Butane stoves are making me cry.
February 14, 2023 4:37 AM Subscribe
How to wrangle butane stoves whose flame goes out... and then they can't be lit again for hours?
I live in a poorly insulated apartment in Spain and it's cold right now.
Electric heat via little movable stoves is sad and expensive. So I went with butane because I used it in Chile and was pretty happy with it.
I have two butane stoves, different brands. They are both brand new, as are the bottles of butane.
And the same thing keeps happening. The stove is lit, and after a couple of hours the flame spontaneously goes out.
After the flame goes out, the stove becomes almost impossible to keep lit. I get a spark but the awful things just won't stay lit.
This keeps up for a few hours. Then both stoves become usable again.
Humidity level in the apartment? Ghosts? Just nasty. Any suggestions welcome.
I live in a poorly insulated apartment in Spain and it's cold right now.
Electric heat via little movable stoves is sad and expensive. So I went with butane because I used it in Chile and was pretty happy with it.
I have two butane stoves, different brands. They are both brand new, as are the bottles of butane.
And the same thing keeps happening. The stove is lit, and after a couple of hours the flame spontaneously goes out.
After the flame goes out, the stove becomes almost impossible to keep lit. I get a spark but the awful things just won't stay lit.
This keeps up for a few hours. Then both stoves become usable again.
Humidity level in the apartment? Ghosts? Just nasty. Any suggestions welcome.
^ addendum, if you fix it via venting the gas as described, after reconnecting the hose / regulator make sure to turn the gas back on at the bottle very slowly to avoid the cut-off getting triggered again.
posted by protorp at 5:11 AM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by protorp at 5:11 AM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If both are going out at the same time and refusing to relight until the same time, it sounds like the issue is the air inside your apartment is being charged by the combustion. An easy way to check this would be to open all the windows for a few minutes once the stoves go out and see if that fixes the problem.
If that's the case, you probably don't want to run these heaters without the windows open. They produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and all kinds of other gases that you don't want in high concentrations on your living space.
posted by ssg at 5:25 AM on February 14, 2023 [13 favorites]
If that's the case, you probably don't want to run these heaters without the windows open. They produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and all kinds of other gases that you don't want in high concentrations on your living space.
posted by ssg at 5:25 AM on February 14, 2023 [13 favorites]
Is the safety shutoff activating because the stoves are getting too hot? That would explain why they worked again after cooling down. Forgive me for maybe not understanding, but when you say "stove" do you mean something intended for cooking? If so they are likely not designed to run for hours at a time.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:26 AM on February 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:26 AM on February 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
It makes me very nervous that you're burning butane indoors for heat. Do you have a carbon monoxide detector in the house?
I know some people use butane in a well-ventilated indoor space for cooking, but heating is a lot more burning without a break.
posted by cnidaria at 6:45 AM on February 14, 2023 [14 favorites]
I know some people use butane in a well-ventilated indoor space for cooking, but heating is a lot more burning without a break.
posted by cnidaria at 6:45 AM on February 14, 2023 [14 favorites]
I don't know what temperature your apartment is, but butane doesn't work well in cold temps. If you're cranking up the burner, the canister will get cold pretty fast and your stove won't be getting the butane it needs to keep the flame going. Propane stoves have fewer issues with low temperatures, which is why they're preferred for cold-weather camping. I've had issues with butane stoves even at mid-40F outdoors.
As others have said in this thread, be careful if you're using these indoors for heat. Is an electric blanket an option?
posted by extramundane at 7:46 AM on February 14, 2023 [5 favorites]
As others have said in this thread, be careful if you're using these indoors for heat. Is an electric blanket an option?
posted by extramundane at 7:46 AM on February 14, 2023 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Yeah, as others have said, it sounds like your stoves are consuming the butane quickly enough that the gas cylinder/bottle is starting to "ice up". Once you stop using it and it's had a chance to warm up (relatively speaking), it becomes usable again until this repeats. Sort of like how when using a can of "air duster" to blow the dust out of your computer, and the can quickly gets really cold, and eventually gets very weak or stops. Let it warm up a bit, and it's fine again.
posted by xedrik at 10:48 AM on February 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 10:48 AM on February 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
What make and model are they?
