Portable stove question

[Hawkmoon]

Question for the hive mind:

In the basement, I have a [very] old 2-burner portable stove that my parents bought for use during the inevitable power outages that occurred with predictable regularity in this corner of the universe. In those days, we didn't have portable generators, so some sort of portable was the only recourse when the electricity was out, since we had (and I still have) an electric range.

This isn't a Coleman camp stove, or one of the knock-offs thereof. It doesn't take propane, it used proprietary butane canisters that haven't been available for several decades. I'd like to convert it to work with a standard propane canister like what the Colemans use, but I don't know if the jets that are sized for butane will work with propane.

The stove is a Prepo model 202. The only image I was able to find is of one in a box, so not very helpful:


Is a conversion possible?

[Bogie]

The Gas One stoves, and many "portable restaurant burners" (like used in the omelet station on the patio for brunch) run on butane (some do propane). Maybe there is a conversion?

[zxcvbob]

I'm not sure, but I think butane and propane take the same jets

I think my parents had a Coleman butane lantern that took the same fuel canisters; not proprietary but obsolete and no longer available (not that that's any better)

[K Frame]

I'm pretty sure that the butane canisters were made by a number of manufacturers, including Coleman. Coleman still offers butane fuel cylinders. You may want to see if they fit.

OK, it looks like your stove may have used the old PowerMax style canister. I've heard that adapters are available that will allow you to use the new style fuel cylinders.

[K Frame]

I'm not sure, but I think butane and propane take the same jets

I think my parents had a Coleman butane lantern that took the same fuel canisters; not proprietary but obsolete and no longer available (not that that's any better)

Many of the "butane" cylinders were a butane/propane blend, some as high as 40% propane.

[charby]

Butane has lower vapor pressure than propane. Don't burn your eyebrows off (or house down).

I picked up my last propane Coleman stove for $10 at a garage sale.

[Hawkmoon]

Butane has lower vapor pressure than propane. Don't burn your eyebrows off (or house down).

?? No comprendo.

I picked up my last propane Coleman stove for $10 at a garage sale.

I have a Coleman 2-burner camp stove. It just bugs me to know that this nice Prepo stove is sitting there in a box, unused because I can't get fuel canisters for it.

[cordex]

If you are serious about it, apparently a user on eBay named ro_ewin was selling adapters as recently as last year, and there are a few guys who will custom make them.

Everything I’ve read says that you are better suited putting that money toward a new stove.

[Bogie]

If you want a survival stove that can seriously boil water for coffee really fast, look at the Gas One I mentioned earlier. Get the adapter hose for a 20# tank, and you can run the thing for multiple weekends on $15 worth of fuel.

[charby]

?? No comprendo

If you don't understand that, please don't monkey with compressed liquid gas fuels.

[JTHunter]

Hawk - depending on the businesses in your area, is there one or more that specialize in gas grill/appliances?  They might be able to help you find either fuel or adapters.
IIRC, the problem with the butane fuel canisters is that they use a needle to puncture the can and it tends to leak the rest of the gas out as it can't completely seal it.

[230RN]

Quote from: Hawkmoon on June 23, 2021, 06:13:02 PM

?? No comprendo

Quote from Charby:

If you don't understand that, please don't monkey with compressed liquid gas fuels.

I don't understand why butane's slightly lower vapor pressure at normal operating temperatures would make that much difference, given that the mechanical adaptors in the feed line were appropriate.

I echo Hawkmoon:  "No comprendo."

Terry, 230RN

[K Frame]

If you don't understand that, please don't monkey with compressed liquid gas fuels.

Agreed. A bucket of white gas and a cigarette lighter is MUCH safer...

[230RN]

^
I don't understand either Charby's objection or yours.

Somebody provide technical details instead of wiseassery, please.

I repeat:

"I don't understand why butane's slightly lower vapor pressure at normal operating temperatures would make that much difference, given that the mechanical adaptors in the feed line (and tankage) were appropriate."

Terry, 230RN

"...and tankage..." added to the quote as an afterthought.

[K Frame]

Mine's not an objection.

It's poking fun at Charby.

[zxcvbob]

I think the point is not butane's lower vapor pressure; it's propane's higher vp.   So using propane in a device designed for butane (unless there's a pressure regulator) will result in higher pressure of a more volatile fuel and perhaps flare-ups.  (and lost arm hair and eyelashes)  Also the little rubber tit on those old cylinders didn't necessarily seal all that well to the needle, or could leak when removed while there was still fuel inside.

