Hillerange for CD 30

[Larry DeMers]

Troy,

CNG is tougher to compress into liquid state than propane, so there are very few sources for the gas in the US. This is kind of odd as you state, since propane takes 2x the refining to get the finished product, compared to CNG. CNG is essentially methane gas, with a tincture of propane, and other fractions of the distilled oil product added in.

One fairly major difference is that the BTU content of Propane is 2500, while CNG is only 1000. That means that it will take 2x more CNG to do the same job as Propane. However, it burns cleaner, is lighter than air, and *should* be far cheaper than propane, since there is less work involved in producing it.

Cheers,

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30 on Lake Superior (well ok, 50 feet away from the lake, on the hard now)

Of course the real "safe and easy" stove fuel is CNG. Many years ago, when it was introduced to the boating public, it was widely understood to be safer than propane because if it does happen to leak, the vapors drift up and safely away rather than becoming a bomb in the bilge. It was popular and common at one time, but it's no longer readily available. I have no idea what politics or other shenanigans led to the demise of CNG in the market, but the lack of ready availability (compared to less safe propane) is just dumb.

My CD36 came into my life with an old CNG stove. I have learned that I can drive to a certain place in Alabama and get my tanks refilled. This is one of those "word of mouth" connections that I lucked into because of a CDSOA connection. This compared to propane, which though less safe, is on practically every street corner. Go figure.

[John Vigor]

I'll get this out of the way, first. I like pressure alcohol stoves; real stoves with real ovens. I specifically like the older versions with cast burners. They are bulletproof. Check the brushes and replace the Teflon seals once every 30 years.
Ed

Lovely rant, Ed. I'm with you, I'm a pressure alcoholic. A pressure kerosenic, too, I still have a Primus stove in my garage, and a kerosene mantle lantern, both almost new. They're still making them, which proves there's still a demand from sane, reasonable people like us.

Cheers,

John Vigor

[Bruce Bett]

For what it's worth I bought the stove for $200 Canadian, about $162 U.S. at current rates. I took it home and pumped it up to 15 psi. This morning it was at 0. Not surprised. I'll clean the up the fill cap and replace the o-ring. If that doesn't do it I'll remove all the fittings and try a little Teflon tape.

Some of you have suggested that I might be offended by the vehemence of some of the opinions expressed. Not so I have enjoyed the "sparkling repartee", if that's the word I want. More to point the original question of where the tank was mounted was answered. I went to into the cockpit locker next to the diesel tank and found the very screw holes used to mount the bracket. As a bonus another perplexing question was answered, that of why on earth there was an extra fuel line hanging next to the diesel tank and hooked up to nothing at either end.

Thanks again

Bruce