Anyone running a butane-fired live steam loco is aware of the issues with gas sources and can adaptors. I recently had an adapter fail so I did another round of ordering parts and making some more. I thought it might be of interest.
The least expensive source of butane is the gas canisters sold at Asian or Korean groceries. These are advertised at Walmart.
I pay about $5 for a 4-pack. They are used in small counter-top stoves and have a pickup tube inside that is biased to one side - more on that later.
When I got home from my recent vacation, there were many small packages in the pile of mail. Here’s what I bought:
All of these are sold for camping use, on the small propane stoves. Their idea is to use cheap butane instead of ‘camping gaz’ (iso-propane, a mixture of butane and propane.)
There are two pieces of each adapter, sometimes three. One fits on the gas can to make it look like a propane tank. The other screws on a propane tank to adapt it to filling a gas cigarette lighter. [First time I bought some, they were sold as ‘Dunhill Lighter’ adaptors. Not today - guess dunhill lighters are defunct.]
Here’s the basic components. On the left is a can adaptor with a threaded outer end. On the right is a ‘gas lighter’ adapter. The important feature of the latter is that it incorporates a valve, so the gas flows only when you press it on the loco’s gas valve.
This pair is actually my original adapter which failed. There is a tiny O-ring inside the can adapter that fits and seals over the can nozzle. It has disappeared and doesn’t seal these days.
So on to the new ones. On the left is an “Optimus Refill Adapter” which I acquired from Summit Hut [ www.summithut.com ] for $6.99. As you may note on my first photo, it comes with a lanyard, but it is easily removable. On the right is my Dunhill adaptor, now sold as a “Soto Fill Adapter” by Back country gear [ http://www.backcountrygear.com/ ] for $12.95. It comes with a loop that is also easily removed.
Another type of can adaptor is available, so I bought one for $2.59 from aliexpress.com (all the rest of the stuff came from Aliexpress, except the piezo lighter which I am still experimenting with.)
These twist onto the can:
And to use it, you just push down on the filler to open both the valve on the can and the valve on the gas tank.
Here’s the third version. Sometimes you can’t get the big can tip into the cab of the loco, so you need something longer or flexible. I have an Accucraft ‘gas adapter’ tube on a flexible hose from one of the legged adapters, and I was looking for something more robust.
Not sure which stove this works with, but the other end has a manual valve and attaches to the can adapter. This cost $5.80 from aliexpress with the valve but not the can adapter.
The tip is recessed, and seems to fit over our Ronson filler valves. I had thought I’d need to make something, but it seems not.
Using these is trickier than just having a longer fill tube (which would be easy to make to fit the ‘lighter’ adaptor.) I’ve got used to it - you tuck the can under your arm and hold the pipe on the filler (see below.) The other hand turns the gas on and then steadies the loco while you fill.
Finally - I said I would get around to it - there’s the question of the can position. The ‘feet’ on the plate-type adapter are designed so the can sits on the ground horizontal with the feed tube at the bottom. See following photo which shows the internals of the can. Note the big cut-out in the lid is in the same position as the fill tube - so keep that at the lowest point.
