatures at which the gasses will freeze but it's extremely low.

However it's very very very unlikely that you will ever either gas to freeze.
 
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marymary

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hi - am planning to switch to propane too as I'm away over NY, my camper uses butane at the moment and the hose is bllack - is this hose ok for propane too or do I need to replace it?? Don't panic - I was going to check before when I get the gas but thought I'd check here first.....might not feel quite so doh.......:RollEyes:

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scotjimland

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hi - am planning to switch to propane too as I'm away over NY, my camper uses butane at the moment and the hose is bllack - is this hose ok for propane too or do I need to replace it?? Don't panic - I was going to check before when I get the gas but thought I'd check here first.....might not feel quite so doh.......:RollEyes:

Hose is the same for both, but check the date on the hose as they should be replaced periodically.

IMO it's worth replacing when you buy the propane regulator as it's only a few pounds extra.
 
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Squire

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Where were you? You must have been on somewhere like Pluto to have the gas freeze.

Butane (Calor Blue) stops gassing off around 6 Celsius and so is of no use below that temperature.

Propane (Calor Red) stops gassing off around -40 Celsius so is much better in colder weather. I do not know the temperatures at which the gasses will freeze but it's extremely low.

However it's very very very unlikely that you will ever either gas to freeze.


MisterEd didn't mean that his gas literally froze! Having your gas 'freeze up' is a commonly used expression to mean that it has stopped 'boiling off' and is in an inert condition i.e. it has 'frozen' and is not moving.

We knew what you meant MisterEd :winky:

Incidentally, I'm surprised that no one's mentioned the difference in gas bottle pressures between propane (red) and butane (blue). Propane is stored under much greater pressure than butane and is therefore more susceptible to gas leaks BETWEEN THE BOTTLE AND THE REGULATOR. Once the gas has been through the regulator the pressure is reduced, of course, to much the same as butane, so once it's INSIDE the van it's no more dangerous than butane. That is why the red regulator has threaded connections (that can be tightened securely by means of a spanner) as opposed to a quick release 'snap-on' connector. Thus butane (blue) is more convenient to service than is propane (red). This higher pressure makes propane intermittently more dangerous than butane. For this reason I understand that that it is illegal to use propane indoors in, say, heating appliances such as Super Ser (I think that's how they spell it) mobile heating cabinets.

I've always understood that the calorific values are the same so I'm not convinced that there is any difference in 'hotness' - nor have I heard that one is 'dirtier' than the other. I've had extensive experience of both and have not noticed any difference other than butane 'freezing' (sorry Oldun :winky:) just when you need it most - and this is very much higher than when your outside temp gauge records zero because of the automatic refrigerative action that comes about when the liquid butane boils off to become a gas. That's why on a cold day you can see a ring of frost form on the outside of the bottle marking the level of the liquid inside.

Sorry about the physics lesson :RollEyes:

PS Pluto? What's Walt Disney got to do with it, Oldun? :Cool:
 
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Squire

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Where were you? You must have been on somewhere like Pluto to have the gas freeze.

Butane (Calor Blue) stops gassing off around 6 Celsius and so is of no use below that temperature.

Propane (Calor Red) stops gassing off around -40 Celsius so is much better in colder weather. I do not know the temperatures at which the gasses will freeze but it's extremely low.

However it's very very very unlikely that you will ever either gas to freeze.

MisterEd didn't mean that his gas literally froze! Having your gas 'freeze up' is a commonly used expression to mean that it has stopped 'boiling off' and is in an inert condition i.e. it has 'frozen' and is not moving.

We knew what you meant MisterEd :winky:

Incidentally, I'm surprised that no one's mentioned the difference in gas bottle pressures between propane (red) and butane (blue). Propane is stored under much greater pressure than butane and is therefore more susceptible to gas leaks BETWEEN THE BOTTLE AND THE REGULATOR. Once the gas has been through the regulator the pressure is reduced, of course, to much the same as butane, so once it's INSIDE the van it's no more dangerous than butane. That is why the red regulator has threaded connections (that can be tightened securely by means of a spanner) as opposed to a quick release 'snap-on' connector. Thus butane (blue) is more convenient to service than is propane (red). This higher pressure makes propane intermittently more dangerous than butane. For this reason I understand that that it is illegal to use propane indoors in, say, heating appliances such as Super Ser (I think that's how they spell it) mobile heating cabinets.

I've always understood that the calorific values are the same so I'm not convinced that there is any difference in 'hotness' - nor have I heard that one is 'dirtier' than the other. I've had extensive experience of both and have not noticed any difference other than butane 'freezing' (sorry Oldun :winky:) just when you need it most - and this is very much higher than when your outside temp gauge records zero because of the automatic refrigerative action that comes about when the liquid butane boils off to become a gas. That's why on a cold day you can see a ring of frost form on the outside of the bottle marking the level of the liquid inside.

Sorry about the physics lesson :RollEyes:

PS Pluto? What's Walt Disney got to do with it, Oldun? :Cool:



For 'intermittently read 'inheritently

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jhorsf

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calorific values ARE different butane being higher



but this is not the whole picture as the amounts of gas a volume of the liquids make is also different
 
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cookingfat

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Years ago when I was a keen tugger I've have butane freeze on a number of occasions. Just change to propane much simpler, once it's done its done no more trouble. I thing it burns hotter as well.
 
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Feb 4, 2010
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I've had extensive experience of both and have not noticed any difference other than butane 'freezing' (sorry Oldun :winky:) just when you need it most - and this is very much higher than when your outside temp gauge records zero because of the automatic refrigerative action that comes about when the liquid butane boils off to become a gas.

Happened to me last night and again this morning. Temperature inside the van wasn't close to zero but it was a starry night outside and the gas locker was cold. I could just about boil the kettle before the flames started dropping away. A few hours later it was fine.

I should have taken the jacket off the Campingaz bottle as well, because I think it makes things worse (stops the bottle absorbing heat from its surroundings?).

That's why on a cold day you can see a ring of frost form on the outside of the bottle marking the level of the liquid inside.
Hey...I've learnt something today...will have to test that out. At the moment I just weigh the bottle every so often. Thanks :thumb:

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oldun

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Hi Gail,
Blue has frozen on me last winter:Eeek:
Rather cold.

Need a tail to fit the other red bottle as the connections are different.
Easy to get at most good MH Caravan outlets.

Red will be ok on all appliences, I actually think it burns cleaner.

Enjoy::bigsmile:

Terry

Blue certainly did NOT freeze on you last winter. The freezing point is unbelievably low.

What happens is that at around 6 Celsius Butane will stop gassing off (evapoarting) making it effectively useless.

Propane stops gasing off somewhere around -30 Celsius and so is much better in this respect.

Insulating a bottle will not necessarily help as the gas in the bottled is cooled as it evaporates (refrigeration!)
 
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