Portable butane cookers withdrawn from sale in NSW

[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

Both are LPG which only means liquified petroleum gas. Propane is the third in the series with a chemical composition of C3H8 (after methane and ethane), butane is next with a composition of C4H10.

They both burn at similar temperatures but require different nozzles and jets because they operate at different vapour pressures so they are not interchangeable.

Propane has a lower boiling point (-40C ish) so it can be used in colder climates than butane (0C ish). At the same temperature Butane has a lower vapour pressure than Propane hence the lighter cylinders.

The same volume of Butane contains more energy than the same volume of Propane which is why it is ideally suited to situations like these suitcase burners and the little cylinders that we use hiking. Sometimes the Butane is mixed with Propane to be able to be used at low temperatures and still keep the lighter weight.

We use both the suitcase burners and butane cylinders when we go kayak/hiking/camping because of the light weight and small space. Be a bugger if the suitcase burners disappear completely.

Very interesting. 4WD mag a couple of years ago stated that propane burned hotter than butane and therefore more economical when camping but then buying smaller prefilled butane containers will cost you more than the bigger refillable propane bottles. I noticed in the UK caravan parks (my brother has a caravan in one, these are really big cabins) some people have the red coloured butane bottles and some have the more expensive yellow propane. These are much bigger than ours. According to him you can use either, same coupling connection. I explained to him that the propane is more expensive because it burns hotter therefore lasts longer. Seems I could be wrong on that.

Cheers Jim.

[rags Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rags]

So it's not about the pan size but about people not putting the can in properly? And still trying to operate it when the safety lever doesn't work? Seems like a lack of common sense still. If there's an issue with mine I'll just chuck em in the bin, they don't cost much.


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With anything in life there needs to be a bit of common sense, be it contraception ,driving cars or this case using a gas appliance. Unfortunately with these $cheap cookers they are flimsy at there best and probably should never of gained an AGA approval but they did. Like many products on the market the original models where ban from commercial/retail sale when it was realised that the product may have not been safe and eventually they are replaced with a new and improved model, eg of this could include fibro sheeting now required to be asbestos free or even the sale of cars that are now required to have ABS brakes and Traction control and airbags . Yes there will be new and improved models for replacement soon subject to gaining AGA approval.
The issue is not that challenged people can't put a canister into a cooker but rather it is all about the design. As an example I have one of my own cookers that I have kept as an example of how these cookers fail and leak gas no matter how you hold your tongue while placing the canister into the cooker, and I have 30 years experience in the gas [LPG] industry so have fair idea of what I am doing.
A leaking canister can be a silent threat until it does ignite and at which point then you will know about it, and also the expansion rate when it changes from its liquid state into a gaseous state is rather large so even in an open environment can present a danger.
I can only offer the advise that forget your old cooker and use the safe method of a low pressure appliance and if they become available get a the new improved cooker.

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SA has a list of cookers that are ok
http://www.sa.gov.au/topics/water-en...-cooker-safety

[rags Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rags]

SA has a list of cookers that are ok
http://www.sa.gov.au/topics/water-en...-cooker-safety

It is noted that some of the brands listed on the SA list as safe are also listed on the NSW FT list but each has a specific model no, so you do need to be careful.

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

Thanks for all the info Rags. Spoke the the wife and she agreed we should chuck em in the bin. Now I need to go shopping again at bcf, what a shame.

Also is MJ right in saying that Propane is not the same as regular lpg? I thought it was just the Yank name for it.
Reason I ask is that my Coleman hot water on demand says propane in the manual and the little cans it uses are propane, yet I can use a hose off a normal 9kg gas bottle?


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[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I didn't say that propane isn't regular LPG, I simply stated that both propane and butane are liquified petroleum gases. As for whether you can run bottled LPG in your heater check with the supplier or the manual. LPG that cars run is a mixture of propane and butane and shouldn't be used in any appliance despite what you may read on the Internet.

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

So it is the same? I'm not trying to use lpg from a car as funny as that sounds. And I would only trust the manual on something like that, not what's written on the Internet 😉
It's their own confusing terminology that's the issue for me. The HWoD says it runs on lpg, the can says propane and the hose kit says lpg.







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[Fred63 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fred63]

i think the terminology get messed up between U.S. and Australia.
in the US they call it Propane
We call it LPG

In the US they put Gas in their cars we use Petrol

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

For some reason I always thought Coleman were an Aussie company, I guess that means they're American.
Anyways, who has a two burner gas cooker?
Now that I need one I need to do some research.


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[Fred63 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fred63]

Confirmed
Coleman Company, Inc., is an American company that specializes in outdoor recreation products. Historically, Coleman is known for camping gear.

We have both the Butane ones which are so handy for day trips and short camps.
For longer camps we use a primus 2 burner LPG stove.
With the hot water system we use a 2 way adapter and run both odd the same bottle.

Fred

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

We used to cut a one inch cube of C4 explosive and burn that to boil the water in our cups canteen back in the old military days. There was a petrol powered burner for cooking with the 10 man ration packs and a petrol drip feeder burner for heating water in big galvanized rubbish bin type containers so the cooks and bottle washers had hot water. These were always exploding especially on lighting. And they say gas is dangerous? We never had the luxury of gas mainly due to the airforce not permitting gas bottles on planes.

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

Your setup sounds similar to ours then Fred. We had the butane cookers for short trips and a flash cooktop in the camper.


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[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

Went and had a bit of a squizz in BCF today. The two burner lpg cookers look pretty cheaply made just like the butane ones.
Whilst there I noticed a big pile of these cans on the floor even though all the cookers had been taken off the shelf.
Would the vent actually make a difference Russ?




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[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Thanks for all the info Rags. Spoke the the wife and she agreed we should chuck em in the bin. Now I need to go shopping again at bcf, what a shame.

Also is MJ right in saying that Propane is not the same as regular lpg? I thought it was just the Yank name for it.
Reason I ask is that my Coleman hot water on demand says propane in the manual and the little cans it uses are propane, yet I can use a hose off a normal 9kg gas bottle?


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Gas bottles are filled with propane only.
Therefore it's ok to use a gas bottle to run the coleman hot water.
I think it's safer to use the screw on propane cylinder & they do last a long time.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

What's wrong with a bucket of water heated over a nice camp fire?