Obtaining lpg in cold conditions

When I had my LPG powered car I did find a couple of times that when the weather was very cold the LPG didn't come out of the pump as fast so it took longer to fill - make sure you're wearing gloves to hold the button in or your thumb gets very cold. :confused:
 
Today I filled a couple of safe fill bottles with lpg to run a space heater inside a unit. As soon as I connected them and started using them they froze and stopped putting any pressure out even froze at the regulator. These bottles are made of what looks like a mixture of fibreglass and plastic. Don’t think they would be any good for full time living in a motorhome.
 
Wully said:
Today I filled a couple of safe fill bottles with lpg to run a space heater inside a unit. As soon as I connected them and started using them they froze and stopped putting any pressure out even froze at the regulator. These bottles are made of what looks like a mixture of fibreglass and plastic. Don’t think they would be any good for full time living in a motorhome.
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Interesting. I read that the heat lost in boiling the liquid has to be replaced from outside to stop the liquid falling below it’s boiling point. The article was extolling the virtues of aluminium cylinders over steel ones in cold conditions because it has a better conductivity. I guess fibreglass and plastic are far from good conductors making the heat exchange too slow, particularly for fuel hungry devices.
 
I have seen propane metal bottles do something similar but not as fast and not to the extent you can’t use them. I turned them off right away it just felt dangerous the space heater actually started a type of spluttering and making a weird noise like a doodle bug.
 
Yup.... That's why using insulated bottle covers/compartments compounds the, issues with turning Liquid into vapour....

Electrical bottle warmers are available for low temp applications (safer than using a, blow torch to warm bottles up....

Disclaimer....
Don't use blow torches to warm bottles up....
Not good on composite bottles
And steel/aluminium bottles usually have heat reactive paint so you will upset the bottle owners.
 
Wully said:
Filled up on Friday the only problem I could see it was 89p a litre.
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Ouch! It's still 65.9p at the Shell garage near my son's house :unsure:

Regards,
Del
 
Not only is it not a problem to fill when it is cold, but it's the best time to buy it. LPG is sold by volume, but its calorific value is in its mass. It expands a lot with increasing temperature, so the colder it is when you buy it, the more you get for your money
 
Caz said:
When I had my LPG powered car I did find a couple of times that when the weather was very cold the LPG didn't come out of the pump as fast so it took longer to fill - make sure you're wearing gloves to hold the button in or your thumb gets very cold. :confused:
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And if you drop your trousers your bum gets very cold.....Or so I am told !
 
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