Refill 8 oz butane canister with propane?

[nopeda]

Hi,

I like the compact butane stoves that use an 8 oz bottle and am interested in refilling them with propane. I've refilled the 1 lb propane bottles from 20 lb propane tanks many times with no problems by the following method: Put the empty 1 lb bottle in the freezer 'till it gets cold, attach it to the adapter on the 20 lb tank and turn the rig upside down, open the tank's valve for a minute or more until it stops hissing into the bottle, then close the valve and remove the filled 1 lb bottle.

Will that same or a similar method work to refill the 8 oz butane bottles from 20 lb propane tanks? Is there a danger of over pressuring the 8 oz bottles since they don't seem to be as strong heavy metal a container as the 1 lb propane bottles?

I've found a couple of adapters that look made for the job, but would be glad for any additional suggestions. These are what I've found so far:

https://www.amazon.com/Propane-Refi...ocphy=9002632&hvtargid=pla-944361621824&psc=1
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Outdoor-...MR2gqXEXfMmss&athancid=3564724414&athena=true
Thank you for any help learning to do this!
David
Maine, USA

 

[hugemoth]

I would not fill a butane bottle with propane because of the higher pressure. Propane psi is about 4 x that of butane.

 

[Overland One]

That's not something I would do but, that's up to you of course. I use both containers and a 1 pound propane canister is much heavier built than that butane bottle. I am guessing they are made that way for a reason probably? My single burner stove will run off of both fuels although the butane cans do fit nicely into the stove as opposed to running the hose connection to the 1 pound propane bottle. I have seen videos where people use a neat trick when refilling the 1 pound propane bottles to get them full. They take a pair of needle nose pliers and pull out on the safety valve to let the trapped air escape. If I recall correctly, you have it positioned so that valve is on the top side of the horizontal bottle at the 12:00 position or thereabouts. I watched a nice video of a guy doing this to show the difference and, He filled one without pulling that valve and one with pulling that valve. When he weighed them to show the difference, the one where he released the valve weighed 1 pound and the other one weighed not even 3/4 of a pound. I have not done this myself to verify that it works like this but it make sense. Maybe your freezer trick does the same thing and you get the full 1 pound?

 

[hugemoth]

It's a good idea to weigh a 1 lb bottle after filling because it's easy to overfill.
Empty Coleman propane bottle 363 g, 817 g full.

 

[maki2]

Buy a dual fuel stove. It would be the safer way to go than trying to put propane into an empty butane can. Look on Amazon, A dual fuel portable stove can be purchased for around $35.00.

 

[Frood]

That sounds like a very unwise thing to do... Very very unwise. Even with the propane canisters, unless you can inspect the internals or have the ones that are specifically made for it, it's not 100% safe. The butane canisters are far less durable to begin with.

Have you considered making your own biogas system instead?

 

[Happy Camper]

I can't see a good use case for doing this. If you want to use propane, get a propane stove. If you like the size of the butane cans use butane. If you want to be the cautionary tale for why people shouldn't do this, proceed.

It's just not worth the downside to save money or space in this situation.

 

[BelgianPup]

Would it be possible to use a propane HOSE to hook up a standard propane tank to your stove?

If cost of the small butane cannisters is the issue, check out Hispanic and Asian grocery stores, as they're usually cheaper there.

 

[LargeMarge]

Hi,

I like the compact butane stoves that use an 8 oz bottle and am interested in refilling them with propane... any additional suggestions...Thank you for any help learning...

.
a)
Tossing this out to the pressure container specialist in the audience:
.
* Are containers marked -- color-coded? -- with the contents as a safety measure?
* Are containers engineered for the components?
* Do different contents require different containers?
* During an emergency, do responders eval marked containers, then form a specific containment plan?
* What insurance do adapter suppliers offer in the event their product puts a damper on your enthusiasm?
.
As life-long SCUBA divers, we gladly take our tanks to to certified technicians to be inspected and pressure-tested every few seasons.
.
Fifty fedbux gets you a new Coleman propane two-burner.
Unless you like fussing with stuff.
Unless you are a Traint Perfesserioneral test-pilot.
.
b)
re -- learning
Oh, I think you -- and your next-of-kin -- will be learning a lot...