cooking gear off automotive lpg

Post by **rockcrawler31** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:23 am

hey guys

all this talk of running a diesel off LPG has me thinking. If you had gas in your vehicle, could you run a second feed line off the tank with a low pressure regulator and run your cooktop/barbeque/coleman off it?

Post by **MYTTUF** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:44 am

Post by **rlaxton** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:22 am

Only if it were genuine LPG. You are not supposed to run cooking gear from AutoLPG according to the manufacturers.

Richard.

Post by **pcman** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:37 am

ive refilled my bbq gas bottle with lpg works fine whenever ive used it cant see why you couldnt use the standard car lpg tank with a cutoff switch and regulator apart from legalitys

Post by **Mytqik** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:37 am

If you read the warning sticker on the LPG bowser, you will notice that there is a warning not to use AutoLPG in domestic appliances. It even states that there is a $5000 fine if you get caught.

Don't know how or why, but I wouldn't risk it. It also limits you to cooking within a hose length of your vehicle. Bit of a bugger at camp sites where the vehicles are not allowed next to the campsite.

Post by **eddie** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:37 am

well here in NZ what u use in your car is the same as what u use in your cooker.(service sations fill both car and home gas bottles)
so i dont see a prob with using it to cook with

Post by **mickyd555** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:49 am

eddie wrote:well here in NZ what u use in your car is the same as what u use in your cooker.(service sations fill both car and home gas bottles)
so i dont see a prob with using it to cook with

thats cause in NZ you use poor quality gas for both.....we have only high grade top quality gear for cooking with..... :finger:

Post by **-Scott-** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:00 pm

A few years back a mate of mine made an adaptor to fill his BBQ gas bottle from the LPG tank on his car. Seemed to work OK...

Post by **Charlie** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:54 pm

When I brought my LPG gas heater at a good price I sent it to AGL for coversion to run on natural gas so there is some slight difference.
Regards Charlie

Mytqik wrote:If you read the warning sticker on the LPG bowser, you will notice that there is a warning not to use AutoLPG in domestic appliances. It even states that there is a $5000 fine if you get caught.

Don't know how or why, but I wouldn't risk it. It also limits you to cooking within a hose length of your vehicle. Bit of a bugger at camp sites where the vehicles are not allowed next to the campsite.

Post by **beretta** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 1:02 pm

A few years back we had an Acco horse truck which was a V8 on gas, we rigged up an extra line off the gas tank, with an on/off valve and regulator and it fed a gas hotwater service for the shower and the cook top and gas/elec fridge, it worked fantastic for many years and we sold it with it still in tact and wasn't picked up on the roadworthy or anything. I have seen the warnings and it is supposed to be illegal now, but it worked great and saved having to carry another gas bottle around!

Post by **Utemad** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 3:10 pm

I was told that in the major towns and cities the gas is different. As the bbq is better quality. However in the country areas they only send out one truck so they use bbq type gas in cars as well.

You would think that if they have big fines etc for using automotive LPG in a bbq then there must be something different that is probably bad for your health. Otherwise I would think there would be commercial options available for this modification as I'm sure it would be well recieved by the public.

Makes sense to me.

Post by **Emo** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:19 pm

Basically the stuff that you run your car on is different to BBQ gas. LPG is made up of mainly propane and butane. BBQ gas is generally just propane. The smell in both gases is added so you can tell if you have a leak as both propane and butane have no smell.

Australian Institute of Petroleum

Bottled gas is used for domestic purposes (cooking and heating) and consists solely of propane while automotive LPG usually consists of a mixture of propane and butane. For safety reasons, automotive LPG cannot be used for domestic purposes.

Post by **Charlie** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:39 pm

Could be a problem down the Snowy Mountains when you accumulate more and more butane (0.5 degreeC boiling point ) in your tank and find yourself going nowhere till you get a warm day

Regards
Charlie

Post by **eddie** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:00 pm

thats cause in NZ you use poor quality gas for both.....we have only high grade top quality gear for cooking with..... :finger:

[/quote]

we have auto lpg that u can use for both or u can get propane for cooking if u want,
but easer just to go to the s/s to get ya bottle filed

Post by **jtraf** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:17 pm

Straight Propane has a higher octane than the propane/butane mix they sell us for cars....

You can use the gas in your bbq cylinder but you wont get ask many kays per sausage....

If they sold you a straight propane mix for your car it would go harder and get more kays out of each tank......

