UKC

Hello,
I have a Primus stove and they say only to use Primus gas canisters, screw type. I'm sure all the manufacturers say the same.
I can understand that they are probably saying this also as they know the source of manufacture. But is there a real difference between the major brands, like Primus, MSR, Edelrid or Jetboil? Not counting winter gas are their summer gas the same mixtures of propane/ isobutane? I have emailed Primus a few times and they never replied which I think they customer relations is poor.

In reply to sean1:

I tend to buy the cheapest proper season mix threaded canisters. Never had a issue mixing different brand of stoves and canisters.

Only trouble was with a adapter that transforms puncture style canister fo theaded canisters... but thats not really a normal canister setup.

In reply to sean1:

In my experience all threaded canisters are the same.

In reply to sean1:

Nope, no problems as long as you're stickin' to the major brands and they are in fact screw on types.

Campingaz has a gas that is similar, but sans treads, so naturally it doesn't work. And then there is the old punch-through cartridges that won't work either.

You might get some trouble from no-brand stuff, as sometimes the "needle valve" or tread are not according to specs and then the stove doesn't function properly (generally need to open it up completely and you barely get a flame).

and be careful of no-brand stuff, especially if bought from hardware store (and alike), it might be for welding and thus the mixture might be completely off for the stove, perhaps burning too hot.

In reply to Andypeak:

All the canisters I have seen for sale have been the same but I have seen evidence for a different thread standard in eastern europe.

Gave away a spare gas canister at the end of a trip as I couldn't take it on the plane with me. The recipients were a group of czech climbers. When they tried it a sheet of liquid butane shot out from the seal as they screwed it on. Clearly similar enough that the screw threads were somewhat compatible but different enough to be dangerous.

In reply to davidbeynon:


That can and does happen even if they are the same. It's just that they are not manufactured to very tight tolerances.

In reply to Neil Williams:

I had never seen it before, but it is plausible. The stove they were using did look a bit industrial.

In reply to davidbeynon:

I've seen leaks when screwing one on very frequently, it would only take the canister being oriented differently for it to cause liquid butane to spray out.

In reply to sean1:

I've seen problems for Vango stoves with Coleman gas, but theoretically the screw threaded ones should all be compatible.

In reply to sean1:

Thanks Tjin, Andypeak, HeMa, Snoweider, Davidbeynon,and Neil Williams for your reply. You would think that there is a standard within the industry that complies with all equal type stoves and this should set the standard, instead of saying that you can only use our product. Most of the major brands probably come from the same factory?

In reply to sean1:

There is a standard...they just want you to spend money with them!

In reply to sean1:


It´ s EN417 which is a 7/16" UNEF thread and the valve is a Lindal B188. There is another common system which has an unthreaded valve (A4) and there are adaptors available but canister orientation may be important.

In reply to sean1:

It doesn't really matter.

As others have said, screw-on gas canisters have a standard fitting. The relevant standard is EN 417, which describes non-refillable canisters including (but not limited to) screw-on ones. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_417 for info and links. Any stove made to that standard should work with any comparable canister.

I'm not aware of a standard for the contents of gas canisters but they typically contain mixture of propane and butane. The proportions vary (20%/80% or 30%/70% are common), and isobutane performs better than normal butane (esp. in cold conditions), but any stove should be able to burn any available mix.

In reply to sean1:

As others say, in theory other screw fits will be fine.

However, I have found that Primus canisters give me better performance than Coleman or GoSystems ones, but have never worked out why. They seem to work better, and still perform when nearly empty, whereas the others seem to struggle once below 20%. Not scientifically tested, but noticed over a few years, with both Primus and Alpkit stoves, and friends have commented similarly. I don't know why this would be, but haven't compared butane/propane percentages or anything. Could they be under slightly different pressures? I wouldn't have thought so as it only turns to gas once released as I understand it!

In reply to Mal Grey:

I would guess that the Primus canister will have a higher percentage of Propane to Butane. The boiling point of Propane is -42 C and Butane is only -1 C. That is the reason for the gas mix. When I started using a gas stove the performance was very poor in cold weather. The pressure is also greater in a Propane cylinder than Butane.

In reply to andyjohnson0:


"Should" being the operative word. I once bought a canister of gas from Blacks (probably my first mistake) and happily set off for a weekend of wild camping and Munro-bagging in Glen Ey. Only after hiking five miles in to the camp site did I discover that, although the cylinder fit the stove, no gas came out. Fortunately my pal's stove worked OK, but it did create a bit of a bottleneck in our cooking.

The next week I took the canister back to Black's, seeking a refund, and of course it worked fine with the stove they screwed it on to. (They did give me the refund, though.)

The moral of the story seems to be to check that the canister you've just bought does actually work with your stove before you set out into the wilds with them. Unless you like raw bacon and cold beans!

In reply to sean1:

About 10 years ago bought a large and a small canister from a reputable supplier after getting assurance they fitted standard threaded stoves. Camped near Coruisk for a few days and discovered that large canister couldn't possibly fit (can't remember but it may have been a push and turn system?). All canisters seem to have a plastic cover over the screw thread which was why I missed it...obviously the sales assistant had insufficient knowledge too. Ended up soaking pasta etc before boiling and using the resulting water for brews.

In reply to sean1:

Any gas canister with a Lindal B188 valve should be suitable. If you are using it during winter conditions use a propane / butane mix, but if not and summer camping is your game, my best tip is search for an "EPIGAS 3440 ADAPTER" (HEN'S TEETH) and use a Camping Gaz 901 or 904 gas bottle which is reasonably cheap to refill and the gas can be found at multiple locations all over the U.K and also easily found on the continent, especially in France. Search "Coleman C500 Gas Cartridge" for a typical Lindal B188 valve canister. I think this is what you are talking about. Primus are good stoves.