Exploding fuel bottles
Tim Sheehan
reinforced at the bottom and as a result, have been known
to explode. She told me that MSR fuel bottles are reinforced
and that I should switch.
Does anyone know anything about this. My guess is that it
could happen with a pressurized fuel bottle (one that is
being used as the fuel tank such as with an MSR Whisperlite)
but I have my doubts that this would happen with a fuel
bottle that is just used to carry fuel.
I use an old Svea 123 stove which has its own fuel tank, so
I never pressurize my fuel bottle. So, do I need to worry
about blowing up on the trail?
Any info is appreciated.
--
-Tim-
Mark_Donohoe
: A friend recently told me that Sigg fuel bottles are not
: to explode. She told me that MSR fuel bottles are reinforced
: and that I should switch.
I think this may be bogus. For years, MSR did not make fuel bottles and
most people used sigg as the fuel bottle. Then it seems that as soon as MSR
started making fuel bottles (too small of course!) then there seemed to be
all these stories about how sigg bottles aren't safe etc...possibly MSR
got sued or something. I have used the same sigg for XGK and Wisperlight
stoves for at least 7+ years with no problems or sign of problems.
Plus, pressurizing the bottle alone should not cause it to explode. Leak
maybe....think about the rubber gasket on the stove pump part...that
would probably blow first...or you would see cracks in the bottle and fuel
would leak out... I would think you would have to pump it A LOT and VERY
hard to get an explosion...Don't think this would be possible though....
--
Mark Donohoe (ma...@cup.hp.com)
Mike Quigley
of heat, altitude and hard knocks. No blowouts yet!
Mike
Chris Webster
"blew out" (i.e. like a frozen soda). I think this was from leaving
the bottle pressurized all the time, with constant 5000' elevation
changes & 40 degree temperature swings. The integrity of the bottle
seems fine, but it will not stand up on the bottom.
--Chris
Marty Gelfand
>A friend recently told me that Sigg fuel bottles are not
>reinforced at the bottom and as a result, have been known
>to explode. She told me that MSR fuel bottles are reinforced
>and that I should switch.
Just some more fuel bottle miscellany: plastic fuel bottles can be
chewed through by marauding porcupines (as well as boots, of course).
I learned about this during a recent trip in Rocky Mountain NP.
Aluminum bottles are safe from this threat, I trust?
marty gelfand ma...@amaterasu.physics.uiuc.edu
Ari I Halberstadt
> Just some more fuel bottle miscellany: plastic fuel bottles can be
>chewed through by marauding porcupines (as well as boots, of course).
>I learned about this during a recent trip in Rocky Mountain NP.
>Aluminum bottles are safe from this threat, I trust?
cap and/or cracks along the length. Plastic is also susceptible to many
solvents. Given the flammability, bad smell, high corrosive and soluble
abilities, carcinogenic effects, and any other ugly traits of fuels like
white gas, why would anyone take chances with anything other than a metal
container? My approach is to use the safest practical means of transporting
the fuel, regardless of the possibility of saving a few dollars.
--
Ari Halberstadt a...@world.std.com #include <disclaimer.h> #include <quote.h>
Allen Sanderson
I have a Sigg bottle with same anominally, mine got its from being full
of fuel and being at 35,000 feet. Good thing it did not explode since
I probably be in jail (or dead) right now. (It is illegal to transport
fuel on comercial airplanes)
Allen
Marc Whitney
>: A friend recently told me that Sigg fuel bottles are not
>: reinforced at the bottom and as a result, have been known
>: to explode. She told me that MSR fuel bottles are reinforced
>: and that I should switch.
I have both kinds of bottles. One must be 15 years old. Neither
has exploded yet.
Here's what DID (nearly) explode: The WhisperLite valve that screws
into the fuel bottle has an O-ring that needs to be replaced from
time to time. If it starts to leak, fuel may run down the outside
of the fuel feed hose far enough that it ignites. The flames then
run back to the bottle. Kerblooey!
This almost happened to me. It was prevented only by franticly
shoveling sand over the whole thing. I know of two other people who
have had the same experience. Suppossedly you can inspect the
O-ring and replace it when it starts to show deterioration.
Frankly, I went through that drill regularly and never detected any
change until the thing went up in a ball of flame. (Hmmm, O-rings
seem to have some sort of association with explosions.)
I now use a Peak 1 -- no O-rings.
Bill Gascoyne
size on the Whisperlite and their fuel bottles, so you can no longer buy a
Whisperlite and a Sigg bottle and screw them together.....
