Butane fuel source.

[MrBee]

After reading the post about the use of Denatured alcohol and West M's high price, I thought i would post this.
Our boat came from the PO with a Butane stove. One of those that takes the single Canister that looks like a spray paint can. West marine sells the "Kenyon" Brand Butane cans for $4.99 each. I think when I first checked at their store last spring I saw it in the 3 pack for around $17.00 .
When we got home from bringing the boat down from CT. I started searching locally and found that Ace hardware sold the same stove under the brand name "Burton" and although they didn't have single cans at my local store I could order it by the case and the price worked out to about $3.50 per can, if i remember correctly. because of the special order i had to order a case but that was fine with me.

Cabela's sells it under the "Porta Chef" Brand and it is even cheaper at $30.00 per 12 pack...thats $2.50 per can. If you have a store near you thats great cause the shipping will be high do to the HazMat shipping fee's.
The next trip to cabelas I will do a call ahead to make sure they have it in stock or have them order it for instore pickup when I get there.

Hope this helps someone save a few $$

Brian

 

[greenminnow]

I have found in my town that "Target" is the only store that has butane. They sell it single cans, and I don't remember the price. Brian

 

[Steve Dion]

Check Amazon.com

 

[Benny]

And you can go to the flea market and get a stove in its carrying case with three bottles of fuel for $15. I'm not defending WM pricing but don't think a Kenyon and those other burners are the same just because they may look the same. Fire is probably the most dreaded hazard aboard a boat and Kenyon has designed their stove and fuel canisters to minimize their ocurrence. A few years back they had a recall because of a faulty seal. Other manufacturers do not endorse their products for use beyond a kitchen floor. A feature that Kenyon has that not all others present is the use of a serrated pot resting base which help prevent pots fron sliding off. I am not a spokeman for any manufacturer but have had a Kenyon Butane stove 10 years now and besides some surface rust it keeps going strong. I do agree that $5 for a bottle of fuel is pretty pricey so I use the Coleman canisters which I get for around $2. We keep the stove on our trailerable Starwind 223 which we may use but once a year so fuel cost is not a big issue.

 

[Sanman]

Be VERY careful w/ pressurized Butane!!

I know lots of folks use it... I did too, until it blew up.
I had a "Magic chef" butane stove on my Hunter 23.5, It used the "spray paint" type bottle. My wife lit it and then immediately without warning, the small seal blew at the can, we heard a "Whomp" and there was a flash and then it proceeded to burn uncontrollably, like a blow torch... it knocked my wife across the cabin, no burns to her, thank God.
I was sitting in the cockpit, and when I reached into the galley, to throw it overboard, I got 2nd and 3rd deg burns on my fingers... but it was either the boat or the fingers so over it went. Even underwater it continued it's pressurized burn. I jumped in and disconnected the can with the lever under water with my good hand. We were out at anchor, so we dressed the burns and continued the cruise... Using the grill to cook on for the rest of the week. The 5 to 10 seconds it burned in the cabin, produced PRODIGIOUS heat and sooted the overhead pretty good...It was the scariest thing that has ever happened on the boat.
So I'm not telling you NOT to use this type of stove onboard, but I know I, personally will NEVER have pressurized butane aboard my boat again. Everyone makes their own choice, but in my first hand experience, Butane is VERY dangerous onboard a boat.:naughty:

 

[sailingdog]

I highly recommend not using portable "camp" type stoves on a boat, since most do not have the safety features that make a marine stove safer to use. The cans are also a lot less safe than the large re-fillable propane tanks, especially if they're properly installed with a solenoid.

I'd point out that BUTANE is more dangerous a fuel than PROPANE, since it explodes at a lower concentration than PROPANE.

Butane flammability limits in air (STP conditions) : 1.5-8.5 vol%
vs.
Propane flammability limits in air (STP conditions) : 2.2-9.5 vol%

 

[Bill Roosa]

OR you could....

Use CNG. It costs $1.98 to fill up a 20 hour bottle which will take you about a week of full up 3 meals a day (cooktop and oven) for 2 folks who also drink about 5 pots of coffee a day to use. You can get marine cookstoves with ovens
AND
it is lighter than air so you don't have ANY of those liquified gas product issues like blowing yourself up.

They don't call it Saf-gas for nothing. Same stuff you use in your house BTW.

 

[MrBee]

Dang, and I thought I was just starting a thread on the prices.
Glad to hear all the feedback.
Blowing out a seal sounds pretty bad, glad your alright Sanford.
I may have to be in the market for a different setup.
It would be nice to have a two burner stove. I will have to look into a CNG type set up..

Thanks for all the feed back fellows !!

Brian

 

[Sanman]

Yep. Could have been much worse. I agree... a properly installed CNG is the way to go... but for now, I'll just use my kenyon alcohol stove. No pressure to deal with and easy to maintain. Solid, simple and reliable. I'll pay a little more for the alcohol... depends on your cooking needs, too, of course... If you live aboard, or are going long distance then CNG is clearly the way to go.

 

[Benny]

If you do not have a CNG stove don't go out looking for one. CNG has all the properties of the best stove fuel for use in boats except availability. Filling stations are dwindling and boaters with CNG stoves are having an increasing hard time in finding tanks and having them refilled. Propane has become the standart even though it requires a complex and costly installation for boats. There are CNG stations but they are geared for converted automobile use and do not carry the adapters for the portable tanks. You could make your own adapter as some have but that does not guarantee than an outlet will let you use to fill your tank. I also do not endorse the use of propane camping stoves in a boat. As it has been mentioned they lack the safeguards of a marine stove. What I did for a previous boat was I purchased a two burner propane Marine Stove and attached a 6' hose with a regulator to it. To this regulator I added a pressure switch and a converter for the use of 1 lb bottles. The stove was a Primus which came equiped with thermocouple switches and was designed to take the flexing and stresses to which stoves may be subjected in boats. The propane bottles were kept outside the cabin and where only connected to the stove while it was in use. This system was used by us for a number of years with no mishaps and felt quite safe using it as we understood the necessary safeguards. Another good solution is the use of non pressurized alcohol stoves as they do not require almost any safeguards. Like any you would need to familiarize yourself with the properties of the fuel to store it and use it safely. Even though we have used a Kenyon with good results in our trailerable butane still sits at th bottom of our list.

 

[Steve Dion]

Bill: Do you know the size of the fitting on the CNG bottle? Your source has the adapters. I assume that it should be easy & inexpensive to refill the CNG bottles with the correct adapter.

Thanks for your help.

 

[sailingdog]

I'd second the problems with availability of CNG. Also, the tanks are a bit tough to find.

 

[Bill Roosa]

CNG refilling

I can refill at any car CNG pump. The adapter uses the same quick connect. Try googling "CNG parts" You would want the 3000 psi item not the 3600 psi ones. And you would, of course, want to use all CNG approved fittings. I also found a source for "20 hour" bottles.
I've never had any problems with the stations letting me use the pump to fill my tanks.

With the government push to "go green" I suspect that CNG will be more avalable in the future.

Any propane stove can be converted to CNG. Just check with the manufacturer for a re-jet kit.

 

[Photo Bug]

Do Not Agree

Before this thing got hijacked the Question was: Is there a good place to find these cans of fuel at a good price. The answer is YES. Go to an asian food market. They have a 4 pack of fuel cans for $4.99. The stoves are $12.99. It seems that millions of people around the world use these stoves every day and they don't burn down anything. You know there are people out there that can burn them selves with a pack of matches.