Calor Gas Heater Problems

[Stereophoney]

I've got a propane powered calor gas heater in my garage which at the moment is in constant use, problem is it's not kicking out much heat and makes a noise like there is something blowing on the flame

The only thing that gets rid of this is picking up the cylinder and shaking it, this stops the noise and the fire brick glows redder, but only for 3 or 4 minutes, then back to before, it' seems it's being starved of gas and i can't use it on the higher settings or it gets worse, there are no loose connections on the regulator and hoses.

It's really starting to get on my t*ts now, could the propane be freezing ? it is - 7 in my garage, i'm all out of ideas

Any ideas would be gratefully recieved

Cheers Gary

 

[TechnicAl]

Im not 100% about this but I dont think its freezing its just not boiling as quickly as it would if it were warmer. I think it freezes at -160 or -180 or something really cold but it boils at -40oC. Its the vapour that burns so it has to boil to give off the vapour.

Sure someone who really knows will come along and give you the proper answer.

 

[gavuk]

Have you tried taking the cylinder in at night so the bottle starts at a higher ambient temp?....

 

[Luke]

could the propane be freezing ? it is - 7 in my garage,

As already said, it's not freezing, but it's not turning in to gas as easily as it would with a higher ambient temperature.

The boiling requires energy too, so the cylinder will be significantly colder than ambient temperature, which only makes matters worse.

 

[Stereophoney]

not tried bringing the cylinder in but not a bad shout i'll try that cheers Gav

i was thinking that the cold was affecting it so by me shaking it is releasing a extra bit of gas i suppose

cheers for the suggestions i'll try bringing the cylinder indoors overnight, bit of a p*sser when it's too cold for your heater

 

[Justme]

It can only gas on the exposed surface area at a rate that is dependant on the temp. Trying to draw more off causes the problems you are having. You can:

1, raise temp of the bottle
2, manifold more than one bottle together
3, if the bottle is not full you can angle it to increase the surface area but dont go to far & get liquid gas in the reg

 

[gordon stephenson]

I have had the same problem on butane etc but always runs just fine on propane,

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Try checking the gas jet area and use a pipe cleaner to remove any spiders egg ball that is there..

Propane and butane are great attractors to spiders .. they often lay their egg ball in the feed tubes during the warmer months and it is a common fault.
When I was into plant hire I had to clean out spiders and egg nests from many stored portable butane /propane heaters because of this problem before they could be issued out in winter .

Propane will still happily evaporate off at minus 7 o C and shoild still give you a good flame .( see grandads - shed reply )

Butane is a lot slower and once you hit as low as plus 3 oC it is difficult to get it evaporating off in the cylinder ( we are soon to change over to propane in our caravan from Butane to propane for this very reason .

If the prob still exists perhaps try a new regulator ( about £6.50 from a fuel merchant that sells cylinder gas.) and / or new upto date connecting hose for it could be damaged internally .

PS.
You can often see a propane cylinder with a coating of frost/ice on them when they are being used in subzero temperatures ..it is also a good indicator of the level of gas in the cylinder.

 

[Stereophoney]

cheers guys for the suggestions, i have a spare reg so i'll try that if bringing it inside overnight doesn't cure it

 

[grandads_shed]

propane will slow down at -7 .
i used to live on a boat for 18 years and learnt from there.
butane will freeze and slow down around +3 and below,

try to warm the bottle some how this is the only way . there is nothing wrong with the reg or anything else, its just the cold causeing you problems

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

propane will slow down at -7 .
i used to live on a boat for 18 years and learnt from there.
butane will freeze and slow down around +3 and below,

try to warm the bottle some how this is the only way . there is nothing wrong with the reg or anything else, its just the cold causeing you problems

Cheers GD.. My old brain gets confused with figure nowadays.... I've just edited it to what you have said .

 

[Stereophoney]

propane will slow down at -7 .
i used to live on a boat for 18 years and learnt from there.
butane will freeze and slow down around +3 and below,

try to warm the bottle some how this is the only way . there is nothing wrong with the reg or anything else, its just the cold causeing you problems

kind of figures out then it's around - 10 now in my garage so kind of makes sense, thanks to all for the replies and suggestions, much appreciated