Funny how that works, no? :-)
---
1. Bill Gascoyne
Ian G Batten
Bill> Anyone else notice that, along about a year or two ago, MSR changed the thread
Bill> size on the Whisperlite and their fuel bottles, so you can no longer buy a
Could someone confirm this? I have had a Whisperlite for a few years
and was planning to buy a second one for when I want to cook something
more interesting (when we are boot-packing (truck-packing to the
Americans)). If the threads are different --- so I'd have to label the
fuel bottles to use them with the ``right'' pump --- it would be a
severe pain.
ian
Marcus B. Leonard
>> On 27 Aug 92 16:09:44 GMT, gas...@dcst16.dc (Bill Gascoyne) said:
>> Anyone else notice that, along about a year or two ago, MSR changed the thread
>Could someone confirm this? I have had a Whisperlite for a few years
>and was planning to buy a second one for when I want to cook something
>more interesting (when we are boot-packing (truck-packing to the
>Americans)). If the threads are different --- so I'd have to label the
>fuel bottles to use them with the ``right'' pump --- it would be a
>severe pain.
I bought a Whisperlight International and a Sigg bottle at REI three months
ago, and they fit just fine.
However, if you are going to carry two stoves, you may want to consider two
different models. I spent 51 days canoeing in Canada last summer, carrying the
Whisperlight and a Peak 1. The Whisperlight was for boiling things, while the
Peak 1 was for simmering, cooking biscuits, and other tasks that required more
temperature selection between 'off' and 'too damn hot'.
Marc Leonard
leo...@rpi.edu
Marc Whitney
leo...@vccsouth28.its.rpi.edu (Marcus B. Leonard) writes:
>>Could someone confirm this? I have had a Whisperlite for a few years
>>and was planning to buy a second one for when I want to cook something
>>more interesting (when we are boot-packing (truck-packing to the
>>Americans)). If the threads are different --- so I'd have to label the
>>fuel bottles to use them with the ``right'' pump --- it would be a
>>severe pain.
>
> I bought a Whisperlight International and a Sigg bottle at REI three months
>ago, and they fit just fine.
> However, if you are going to carry two stoves, you may want to consider two
>different models. I spent 51 days canoeing in Canada last summer, carrying the
>Whisperlight and a Peak 1. The Whisperlight was for boiling things, while the
>Peak 1 was for simmering, cooking biscuits, and other tasks that required more
>temperature selection between 'off' and 'too damn hot'.
>
call this car camping), the best I've seen are one of the two burner
propane fueled Colemans. You can actually do real cooking in these:
omlets, stir-fry, bacon and eggs, etc. They are actually pretty
low-tech with the result that they are cheaper than a stove you
would carry in the back country. Never again will I sit around a
picnic table balancing bots of pasta on a Peak 1 or Whisperlite!
Thomas J. Trebisky
>If you are willing to have a stove JUST for "boot-packing" (some of
>call this car camping), the best I've seen are one of the two burner
>propane fueled Colemans. You can actually do real cooking in these:
>omlets, stir-fry, bacon and eggs, etc.
You're making me hungry! :-)
I have a 2 burner Coleman aquired at a yard sale for just this purpose,
but what I am in the market for; for car camping is a propane job.
A friend of mine has one under the seat in his VW van. Screw the nozzle
on top of any available feul bottle, snap a plastic base on the bottom
to stablize things. The nice thing here is just twist a knob, light a
match and you are cooking. The other folks are still pumping, pouring,
priming, and fussing. (There is a place for that, but if you are gonna
talk car camping ...... ).
--
Tom Trebisky ttre...@as.arizona.edu
...."There's no sense in being precise when you don't even
.... know what you're talking about."
- John von Neumann
Peter Silsbee
>
>Bill> Anyone else notice that, along about a year or two ago, MSR changed the thread
>Bill> size on the Whisperlite and their fuel bottles, so you can no longer buy a
>
>Could someone confirm this? I have had a Whisperlite for a few years
I had no trouble mixing and matching my 8-year-old Whisperlite and bottle with
a friend's brand new ones this summer.
-Peter
Joe Cline
similar type of blow-out mechanism. While the bottom did bulge out,
the fatal rupture actually occured near the top where the bottle
diameter tapers towards the mouth. It was nothing dramatic; I just
kept smelling the odor of fuel from my backpack. It took a while to
locate the fuel bottle as the source of the odor - the rupture was
small enough to be difficult to locate without close imspection.
I had accidently filled the bottle to overflowing on a *cold*
desert night. The next day it warmed up by about 50 F. My theory is
that the liquid fuel expanded due to the large increase in
temperature. Since there was little or no dead air space in the
bottle, something had to give (liquids are highly incompressible).
Solution? Always leave some empty space in the top of the bottle when
you fill it (you need that space when you insert the MSR pump anyhow
of course).
The thing I hated most about this incident was not losing the
bottle but rather having to dispose of the waste fuel, unburned, in
the desert.
-Joe