Which propane camping fire

[Ace Brown]

Got my CFIAC yesterday. First impression is high quality. Great instruction manual with good color photos, very detailed and full trouble shooting section. It was very well packed and lots of labeling.

I have one concern though. It says to use 20# tank or larger, but does not say that a 11# tank won't work. I carry the 11# tank normally and don't really have room for the 20# unit. Has anyone tested the CFIAC with an 11# tank. I'm not asking about burn time, just performance, or lack of.


2008 FJ Cruiser expedition ready and off-road trailer with RTT.

 

[ab1985]

I use a 5 lb tank with no problems. I think Corey uses an 11 lb. I don't see why it would matter.

 

[Ace Brown]

The owners manual states that if you have low flame height it may be caused by regulator freezing due to using too small of a tank. They recommend 20# or larger. If you have not had issues with a 5# then I'd expect none with 11#.


2008 FJ Cruiser expedition ready and off-road trailer with RTT.

 

[ab1985]

Yeah, no worries on tank size. Check out my post earlier in this thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/75182-Which-propane-camping-fire?p=1091615#post1091615

Not sure why the flame is invisible in this shot, but another plug for CFIAC - it's perfect when you can't haul wood in:

 

[Ace Brown]

Just saw that there is a new propane fire in the mix: Big Red Propane Campfire, Little Red's big brother. Says it puts out 65,000 BTUs and lists at $264.


2008 FJ Cruiser expedition ready and off-road trailer with RTT.

 

[expedition4x4]

and its 134.66 on amazon was thinking of trying it

 

[Ace Brown]

and its 134.66 on amazon was thinking of trying it

Nice discount but my experience with Little Red was not good. See earlier post.



2008 FJ Cruiser expedition ready and off-road trailer with RTT.

 

[expedition4x4]

yeah that has stopped me so far I guess I should just get a CIAC

 

[Honu]

No doubt cfiac is a nicer unit
Kinda sounds like ya had a bum unit from the start !
Good thing ya got a return
Will have to keep a better eye on my little red
Can say not a fan of the logs kinda pain

Paid a lot of attention to this thread before choosing the Little Red Campfire because it was smaller and cheaper. Now after 13 months of use I returned it because I felt it was unsafe. From the start I had trouble with the regulator not feeding gas at times. The last few months it started blowing fire out of the air intake valve. I could twist the regulator on high and that flame would go out. Down in Baja last month it go so bad I was afraid it would melt the supply hose and stopped using it. It was cleaned after each use but still would shoot flame out the bottom. Sportsman's Warehouse was gracious enough to give me a full credit even though it was way past the return period of 30 days.

Now I guess I will look again at a CFIAC.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ace Brown]

No doubt cfiac is a nicer unit
Kinda sounds like ya had a bum unit from the start !
Good thing ya got a return
Will have to keep a better eye on my little red
Can say not a fan of the logs kinda pain

No, actually I was very satisfied at first. The problem slowly got worse until it became dangerous. The logs are a pita and break too easy. The CFIAC logs are all one piece.


2008 FJ Cruiser expedition ready and off-road trailer with RTT.

 

[Honu]

yeah did not mean you were not satisfied did not mean that at all more you said you had issues from the get go with the regulator not feeding gas ? more what I meant

 

[Ace Brown]

yeah did not mean you were not satisfied did not mean that at all more you said you had issues from the get go with the regulator not feeding gas ? more what I meant

Yep, actually forgot I posted that. Not sure if it was Red's fault or the way I carried the tank. I had one of the tall 11# tanks I transported on its side. I was told by a propane dealer that can cause the tank to freeze, even damage the valve. But after I started carrying it upright I still had trouble with gas feed, sometimes taking up to 30' to get a fire going.


2008 FJ Cruiser expedition ready and off-road trailer with RTT.

 

[SIZZLE]

After reading this thread, I'm ordering a Campfire in a Can. I like the idea of a hard case and being able to get it up higher off the ground. This will be great on my trip to the White Rim in a few weeks and for a summer of fire bans in CA. Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[expedition4x4]

Will have mine on white rim tomorrow

 

[pugslyyy]

I wonder if the little red campfires have changed? I got mine in 2013 for $111 and it had a one piece molded ceramic 'log' assembly (which is easier to protect in transport). It's not the most amazing camping accessory I ever owned, but for the price paid does a perfectly acceptable job and I have seen no issues with it.

I added an extension on to the hose and connect it to a quick fitting on my camper, so I don't use the regulator that it came with.

It may just be a case of me not knowing what I'm missing, but I'm pretty content with the unit I have for when open fires are off limits.