Mr Heater F276172 1-Pound Disposable Propane Tank Refill Adapter

Review by Benjamin Herbst for Mr Heater F276172 1-Pound Disposable Propane Tank Refill Adapter
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I have had this or a similar product for several years now. I live in the mountains, and go camping a lot, and sometimes set up camps and leave, going to work, backpacking, etc, and dont return until night or even a few days. I had two small bulk containers, one for a propane lantern, and one for a little heater and both were stolen out of my closed tent. Since the small refillable propane tanks (small bulk tanks cost more than the regular 5 gallon bulk tank) are expensive, I switched back to the 16 oz type disposable type. I have messed with all different ways of refilling these babies, and here are my suggestions and results.

1. If you only camp once a year (or twice), just spend the $3 each on a couple new 16 oz disposables and be done with it. If you set up “big hunting type camps” you are probably going to have a big bulk tank or 2 anyway, with a propane tree on it or some similar setup for lanters, cooking, etc. or more than likely, have a trailer, and you probably don’t need advice from me anyway.

2. Though you can get a complete (and even a little over) fill by pulling the little “bicycle valve” overflow protection valve while filling, these tanks are not really ment for that, and frequently enough (one out of 4 tanks maybe, my experience … maybe one out of every 6) this valve, once pulled out, will leak, and the tank and refill will be useless. Even though the tanks are filled all the way, I do not recommend this due to the higher percentage of leakers.

3. I recommend following the instructions, which requires putting the bulk 5 gal. tank in the sun for a few hours (let it get nice and warm), and the little 16 oz tanks in the freezer, using temperature differential as a pump. Then, grab one tank from the freezer and attach to the refill device/bulk tank, make sure everything is decently tight, and open the valve on the bulk tank (which is upside down – I usually do it on the tailgate of my Toyota Tacoma). You can hear the propane going into the small tank, and when it seems like its not going to get any fuller – usually around 45 seconds to a minute, shut of the big tank valve and unscrew the little one, and go and get another nice cold one from the freezer (little propane tank, not beer). When I first started refilling them, I weighed them to see how much propane I got in the little tank. When I was a newbee, and didn’t know what I was doing, and didn’t have enought temperature difference, I wouldn’t get hardly any liquid propane in. Then I learned the “pull out the bicycle valve trick” and found I could fill them even a little more full than new, by weight on a postal scale. Now and finally, I just put the big tank in the sun, and the little ones in the freezer, and I don’t weigh them anymore, but my “picking them up” scale tells me that they are probably somewhere about 1/2 full, or a little more. This is enough for me, for just one single mantle lantern and one propane stove. Usually they don’t leak if you don’t mess with the overpressure protection valve.

Lastly, a couple things to keep in mind (principles of propane refill) – propane is always at a constant pressure, at a certain temperature. As some of the gas escapes, or is burned, the pressure that would drop is refilled by propane gas which has expaned from some of the liquid. Therefore, if both tanks were equal in temperature, and you hooked one to the other and opened the valve, (assuming the big tank is upside down so the liquid proane is comming out and not gas – if you refill with just gas, you might get 30 seconds worth of gas into the little tank, which is basically nothing and not what you are looking for) the smaller one would only get maybe 5% or 10% full, untill both tanks were under the same pressure. The object is to get as much “liquid” propane in. The more temperature differential, the more liquid you will get in, because the pressure will be lower in the cold tank. Of course, the bicycle valve trick works great (wear gloves on your right hand, because the propane gas is cold when it comes out/evaporates, and no smoking). But, because they weren’t made for that, seem to have a hard time seating themselves again, even when pushed in, etc. Now that I’ve been refilling these little babies for a few years, it seems so quick and easy, and probably saves a few bucks, and is better for the environment not throwing away a decent little tank.

So, summary – yes these work fine, but anticipate only about 1/2 full (or slightly more) small tanks.

Oh, and lastly about the no smoking comment – I stand by that, but propane gas is heavier than air (which is why you can’t use propane appliances in your basement) and goes down when leaking. I’ve had a little leaking tank within 2′ maybe of a flame which was higher and screened, and it didn’t catch, but I was watching it closely, and threw the tank away shortly thereafter. Try that with gasoline fumes, and you will find yourself in a big explosion of flames!

Sorry for the long review, hopefully it will be kinda helpful.

Review by D. Wulff for Mr Heater F276172 1-Pound Disposable Propane Tank Refill Adapter
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With propane you need to get the source tank pressure high and get the receiving bottle to a lower pressure then the source. I start by placing the source tank in the sun. Some directions say to put the bottle in the freezer for approximately + or – 20 minutes. I would start out that way to get the bottle cold, but to keep it cold is the key. Get a small container just big enough to submerge the majority of the bottle in ICE WATER. Fill the container just enough to submerge the majority of the bottle with the ice water, but more ice then water. You need just enough water to make a good contact surface to conduct the cold. You will add either ordinary table salt or rock salt. This will bring the water to below freezing temperatures, about 15 degrees F. This will keep the bottle cold enough to almost fill, if not completely filled, depending on how warm the source bottle is. I would try not to submerge the top of the bottle as salt water is corrosive and the top is the only part thats usually not painted, so it will foul the valve and threads. For information purposes only.