Propane Gas Cylinder not fully emptying

[Tirisdeach]

Relatively new to this malarky, so please excuse this basic question.

Our fridge warning system indicates that there is no gas yet when I change the cylinder over and give the 'empty' cylinder a 'shoogle' it seems far from empty. This is the second time I have changed a cylinder and there is still gas in the one being replaced.

Any ideas folks?

 

[Duck Truck]

Hi Tiris
A few things come to mind.
1)What gas are you using Butane/propane
2)Where are you or was you when this happened.
3)Are you using Calor bottles or refillables?

 

[2bob]

seen a post the other day about this same think
the person said what you have just done
jus give it a good shake

 

[WillH]

Weight the bottle, the empty weight is stamped in the collar.

 

[pappajohn]

Theres a slim chance it could be a faulty regulator.
The pressure in a propane (red) cylinder (around 320 psi from memory) is pretty constant until empty so if everything was working ok it would run out before it stopped vapourising.
If the reg isnt letting gas in, it cant come out at 50mb

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[OldAgeTravellers]

If it is Propane then there is a problem with your regulator or system. If you actually have Butane then it is just too cold. Wait for the sun to come out open the gas locker with it pointing to the sun and you should have plenty of gas till it gets cold again. if you are on a site soak a towel in hot water and wrap it round the cylinder to evaporate the gas.
Good luck.
Steve.

 

[Stealaway]

Is it Butane (Blue)? They freeze up at low temperatures. You may need Propane (Red) in Inverness at this time of year.

 

[Tirisdeach]

Hi Tiris
A few things come to mind.
1)What gas are you using Butane/propane
2)Where are you or was you when this happened.
3)Are you using Calor bottles or refillables?

Thanks Kev, using Calor propane bottles. This is happening when we are wild camping.

 

[Tirisdeach]

Is it Butane (Blue)? They freeze up at low temperatures. You may need Propane (Red) in Inverness at this time of year.

Thanks Alex. Using propane as we are in the 'far north' lol!

 

[Duck Truck]

Hi Tir
If it's propane there should be no problem
even in the North.
I would give it a good shake use as much as possible and swap the cylinder asap

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[Duck Truck]

If it happens again
maybe your regulator is sticking or clogged

propane should be good down to very low temps

 

[Bart]

Does the gas in your oven /grill also stop ? if not then its something wrong with the fridge , it no gas at oven then as others have said check your regulator.

 

[Bluemooner]

Do you have the bottle open fully (its only a guess)

 

[andy63]

As has been said you really need to weigh the cylinder to check what is left.. and consider at what temperature this is happening at.. although propane vaporises at low temp the quantity of gas available is reduced.. so are you running other devices that may be putting an excessive demand on the regulator at that temperature. .. hard to say but here's a good link to the use of propane and the system requirements. .
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...ZbFigKR82ooKSDSfQ&sig2=VzBfM1xvsomo8_TQrjwQHg
Hope it works..
Andy

 

[Sidney]

excess-flow valve?

I don't know if Calor use these on their smaller gas bottles or not.

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[Minxy]

It depends what you mean by "seems far from empty" - there will always be some liquid gas left in the bottles when they stop gassing, this is one of the annoying things with exchange cylinders as you in effect end up paying for some gas that you can't use! Despite propane being the best gas to use in cold weather it will still slow down and won't gas so well in lower temperatures.

 

[Duck Truck]

if we get low I put the depleted cyclinder in our bed on sues side
She warms it up then it's good to get another hour out of it

 

[PeteH]

Possible regulator Issue, There was also an issue with the "wrong kind" of rubber in the hoses a few years back, which caused regulators to block and generally misbehave, but they would be few and far between now. Worth checking if yours is an older unit?.

 

[Tirisdeach]

Thanks everyone for your responses. What a great forum! I have given the cylinder a shake and everything is working at present. Ours is a new van with only 1,000 miles on the clock so I would hope there is nothing wrong with the kit (perhaps a tad naive!). We are due to have a couple of nights off grid so time will tell.

 

[PeteH]

New kit should be OK? but then it has been known, depends on Quality Control in the final analysis. Just a point, I have an industrial type gas heater which when it runs out (stops working) will still have a small amount of gas left if you vent the cylinder. I suspect there is a level at which combustion cannot be sustained?. (air gas ratio is wrong)

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[Ivory55]

Could this be a reason to have a generator ? You could run the generator plug your hair dryer in and use it to warm up the gas bottle. Haha.

 

[Minxy]

... or a small camping stove so that you can boil a kettle, fill a hot water bottle, and put that next to the cylinder to warm it up ... much cheaper and you can also cuddle the hw bottle yourself to keep warm which isn't easy to do with a generator!