I recently visited a place that had to be heated using a (petroleum) stove, and at some point it turned off and showed an error code in a display. This was "CO2 level too high", a sensible safety measure for fuel-powered stoves and heaters. Can it be that your stoves have a similar feature, only without an error display?
If the problem was that the butane cylinders became too cold (butane boiling point is 0 ⁰C, so there's only fluid in the bottles, no gas that can get to the burners) I'd expect that it'd occur much sooner, and also resolve itself quicker than the several hours you mention, unless your apartment is pretty damn cold already.
posted by Stoneshop at 1:28 PM on February 14, 2023
I recently visited a place that had to be heated using a (petroleum) stove, and at some point it turned off and showed an error code in a display. This was "CO2 level too high", a sensible safety measure for fuel-powered stoves and heaters. Can it be that your stoves have a similar feature, only without an error display?
If the problem was that the butane cylinders became too cold (butane boiling point is 0 ⁰C, so there's only fluid in the bottles, no gas that can get to the burners) I'd expect that it'd occur much sooner, and also resolve itself quicker than the several hours you mention, unless your apartment is pretty damn cold already.
posted by Stoneshop at 1:28 PM on February 14, 2023
Response by poster: Folks who indicated that humidity / presence of different compounds in the air might be the source: I think this is the ticket. I'm going to replicate the issue a few more times, then open windows and doors for a few minutes to see if that straightens things, God willing. I suspect it will.
FWIW, I can't keep windows and doors open all the time: it defeats the purpose completely. However, I have brand new carbon monoxide monitors in both rooms and do NOT plan to sleep with the gas on. And it looks like I'll have to air both rooms briefly a few times a day, which should help with air quality, God willing.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:20 PM on February 14, 2023
FWIW, I can't keep windows and doors open all the time: it defeats the purpose completely. However, I have brand new carbon monoxide monitors in both rooms and do NOT plan to sleep with the gas on. And it looks like I'll have to air both rooms briefly a few times a day, which should help with air quality, God willing.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:20 PM on February 14, 2023
I would urge you to reconsider using these stoves in a sealed up home. If the air can't even support combustion of butane, it surely isn't healthy for you. It's really not a good idea to burn fuels indoors without any venting. Even a gas stove in the kitchen needs ventilation. There's more to air quality than carbon monoxide. You're probably not going to die, but this really isn't a healthy environment for humans.
posted by ssg at 9:33 AM on February 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by ssg at 9:33 AM on February 15, 2023 [7 favorites]
Response by poster: @ssg - as it turns out, I'll be airing the rooms frequently. I can either suffer in the cold or I can use these stoves, which are commonly used here for short periods of the year. It simply doesn't stay cold very long here. Self-yeeting to a warmer clime for a couple weeks is not a bad move either, might start that next year.
Airing the rooms does in fact do the trick. Too much humidity means the spark can't ignite properly.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 11:30 PM on February 16, 2023
Airing the rooms does in fact do the trick. Too much humidity means the spark can't ignite properly.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 11:30 PM on February 16, 2023
It's extremely unlikely that humidity is the issue. More likely low oxygen.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:31 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by oneirodynia at 2:31 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
If the regulator is on the hose, like a bbq, you should be able to reset this valve by turning the gas off at the bottle, disconnecting the hose / regulator from the bottle and letting it sit for 5 minutes or so to vent the residual gas.
As to why, possibly if the bottles are new and very full and you're starting from very cold then as the bottle heats up with the room its pressure is getting high enough to trigger the shut-off. Can you position the bottles somewhere where they won't heat up so much ?
If this is the problem then it should get better once the tanks are a bit emptier.
posted by protorp at 5:09 AM on February 14, 2023 [4 favorites]