There are a few places in Melbourne that sell straight propane for cars at a couple cents a litre more and it is worth it if you are around them. One place is in on the Hume Hwy in Vic just past coopers street. I use it a couple of times and it was a lot better than the usual servo shit you buy.

But yes you can use it and it will have little to no effect cause butane/propane is the same type of thing and totally different to natural gas appliances.

My mate also made an adapter to fill cylinders from car pump. A lot cheaper to fill 9 litre bottle at $0.40 a litre than for $23 at the BBQ cylinder and he has been doing it for years...

Post by **OzJeeper** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:38 pm

Try this for a rip-off. Fill a 80 ltr tank at the servo and pay (about) $30.00 for the fill.

Go to a bottled gas refiller - as in the big ones for the house heater - and you pay $86.50 per bottle....

And they are about the same size in volume...

:cry:

Post by **grazza** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:38 pm

So would using the butane/propane mix cause any health issues?
Or any other downsides other than using more gas per sausage?
I cant find anything on health issues - any chemists out there?
I am just wondering why it is "illegal" to use LPG for cooking, other than you are not supposed to much around with gas unless you are a certified gas-fitter.

Wikipedia has this explanation for propane:

A three-carbon alkane, propane is sometimes derived from other petroleum products during oil or natural gas processing.

When commonly sold as fuel it is also known as liquified petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) and is a mixture of propane with smaller amounts of propylene, butane and butylene, plus ethyl mercaptan as an odorant to allow the normally odorless propane to be smelled. It is used as fuel in cooking on many barbecues and portable stoves and in motor vehicles. Propane powers some buses, forklifts, and taxis and is used for heat and cooking in recreational vehicles and campers. In many rural areas of the US, propane is also used in furnaces, water heaters, laundry dryers, and other heat-producing appliances. Delivery trucks fill up large tanks that are permanently installed on the property (sometimes called pigs) or exchange bottles of propane.

Another use of propane is the application as propellant for aerosol sprays, especially after the ban of CFCs. It is also used as a feedstock for the production of base petrochemicals in steam cracking.

Post by **twinnie** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:13 pm

ok here is my theory TAX!

becuase lpg is an enviro fuel for cars it's taxed less but because lpg for your camp stove is a luxury (as is the stove for that matter) it's taxed at a higher rate. it could be to do with subserdies (spelling?) too. another example is fuel in the states is dyed 2 difrent colours one for cars and one for every thing elce for example if you use car fuel in your boat then you get fined a huge amount and the can just check the colour to see how much it has been taxed. i think this is the same in the UK.

Matt

Post by **V8Patrol** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:16 pm

Australian Institute of Petroleum wrote:Bottled gas is used for domestic purposes (cooking and heating) and consists solely of propane while automotive LPG usually consists of a mixture of propane and butane. For safety reasons, automotive LPG cannot be used for domestic purposes.

If thats the case then my whole houshold wouldnt be liviable !!!

I've been on "Automotive" lpg with the
LPG hotwater service, LPG hotplates, LPG oven, LPG heater for over 15 years now and not a single problem has occoured.

Kingy

Post by **rock hopper** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:12 pm

the BBQ bottles outlet is at the to so only vapor comes out (gas) not liquid.
but on a automotive setup the gas pipe is on the bottom of the gas tank so liquid get forced out (some out let are at top but a internal pipe go's to the bottom) ..

if u tryed to use a automotive setup for your bbq it would have liquid gas coming out .....
has any one ever had the gas form back into a liquid on your bbq ?

if u wanted to use your automotive setup to run a lpg bbq your cheapest way is to have your gas tank fitted with an extra valve to let the gas out from the top of the bottle .
i hope this has helped u all and send pm if u need more info ....

Post by **Shadow** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:54 am

rock hopper wrote:the BBQ bottles outlet is at the to so only vapor comes out (gas) not liquid.
but on a automotive setup the gas pipe is on the bottom of the gas tank so liquid get forced out (some out let are at top but a internal pipe go's to the bottom) ..

if u tryed to use a automotive setup for your bbq it would have liquid gas coming out .....
has any one ever had the gas form back into a liquid on your bbq ?

if u wanted to use your automotive setup to run a lpg bbq your cheapest way is to have your gas tank fitted with an extra valve to let the gas out from the top of the bottle .
i hope this has helped u all and send pm if u need more info ....

