Overfilled Gas?

I have noticed one or two people connect up their new bottle and then have to tip it up to get it into the storage position. Is it possible that this would allow some liquid gas to get into the pipe? If it did this might cause problems, it is supposed to boil off to a gas before it reaches the pipe. With time it should evaporate or run back into the bottle. Just a thought.
 
You should never have the bottle valve open when its not vertical.
If liquid gets past the regulator it won't go back.
 
Markd said:
You should never have the bottle valve open when its not vertical.
If liquid gets past the regulator it won't go back.
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That is the most important reason but it is also true that if you overfill the bottle the surface area can be reduced to the point where it has reduced boiling potential.
 
Okta said:
That is the most important reason but it is also true that if you overfill the bottle the surface area can be reduced to the point where it has reduced boiling potential.
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Yes if there is no open surface no gas can boil off and the larger the area the greater the flow capacity.
In practice the surface area is constant but draw off rate may fall if consumption is high and sustained enough to significantly reduce the temperature of the liquid and so the vapour pressure above it.
This more common with butane than propane.
I have a small portable bbq that needs the canister to be exposed to fresh air/sun to keep going properly.
 
Markd said:
Yes if there is no open surface no gas can boil off and the larger the area the greater the flow capacity.
In practice the surface area is constant but draw off rate may fall if consumption is high and sustained enough to significantly reduce the temperature of the liquid and so the vapour pressure above it.
This more common with butane than propane.
I have a small portable bbq that needs the canister to be exposed to fresh air/sun to keep going properly.
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It is known as the wetted surface area, the bottle draws heat through the wall of the bottle allowing the liquid gas to vaporise.

The regulators have a take off rate which suggests the amount of vapour that can be drawn off per hour which is often less than the total of the appliances put together....manufacturers know this but work on the assumption you don’t have everything running at once you often hear this referred to as the diversity factor.

Filling of bottles seems a dark art the figures of 80 -87 % charge constitutes a full charge,,,in reality to do it properly you always use weight not volume.

In the ops case I suspect his exchange canister is suffering from heavy ends thus it became overfilled and the big flames was liquid escaping , once burnt off and equalised explains why now he has a normal flame picture. Heavy ends often occur in bottles infrequently used , lpg is a refinement of oil and the gas reverts back to its oil like state and sits in the bottle, decreasing the volume of space 80 % to pluck a figure can see it overfilled leading to the problems experienced. This also reinforces why bottles should be filled by weight and not volume
 
I got the impression that the OP had only just installed a recently acquired refill.
I can't see this being delivered overweight - surely the manufacturers run an automatic check weight on every bottle on the refill line?
Heavy ends can be a problem on lpg fuelled vehicles because the lpg is drawn out of the tank as a liquid and they collect at the vapourisation stage. Apparently occasional draining of is recommended.
In hab systems oils can get carried out of the bottle to the regulator unless there's a filter or a decent rise to it.
One reads of mixed propane-butane gas becoming mostly butane after a time in colder conditions as the propane boils off first.
With refillable systems this can affect the available gas supply quite markedly over time.
 
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Watched a guy filling bottles in Trivandrum India. There was no observing 80% cut off, he stopped when bottle was full.
Oh, he also had a cheroot in his mouth at the same time. I didn’t hang about to see if it was lit!.
Got an idea they fill ‘em up in Morocco also-
The small bottles anyway- every time I screwed a fitting in a fresh bottle, liquid gas came out.
 
Markd said:
I got the impression that the OP had only just installed a recently acquired refill.
I can't see this being delivered overweight - surely the manufacturers run an automatic check weight on every bottle on the refill line?
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Don’t you believe it we had it occasionally with antargaz in France it didn’t happen often but does happen
 
spigot said:
Watched a guy filling bottles in Trivandrum India. There was no observing 80% cut off, he stopped when bottle was full.
Oh, he also had a cheroot in his mouth at the same time. I didn’t hang about to see if it was lit!.
Got an idea they fill ‘em up in Morocco also-
The small bottles anyway- every time I screwed a fitting in a fresh bottle, liquid gas came out.
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Yes, their idea of health and safety is to only use one hand at a time when patching in to the live wires hanging outside a building. Doesn’t make it a good idea.
 
In the limit most bottles do have a pressure relief valve so if brimmed and heated before consumption then that will go before bottle explodes.
Of course if there's a naked flame nearby it won't be pretty!
 
Okta said:
Yes, their idea of health and safety is to only use one hand at a time when patching in to the live wires hanging outside a building. Doesn’t make it a good idea.
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Yep, seen that as well with a family in a makeshift tent.
The guy shinned up the pole & tapped into the wires so they could have lighting & watch the telly.
 
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