8 replies to this topic

[Old Crow]

It appears Mr Heater is beginning to market a new DOT-approved refillable propane cylinder called the Fuel Keg. 

 

This YouTube video compares the new cylinder and its refill adapter kit to the Flame King version you may be familiar with.

 

 

 

Mr Heater Fuel Keg web site

[Vic Harder]

thanks for posting.  I have 4 of the Flame King units.  I WISH the prices were as good as what he claims... up in Canada these refillable tanks are expensive, but I use them just to keep from tossing those 1 pounders.... 

[Old Crow]

Yes, I too thought the price info seemed way off.  He says he paid about $8 per cylinder four or five years ago and they've "gone up a little bit".

 

I'm currently seeing two-packs of the Flame King cylinders on Amazon going for $35 (US) right now and the kit (refill adapter, stand, and one cylinder) is $62. 

 

At this point I'm only seeing the Fuel Keg ones online at Menard's (the home improvement store in many midwestern states).  The cylinder is $18 but if you don't live near a Menard's you have to pay $9+ for shipping.  The kit (refill adapter and stand legs but no cylinder included) is $30 plus $9+ shipping.

 

I see there's a Fuel Keg page on Facebook where someone asks about buying them on Amazon and the reply from Fuel Keg is they will be available at all retailers by the end of Q1 (presumably the end of March).   It will be interesting to see what that does to prices.

 

Side note:  As far as disposing of the throwaway one-pounders, a few months ago I went round-and-round with my county's trash-disposal authority and with my local state park about them.  When I called in to the trash-disposal folks, the clerk told me they had no way of handling propane cylinders and suggested I call my local Agway as they would take them.  Agway said they'd take 20-pound cylinders (for a $2 fee) but not the one-pound throwaways.  I figured my local state park had to deal with campers leaving them so I also gave them a call.  The answer there was they don't take them from outsiders as they have to pay a fee to a local hauler to dispose of them. 

 

For some reason I went back to the web site for my county's trash-disposal authority and I ran onto a page about disposal of pressurized tanks. At the top of that page, there was a statement that tanks containing propane or helium couldn't be left in the trash because of danger of explosion.  But half-way down the page there was an exception.... specifically for one-pound propane cylinders: "Empty 16-ounce propane canisters can be disposed in the regular trash. To empty a 16-ounce propane canister, it must be used on a grill, lantern, or other device until the device turns off because there is no fuel left in the canister."

 

Still, I wanted to be completely sure I wasn't putting anyone at risk so I ordered a pack of valve removal tools. I connected my propane torch to each cylinder to burn off the little bit of remaining gas fumes and then removed the valve from each.  I wrote 'VALVE REMOVED" on each with a marker pen before trashing them.

 

That of course doesn't help when traveling.  I occasionally see cylinder disposal boxes at state or national parks. I  saw them at Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta last Fall and was surprised to see that the pallet-sized, meter-high boxes each had 50 or more cylinders in them.

[craig333]

I have one of the flame king units but I rarely use it. Its more for emergencies than anything else. One of the best mods I've ever done was this one run the bbq off the big tank. I used to run a propane light but no longer. The little led light on the camper is plenty to cook by. 

 

My local propane dealer never has the flame king units in stock for some reason. 

[fish more]

I modified my propane tank fitting similar to Craigs, works great for a back up, BBQ hose and lantern hose. I use the 1 lb tanks for propane lanterns, nice and bright. I have been refilling the Coleman tanks, when they start to expand and don't seal, they then see the trash can.

Edited by fish more, 10 January 2024 - 09:33 PM.

[AWG_Pics]

We avoid the 1 pound tanks by using this attached to one of the two 10 lb propane tanks on the Hawk camper: https://www.amazon.c...le?ie=UTF8&th=1

The biggest downside is getting a little grease splatter on the side of the truck from cooking at the stove on the tire table mounted on the right rear truck tire.

[Cpt Davenport]

We avoid the 1 pound tanks by using this attached to one of the two 10 lb propane tanks on the Hawk camper: https://www.amazon.c...le?ie=UTF8&th=1

The biggest downside is getting a little grease splatter on the side of the truck from cooking at the stove on the tire table mounted on the right rear truck tire.

We do the same thing but added a splitter at the tank valve so we can run the LRC and the stove 

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[AWG_Pics]

We do the same thing but added a splitter at the tank valve so we can run the LRC and the stove 

 

Great idea. The splitter and the LRC makes sense.

[Old Crow]

Here's something I wasn't aware of regarding the Flame King refillables--- you can replace the o-ring.