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I'm looking at heaters and ran across the http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/ ... age=search

This unit can run off of a 20lb tank for a LONG time. The question is whether its safe to mount the tank in the rear corner of a 712, or better, say, on the back of the spare tire?

Are you set on a 20lb tank? You can get many different sized tanks down to a 1lb "coleman" type of tank and a 5lb "BBQ" style of tank. One of those would be easier to find a place to mount.

Not at all, i may even be thinking of the 5lb bbq ones when i say 20. I'm just curious of safety

Typical BBQ bottles are 5gallon, which are also 20lbs...
tomAto..tomato

That heater will only run when you're not moving. It has a tip switch that turns it off regularly.

David Dunn wrote:Typical BBQ bottles are 5gallon, which are also 20lbs...
tomAto..tomato

Sorry, typo on my part.

The typical BBQ tank is a 20lb tank that is 5 gallons of propane. They make all the way down to a 1 gallon, 5lb tank and you can even go lower with an adapter is what I was trying to say. I just recently ordered a Volcano II grill that is supposed to run off a 20lb tank. No way was I going to haul one of those beasts around so I bought an adapter from walmart for $15 that allows me to run off those little coleman type green bottles (1lb bottle). That same adapter allows me to refill those little bottles off of a big 20lb tank. I bring two of the little green bottles with me on the trail and never have a problem. They are easier to store and transport and can take quite a beating if you're less then careful with them.

Here is the adapter;

Erik712m wrote:That heater will only run when you're not moving. It has a tip switch that turns it off regularly.

Yup, was hoping i could modify and remove that safety feature

Fleg,

I am on another site for 4x and overlanding and there was extensive opinions and discussion about the refilling of the little green bottles. The consensus was that with the danger of them exploding while refilling, it was not worth the $$$ to do that. This is better left to the professionals.

I would not do it, but then I am an old guy and life is precious to me and for the cost of the small bottles it just ain't worth it. I truly hope you have good luck with this operation.

Stay safe.

krick3tt wrote:Fleg,

I am on another site for 4x and overlanding and there was extensive opinions and discussion about the refilling of the little green bottles. The consensus was that with the danger of them exploding while refilling, it was not worth the $$$ to do that. This is better left to the professionals.

I would not do it, but then I am an old guy and life is precious to me and for the cost of the small bottles it just ain't worth it. I truly hope you have good luck with this operation.

Stay safe.

That is simply absurd but your choice.

I've had trouble with my propane stove in cold weather - that's why I'm going to use kerosene on my next winter outing (and why I've got a kerosene Eberspächer for heat). I suppose if you can get it going then the fact the fuel tank is inside the vehicle will help but have you looked at something like this:

http://www.gradyshardware.com/Sengoku-O ... 76S36U.htm

Even better:

http://www.hurricanelamps.co.uk/paraffin_heaters.htm

The top one on this doubles as a stove so you can be warm and fed!

Fleg:
"That same adapter allows me to refill those little bottles off of a big 20lb tank"

I bought one of those adapters to refill the green cylinders too. I've followed the directions on the adapter (chill the small bottle, turn the 20lb tank upside down etc...) I've never been able to refill one of those more than 20-30% the weight of a new green bottle. The refilled ones run out much quicker, I don't know about safety I just don't have much success. Do you have any better results?

totaljoint wrote:Fleg:
"That same adapter allows me to refill those little bottles off of a big 20lb tank"

I bought one of those adapters to refill the green cylinders too. I've followed the directions on the adapter (chill the small bottle, turn the 20lb tank upside down etc...) I've never been able to refill one of those more than 20-30% the weight of a new green bottle. The refilled ones run out much quicker, I don't know about safety I just don't have much success. Do you have any better results?

I'd say at best I get maybe a 50% fill. One of the reasons why I bring two!!

When I was big into paint balling to get a really good fill with C02 you had to put some C02 into the tank you were filling then release that pressure thus chilling the bottle much colder then only putting the tank into the freezer could do. I suspect the same would happen with those little bottles but I don't want to vent a flammable gas into the air if I don't have to!

In addition to the concerns raised by 'krick3tt' in refilling the bottles, and the limited results in refilling them, just beware of the heater itself. I have one like the model referred to above, and a larger one in the garage, and love them. However I always keep clothing/saw dust and any flamables far away. The burner gets hot! (go figure).
A guy in the next town made the news last year by accidently brushing up against his "Mr Heater" in his shop with a nylon/down jacket and burned himself to death pretty quickly. In the limited room of a moving pinz I would hesitate to use one.
Love my Wabasto, despite it's initial $. Heats the 712 into a sauna if I want it to, will defrost the windshield quickly, or warm my toes depending on where I point the hose.
Ed

Hey totaljoint what is the Wabasto model you are using? I called a distributor yesterday and they told me I can have a 24V model or a gasoline model -not both. And the gasoline model was $1000 more and 3weeks delivery compared to the in stock diesel version. (12,000 BTU diesel = $1350)

For $1000 I will be adding a 2 gal diesel tank and going through the pain of using 2 different fuels.