Leave butane/propane in vehicle?
- Thread starter Linda_Sue
- Start date
Help Support Van Living Forum:
speedhighway46
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2015
- Messages
- 728
- Reaction score
- 6
Not when it’s hot out; they may vent through the safety valve. Cool temps; okay.
Just my opinion, and what I do . . .
Just my opinion, and what I do . . .
B and C
Well-known member
I have a used green propane bottle in the van for over a year now and the van is in houston. 
Has it vented? I don't know but propane is heavier than air and falls to the floor. That is why propane detectors are mounted low.
Be sure to get a propane, co and smoke detector. They will let you know if you need to open a door and window.
Has it vented? I don't know but propane is heavier than air and falls to the floor. That is why propane detectors are mounted low.Be sure to get a propane, co and smoke detector. They will let you know if you need to open a door and window.
Mine have been just fine sitting in my car, closed up in the Texas summer heat. And in the Arizona summer heat.
But I bought some of Bob's magic safety dust. He sells it over at the corner of Practical Lane and Don't Give a Shit Alley.
But I bought some of Bob's magic safety dust. He sells it over at the corner of Practical Lane and Don't Give a Shit Alley.
MrNoodly
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2012
- Messages
- 4,967
- Reaction score
- 60
Remember when propane bottles were banned because they kept blowing up in hot cars? Oh wait, that did happen.
Remember when propane bottles were recalled because they leaked in hot cars, asphyxiating people? Oh wait, that didn't happen either.
Millions of people — many of them complete knuckleheads — use propane in bottles and tanks, and yet...
Remember when propane bottles were recalled because they leaked in hot cars, asphyxiating people? Oh wait, that didn't happen either.
Millions of people — many of them complete knuckleheads — use propane in bottles and tanks, and yet...
B and C
Well-known member
A little common sense and some detectors go a long way towards surviving.
pure_mahem
Well-known member
So doing a Google on the storage of Green Propane Tanks it states they should not be exposed to heat above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Googling how Hot can it get in a car in the sun - At 70 degrees on a sunny day, after a half hour, the temperature inside a car is 104 degrees. After an hour, it can reach 113 degrees.” “When temperatures outside range from 80 degrees to 100 degrees, the temperature inside a car parked in direct sunlight can quickly climb to between 130 to 172.”
Now for some common sense input into the 2 of these things. Does that mean the tank will blow up. Most likely not. However if the pressure rises high enough due to the temperature it will most likely trigger the high pressure release valve built into the green tank and it will release the Propane into your vehicle. I definitely would not suggest smoking around your vehicle if you are storing propane tanks in your vehicle. Also if you have all your senses when you open the door to your vehicle after the propane has been released you are going to smell it. The Government mandates the a chemical odorant is infused with propane for this very purpose. Otherwise it would be odorless. Also Propane is heavier than air so it will sink and sit on your floor. You should still be able to smell the gas though if it is released. If you do smell it I would open all the doors of the vehicle and air it out for about an hour. You could decrease that time if you used a fan but you would not want to get the fan to close to the vehicle in case the motor created a spark. All precautionary and best safe practices.
I will also tell you I worked in a welding shop when I was a teenager. I smoked then and always had a BIC on me. We could smoke in the shop if we wanted while we worked. The foreman caught me with the BIC and I was made to watch a safety video of how a BIC Lighter was a quarter stick of dynamite sitting in my pocket and it could blow a hole in my leg and kill me. We were only allowed to use Zippo type lighters or matches.
-We in our free time tried repeatedly to blow up a bic lighter by dropping welding splatter on the BIC and we even tried holding a cutting torch to them. All we were able to do was get a quick flame to ignite through the hole we melted in the side of the lighter and a few of the lighters the plastic would continue to burn. No BOOM. Does that mean it couldn't happen. I'm sure it probably can under ideal conditions.
If it were me I'd just store them there and keep them out of the sun. If it gets really hot out like Arizona Summer Hot I probably wouldn't but if you can be in the vehicle I dont think the tanks would have an issue. I did not research the Storage of Butane this was just the Green tanks. You dont read about peoples vehicles blowing up from them leaving their 4th of July grill in the car with the propane tank and these are regularly transported on tractor trailer trucks on the highway so...
Googling how Hot can it get in a car in the sun - At 70 degrees on a sunny day, after a half hour, the temperature inside a car is 104 degrees. After an hour, it can reach 113 degrees.” “When temperatures outside range from 80 degrees to 100 degrees, the temperature inside a car parked in direct sunlight can quickly climb to between 130 to 172.”
Now for some common sense input into the 2 of these things. Does that mean the tank will blow up. Most likely not. However if the pressure rises high enough due to the temperature it will most likely trigger the high pressure release valve built into the green tank and it will release the Propane into your vehicle. I definitely would not suggest smoking around your vehicle if you are storing propane tanks in your vehicle. Also if you have all your senses when you open the door to your vehicle after the propane has been released you are going to smell it. The Government mandates the a chemical odorant is infused with propane for this very purpose. Otherwise it would be odorless. Also Propane is heavier than air so it will sink and sit on your floor. You should still be able to smell the gas though if it is released. If you do smell it I would open all the doors of the vehicle and air it out for about an hour. You could decrease that time if you used a fan but you would not want to get the fan to close to the vehicle in case the motor created a spark. All precautionary and best safe practices.
I will also tell you I worked in a welding shop when I was a teenager. I smoked then and always had a BIC on me. We could smoke in the shop if we wanted while we worked. The foreman caught me with the BIC and I was made to watch a safety video of how a BIC Lighter was a quarter stick of dynamite sitting in my pocket and it could blow a hole in my leg and kill me. We were only allowed to use Zippo type lighters or matches.
-We in our free time tried repeatedly to blow up a bic lighter by dropping welding splatter on the BIC and we even tried holding a cutting torch to them. All we were able to do was get a quick flame to ignite through the hole we melted in the side of the lighter and a few of the lighters the plastic would continue to burn. No BOOM. Does that mean it couldn't happen. I'm sure it probably can under ideal conditions.
If it were me I'd just store them there and keep them out of the sun. If it gets really hot out like Arizona Summer Hot I probably wouldn't but if you can be in the vehicle I dont think the tanks would have an issue. I did not research the Storage of Butane this was just the Green tanks. You dont read about peoples vehicles blowing up from them leaving their 4th of July grill in the car with the propane tank and these are regularly transported on tractor trailer trucks on the highway so...
billybob200138
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2011
- Messages
- 126
- Reaction score
- 0
Hey! I used to live on that corner! HoboJoeLoveCareThinkDo said:
highest_vision
Well-known member
I put mine in a cooler on hot days. Fire risk aside, the thing venting will result in everything you own smelling like farts forever. I'd rather it just be me...
BelgianPup
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2019
- Messages
- 544
- Reaction score
- 267
When storing propane tanks ANYWHERE, make sure they are always standing up, not laid on their sides.
Tony's Dream
Well-known member
I store my butane tanks in a cooler when I am in hot areas. When I leave the vehicle I open the top vent and my side window. It gets hot in my van, but doing this keeps the temps down considerably.