That's my best guess anyway, charby's post was kind of cryptic. :)

[K Frame]

"So using propane in a device designed for butane"\

Except, as I noted below... "butane" cartridges for "butane" stoves have been, for decades, not pure butane but a mix of butane and propane.

[dogmush]

How sure are you it's a butane stove?  All the references to "Prepo" fuel I could find in a quick look called those cartridges LP gas, which is generally if not just propane, a mix.

See the contents section on this can: https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-RARE-PREPO-FUEL-CANISTER-1759-NOS-/164441065624

You could probably just buy one of the propane regulators and hoses from lowes/Home depot the right adapters to make it fit the fuel line after you remove the canister adapter, and rock on, but I have to question why?  Those old stoves weren't all that good in the grand scheme of things, and a new butane stove that takes modern (available) canisters is less than $100 on Amazon.

If your antique is in good enough shape to actually use, you can probably sell it for enough to buy a modern, working stove.

[K Frame]

Hell, you can get a great little "camp gas" stove like for about $12

https://www.amazon.com/Extremus-Portable-Resistant-Backpacking-Tailgating/dp/B093D5S8DH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=camping+stove&qid=1624906685&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A3JH9RK65GS9GG&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFQSjI4S1BPOVBKVlEmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTEwMDE2NDQzSTdZOFJTOUJIMFUxJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5ODQxOTAzU0RGN0E3OUc3SlY3JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

You can get the gas canisters at Walmart and a lot of other places. I keep one just in case of power outages. Works great. You're not going to put a big pot of spaghetti on it to boil, but it will heat up soup, boil water, etc.

[Jim147]

Go old school and build a wood fire under it.

[Hawkmoon]

How sure are you it's a butane stove?  All the references to "Prepo" fuel I could find in a quick look called those cartridges LP gas, which is generally if not just propane, a mix.

See the contents section on this can: https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-RARE-PREPO-FUEL-CANISTER-1759-NOS-/164441065624

I'm not sure the fuel was butane. I relied on memory, which is fallible at best. The stove was used during hurricane-induced power outages when I was a child and I never bought fuel for it. My father always took care of that. I have the stove, but I have no surviving fuel canisters, not even an empty.

If the fuel was propane or a propane mix, that's good news.

You could probably just buy one of the propane regulators and hoses from lowes/Home depot the right adapters to make it fit the fuel line after you remove the canister adapter, and rock on, but I have to question why?  Those old stoves weren't all that good in the grand scheme of things, and a new butane stove that takes modern (available) canisters is less than $100 on Amazon.

I guess the answer to your question, "Why?" is "Because." I don't need the stove -- I have a perfectly functional 2-burner Coleman camp stove. It just bugs me to see a perfectly good mechanical device sidelined (or discarded) over something like not being able to buy the proprietary fuel any more.

[K Frame]

How about taking a picture of the fitting where the gas canister goes? That will tell us a lot about what kind of gas bottle it took.

Edit in -- OK, it looks like virtually all of the Prepo devices (they had stoves, lanterns, etc.) used the PowerMax style canister, which are apparently obsolete.

[230RN]

Hawkmoon remarked,

"I guess the answer to your question, 'Why?' is
'Because.' I don't need the stove -- I have a perfectly functional 2-burner Coleman camp stove. It just bugs me to see a perfectly good mechanical device sidelined (or discarded) over something like not being able to buy the proprietary fuel any more."

I can get behind that... Besides legacy digital stuff, which I'm sure many can comment on, I used to collect cameras and it was always frustrating to have to dig up proprietary film cartridges and sheet film packs.  One particularly annoying one was the "prize," a "35mm Camera," in a contest.

It was an Agfa camera and used special 35mm cartridges which had to be specially processed at their labs because there was a special method of opening them.

I imagine the same difficulty with auto parts, especially antique ones.

And in many other areas... I'm sure the list goes on.

Terry, 230RN

[Bogie]

Polish it. Post an ad on FB marketplace. Call it "Retro Antique."
 
Some hipster will buy it for $100, and spend $100 on making it work.
 
Buy a $75 camping stove already set up for propane in 20 pound jugs.

[JTHunter]

The comments about "vapor pressure" reminded me of something.  IIRC, those "butane" canisters were a mix because straight butane doesn't work well at low temperatures that are experienced in cold winter weather.  Propane does work better in the cold so a cooker using the combined fuel will start easier in the cold.  As it warms the area of the unit (and its metal parts) up, the butane will also warm up and work better.