thats probably the most valid point thats been raised

other than the $5000 fine, how many 9kg bottles does that equal >_<

Post by **v8zuki** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:34 am

you used to be able to buy a multi use filler neck for auto use
it had the large thread on the outside and a small thread the same as your low pressure regulators on the inside
i had one on my nissan trayback was geat as i could use it for
my fridge and stove as it came out from the top of the cylinder
but the car feed line picked up from the bottom to get liquid as
what was explained previously
my gas tank the filler hose had no one way valveand it filled from the top
so it returned just gas out the filler
dont anyone try this without checking what type of cyl or system u have
other wise u could burn yourself or worse :shock:

Post by **bazzle** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:40 pm

Shadow wrote:
rock hopper wrote:the BBQ bottles outlet is at the to so only vapor comes out (gas) not liquid.
but on a automotive setup the gas pipe is on the bottom of the gas tank so liquid get forced out (some out let are at top but a internal pipe go's to the bottom) ..

if u tryed to use a automotive setup for your bbq it would have liquid gas coming out .....
has any one ever had the gas form back into a liquid on your bbq ?

if u wanted to use your automotive setup to run a lpg bbq your cheapest way is to have your gas tank fitted with an extra valve to let the gas out from the top of the bottle .
i hope this has helped u all and send pm if u need more info ....

thats probably the most valid point thats been raised

other than the $5000 fine, how many 9kg bottles does that equal >_<

Just turn bottle upside down..?

Bazzle

Post by **jtraf** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:56 pm

1. yep turn the bottle on it's head....
2. very little difference between the two types of gas except cost
3. If you do it don't get caught filling your bottle at the pump.....

4. You would have to be cooking a lot of sausages to make it worth the risk......

Anyway.......

Post by **HSV Rangie** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:31 pm

Tax:

susidised for automotive use.

Michael.

Post by **turps** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:14 pm

HSV Rangie wrote:Tax:

susidised for automotive use.

Michael.

No matter how its taxed it is still a waste fuel in the re-finery process for other fuels. At least this was true a coulpe of years back.

Post by **Shadow** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:29 pm

bazzle wrote:
Shadow wrote:
rock hopper wrote:the BBQ bottles outlet is at the to so only vapor comes out (gas) not liquid.
but on a automotive setup the gas pipe is on the bottom of the gas tank so liquid get forced out (some out let are at top but a internal pipe go's to the bottom) ..

if u tryed to use a automotive setup for your bbq it would have liquid gas coming out .....
has any one ever had the gas form back into a liquid on your bbq ?

if u wanted to use your automotive setup to run a lpg bbq your cheapest way is to have your gas tank fitted with an extra valve to let the gas out from the top of the bottle .
i hope this has helped u all and send pm if u need more info ....

thats probably the most valid point thats been raised

other than the $5000 fine, how many 9kg bottles does that equal >_<

Just turn bottle upside down..?

Bazzle

so just roll your car on its roof whenever you want some sausages!!!

my impression is that he wants to use his gas tank mounted in his car for powering a gas cooker, sorry if i have misread things

Post by **GOT MUD** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:58 pm

basiclly all the lp gas in australia is the same no matter what the appliance car,bbq or house about 90% is imported :roll:

from o/s
so you can run off your car tank no worries except as stated you would have to run off the top plus i dont know how youd go get fittings etc to make it work but it can be done the fine is put there so people dont rock up tp a servo and start filling bbq cyl etc because its seen to be dangerous with it venting the whole time of the fill even though people fill cylinders on the driveway anyway but in most cases its more than 3 meters(min req) away from the bowsers an auto tank does not vent until its full and only for a second

my 2cents

Post by **ISUZUROVER** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:33 pm

muduppig wrote:90% is imported from o/s

Sorry, but that is crap. I worked at a refinery and Propane and Butane are produced as a by-product of the refining process. The refinery I worked at produced far more than they could sell so they put quite a lot of it through the flare (burnt it to get rid of it).

While crude oil (and sometimes refined fuel) is imported I have never heard of this happening for gas - we have plenty of surplus production here.

Post by **Shadow** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:58 pm

ISUZUROVER wrote:
muduppig wrote:90% is imported from o/s

Sorry, but that is crap. I worked at a refinery and Propane and Butane are produced as a by-product of the refining process. The refinery I worked at produced far more than they could sell so they put quite a lot of it through the flare (burnt it to get rid of it).

While crude oil (and sometimes refined fuel) is imported I have never heard of this happening for gas - we have plenty of surplus production here.

i have also heard this

heard we sell craploads of it to asia for like 4c/litre!

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cooking gear off automotive lpg

cooking gear off automotive lpg

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