OT(ish) - propane gas torch - cheapest?

[David]

Very much a first world problem.

For lighting BBQs and the occasional fire (mainly log burner) I use a weed wand from Lidl with screw in gas cartridges.

Gas pressures being what they are, I seem to spend most of the life of the gas cartridge with low pressure. Enough to do the job, but not very quickly. Being instinctively tight I can't make myself throw away a cartridge that is 75% used up.

Now I have a spare 6 Kg propane cylinder (with a quick release adapter) and also an external gas point on the caravan. So in theory I could switch over to using a propane blow torch both at home and away, and operate mainly at full pressure with a hotter flame.

I have just looked on line and the Screwfix ones are "how much?" but the Amazon ones start at around £15-20.

I have regulators; haven't yet checked if they match the torch. I suspect that I will need another regulator as I'm seeing figures of 0.5 to 4 bar which is lower than the usual camping devices which (IIRC) are between 30 and 50 bar.

"Economy" adjustable regulator.

That would bump the price up a bit. Although some items seem to include the regulator.

OK

Anyone have a recommendation for a cheap and cheerful (but safe) gas torch?

Cheers

Dave R

[David]

<snip>

Ah. Regulators 30 mb or 50 mb which is certainly in the range of 0-4 bar.

The question now is - would one of these be adequate, or is a higher pressure/volum regulator a good idea?

Such as

Cheers

Dave R

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

David pretended :

Large propane torches are typically fed from a adjustable pressure regulator.

You need details of the consumption, Kg per hour, to know what capcity of regulator to buy.

[newshound]

You may be over-thinking it. My "original" torch that I bought to re-plumb my first house in the 1970's runs off a 1.5kg cylinder with no regulator. For larger brazing jobs I have a bigger one, something like this,

that runs off the regulator on a bigger cylinder that I use for a barbecue and a forge. Just adjust the regulator until you get a suitable flame.

You are probably overestimating the amount of "waste" gas in your disposable cylinders. But, as they get low, the pressure drops *as you are using them* because the remaining liquid cools as latent heat is removed and thus its vapour pressure decreases. One answer is to warm up the cylinder by dipping it periodically in a bucket of hand-hot water, which will restore the pressure and let you use all of the gas.

[Tim+]

Seems a complicated/expensive way of lighting a fire.

Have you tried the waxed wood shaving type fire lighters?

I use these all the time with my log burner and find them really good. Much less stinky than regular firefighters.

Tim

[John Walliker]

What's wrong with a bit of scrunched up newspaper? That works fine in our log burner.

John

[Tim+]

In my experience that usually mans faffing with smaller bits of kindling and ?building? the fire. I just use normal sized logs. The main thing is that they work very reliably. With paper I find I sometimes have a failure to ?take off?.

Tim

[The Natural Philosopher]

I agree. and in the case of charcoal, a gas torch is a very quick way to get it well lit

But in te case of my internal fires, the open ones take foot diameter logs and the woodburner stove needs split logs to fit it, and trees come with graduated sized branches to there is always plenty of kindling...but I use firelighters of the paraffin lump sort

So there is always firebuilding to be done.

[wasbit]

And the waxed wood firelighters @ £13+ aren't an expensive way of lighting your fires?

Firelighters in slabs from the likes of The Factory Shop or Poundstretcher cost £1.

2 slab boxes were available for £1.60. Each slab can be cut into approx 30 firelighters.

[Tim+]

Well I don?t actually buy those ones but would agree that they?re not the cheapest way. They are reliable though.

And stink to high heaven. Can?t abide the smell of them.

Tim

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

newshound was thinking very hard :

That is one of the problems of butane - as you use it, it cools the liquid and if it cools enough the pressure falls. On a cold day, it can completely fail to evaporate.

Propane gas is the solution to the issue, it has a much lower gassing temperature.

[John Rumm]

Don't know about cheap, but the traditional way of lighting fires with gas assistance was a "gas poker". You can get LPG versions:

[Andrew]

Or use the 'modern' equivalent ?

[David]

Dual use required. Mainly for lighting variouys charcoal BBQs.

I tend to use firelighters for the log burner most of the time, but can tickle it with the gas torch if the wind is being particularly awkward.

I don't like firelighters with BBQs because of the smell/taste that they impart unless you run the BBQ for an hour or so. I also don't use self lighting charcoal.

Cheers

Dave R

[John Brown]

Not cheap tho and that?s what the OP wanted, cheaper than £15-20.

[Steve Walker]

My parents had one of those, but it was a dangerous affair ... fed by mains gas and switched on and ignited by a mains timer, so that you could lay the living-room fire before going to bed and get up to a roaring fire. Highly dubious if you ask me.

[charles]

Never seen one with a mains timer. How did it light the gas?

[newshound]

Invariably connected with perished natural rubber hoses in the old days!

[David]

Mentioning dual use again :-)

The main use is for lighting the BBQ both home and away. Who knows, one day it might be used for DIY.

Somewhere we have an electric blower which can light coal fires but I haven't used that for decades. Again not much use for a BBQ.

I used to use an electric paint stripper for getting a BBQ going, but that required you to light the BBQ first before blowing it with hot air.

Still no recommendation for cheap propane torch.

Cheers

Davwe R

[John Rumm]

That is dual use - you can light a traditional fire or a BBQ with it. And with LPG it is portable.

Would be ok if at home and near an electrical supply.

The lekky fire starters will do just that - they don't need the fire to be lit first.

You already linked to one in your first post! £15 to £20 *is* a cheap propane torch. Many will cost you several times that.

Keep in mind that you need not only the torch, but also a hose and regulator as well. Ideally they also need to be of adequate quality that they don't set you on fire!

(you can buy the torches without these if you already have them)