Refilling gas canisters?

parshal

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I refill the 16 oz propane canisters with a similar adapter from 20 lbs tanks. If you freeze the small canister and leave the big tank in the sun you can fill the canisters much closer to full. Otherwise, you get about 60% fill. I'd assume it's the same for these.

I've never seen this for butane, though. I'd think it would get expensive since I only see small isobutane refill containers.
 
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Mar 2, 2014
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I do this. I use the cheap butane cylinders, not as hot as the gas blend but it works fine. I freeze the backpack canister before filling, and weight the canister to know when its full. You can refill about 10+ times before the valve starts leaking.

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parshal

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I read where the straight butane might not work as well as the isobutane in cold temperatures. Have you seen that?
 
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I read where the straight butane might not work as well as the isobutane in cold temperatures. Have you seen that?
Isobutane works better in cold temps from what I understand.

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MIKEYB

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Aug 29, 2012
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The following articles are very helpful for the dangers of refilling and which gas blends are better for each season. I believe this topic was recently discussed on Rokslide and this website was referenced also.

It can be really dangerous refilling iso-butane tanks as they are thin walled, if the mixture is changed, IE too much propane and add temperature, kaboom!

Anyways if your attempting this the below are good reads.

Adventures In Stoving: The G-Works R1 Gas Saver – Refilling Backpacking Canisters II

Adventures In Stoving: What's the Best Brand of Gas for Cold Weather?
 
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Mar 2, 2014
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Yes, the straight butane is not as good in the cold. In use I have not noticed this, but dont doubt the science behind it. The straight butane adds just a little (seconds) on a burn time to get a boil. I have used it in temps from 20 to 90 degrees, from 100 to 8000 feet without any special techniques. I have read you can keep the canister in the sleeping bag or jacket to warm it up, but have not had to bother so far. If I was at an extreme elevation or it was very cold, I would likely just buy some prefilled canisters for those trips. I would hate to discover an issue while in the middle of a trip like that.

My main use for refilling is topping off, that way I always head in with a mostly filled canister and do not have all these partial cans to use up, saving weight and bulk.

I read about folks making their own gas mixes, but straight butane works, is cheap, and is safe and easy.



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Tbuckus

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Jun 4, 2016
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The following articles are very helpful for the dangers of refilling and which gas blends are better for each season. I believe this topic was recently discussed on Rokslide and this website was referenced also.

It can be really dangerous refilling iso-butane tanks as they are thin walled, if the mixture is changed, IE too much propane and add temperature, kaboom!

Anyways if your attempting this the below are good reads.

Adventures In Stoving: The G-Works R1 Gas Saver – Refilling Backpacking Canisters II

Adventures In Stoving: What's the Best Brand of Gas for Cold Weather?

Ditto

Adventures In Stoving: The G-Works R1 Gas Saver – Refilling Backpacking Canisters II
 
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