Propane and Propane Accessories

[Uticon]

I made a rack for a small propane cylider to ride upright on my roof rack.
The plan was to have a long hose (12ft.) from the top cylinder to the stove below without having to remove the cylider.
First outing the stove would only put out very low or high flame on one burner of a two burner stove.
If we tryed both burners we would only get very low flame on both burners.

With this set up do i need a regulator at the tank to get both burners to work properly.
:chef:

 

[kerry]

Does your stove have a regulator in it or does it typically rely on a regulator attached to the 1lb bottle?

 

[Uticon]

Its got a small regulator at the hard line from what would usually be a 1lb bottle.
Im wondering if i need a regulator like you would find on a gas BBQ.

 

[dustboy]

Well, I don't sell propane or propane accessories, but how cold was it when you tried to use the thing? Prop. tanks are near useless below a certain temperature. I learned that back in my boy scout days when we went snow camping and everybody had to have a white-gas stove.

 

[Uticon]

Most of the time we used it the temp wasnt below 25 deg F.

 

[kerry]

Its got a small regulator at the hard line from what would usually be a 1lb bottle.
Im wondering if i need a regulator like you would find on a gas BBQ.

If you used a high pressure line from the large bottle on the roof to the small regulator on the hard line, it seems to me it should have worked. I don't think you need a regulator at the large bottle if you're using the one on the hard line.
25 degrees shouldn't be an issue for propane.

 

[mountainpete]

Most of the time we used it the temp wasnt below 25 deg F.

I remember reading that from 75 to 35 degrees F the pressure in a propane tank can drop by half. I'll have to search to find where I read that but I think it may have been an article on hot air balloon tanks.

From my experience though, once you are below freezing propane in small containers just isn't reliable. I still have aches in my right index finger from my first mistake with propane in the winter. I had a Coleman Lantern attached to a disposable bottle and the temp dropped overnight. It went to -45C. In the morning when it was about -10C I unscrewed the propane tank from the lantern - the valve was frozen open and sprayed propane all over my hand. Instant freeze. Very painful.

Pete

 

[kerry]

http://www.glacierbay.com/ptchartpropane.asp

Maybe the temperature was the issue. The pressure of propane is very close to zero at 25 degrees.
However, I am puzzled. How are homes capable of being heated with propane in the winter? Won't those huge outside tanks of propane also lose their pressure? I realize the propane in the lines inside the house will be warmer but what's pushing that propane into the house below 23 degrees?

 

[kerry]

http://www.glacierbay.com/ptchartpropane.asp

Temperature should not have been the issue. You still had around 47lbs of pressure at 25 degrees.

 

[kerry]

Please ignore Post #8. I misread the chart. I'd like to delete it but for some reason the edit function is not working for me.

 

[rusty_tlc]

If temp was not an issue what elevation were you at? The higher you get the less effective propane is.

Did the stove work correctly when you swapped in a 1# tank?

 

[kerry]

If temp was not an issue what elevation were you at? The higher you get the less effective propane is.

Can you elaborate, I don't understand. It seems to me that at higher altitudes, the pressure is lower so liquid propane would boil at a lower temperatures, producing higher pressure for the same temperature?
Since it's typically colder at higher altitudes, I can see where the cold at higher altitudes would effect the performance of propane negatively, but not the altitude by itself.

 

[Hilldweller]

I was told to always have my propane bottles upright; does that have something to do with it?

 

[kerry]

Yes, it certainly could. You want vapor flowing to the appliance and not liquid.

 

[njtaco]

OK, my somewhat educated guess is one of two things...

First, the Overflow Protection Device inside the tank was working as it should, after the rocking and rolling that was probably going on on the way to the campsite,

or Second, the tank was either overfilled or operating at an unnatural angle, causing liquid to pass into the line before the regulator, instead of vapor.

I believe the OP said the tank was stored (and presumably used) in an upright position...

Uticon, what size tank are you using?