Cooking Stove stopped in cold weather

Water vapor can freeze in a regulator most anytime.

Wrap regulator with a blanket.

donn0128 wrote:
Water vapor can freeze in a regulator most anytime.

Donn That is a good idea. Thanks for that one.
Chuck

Thanks guys for the thoughts, he says he has some insulation and will take the regulator in and warm it up to dry it off. He works about 35 miles from his place so he can also use an heated air blower to warm it up .. Crimminy . KIDS . but he loves it and the pioneer sprit is not gone in our lives.

Have a great Thanksgiving folks.
Chuck

I have a magnetic block heater that I can stick to the tank to warm it up if necessary.

Your son may need to have the propane company inject some alcohol into the tank.

I had this happen last weekend - the first night when the temps got close to or below freezing; I assume the regulator froze; The next morning after the sun came up, things started working again.

Next time, I'll wrap the regulator.

Does propane frezze that much?

Not until it reaches -310f. From - 310f-> -44f it is liquid. Above -44f it is a gas.

I used propane in one of my trailers this morning and the temp was -3° F and had no problems. Sure there was ice on the outside of the tank. Sound like you have some moisture in the lines.

moisture or the "propane" wasn't all propane are likely causes. LPG is a generic term, and in some warmer climates they mix isobutane with it. problem is isobutane boils at near 0F IIRC, way above the boiling point for propane. so as you get near the boiling point,no vapor.

Or, as the tank goes near empty, and if you draw a large amount of propane, the liquid that remains drops way down in temperature and pressure drops and not much flow.

As an example I have a firepit that is rated at 80,000 BTU. Once a 5 gallon tank gets down to about 1 gallon left, at 60F or so, the flame drops way down. it can't boil off fast enough to provide the required gas flow.

So, how big is his tank? How full is it? What is the BTU draw on the stove

The ice on the exterior is just condensation. The tank will drop in temperature due to the expansion of propane. Probably just low in the tanks. Propane will stop turning to gas at about -40. Yes a block heater or battery blanket can be used to warm the lower end of the tank but the propane is still liquid inside.