Hi Pete and others. Talking to other Gauge 1 people will tell you that most
of them are using the 80/20 mix with no problems. Some of them live in
Southern areas where temperatures in the 90's and up are not uncommon with
no problems at all.
Tempting "the devil" is never wise and normal precautions of trying to
keep the canisters and engines out of direct sun light when not in use is
certainly prudent. But all in all it's not the kind of thing that should
keep anyone awake at night. And most users will tell you that the mix is
definitely better in colder climates.
Phil.P. Reading,Pa.
> Hi guys,
>
> At 08:12 AM 00-02-22 -0500, Jim Curry wrote:
>
> >The dirty little secret of our engines is the butane won't flow at a
> >reasonable rate below 40 deg. F.
>
> True, an alternative is to switch to iso-butane. It has the same vapour
> pressure as butane, cost about the same, is available in large canisters
> from camping/chandlery shops, but is good to many degrees below freezing
> (can't recall exactly how many).
>
> >I use a 20% mix year round without any problems.
>
> I know a number of people who do the same, and have seen similar comments
> by others. I don't think that the tank exploding is a very likely
> scenario, but the gasket around the fill stem letting go is a lot more
> likely. It would still make quite a fireball/flamethrower if it did let
> go. I would be leery of using this gas mix when steaming at a public
venue
> (a railway show, for instance). An incident in this kind of forum would
be
> the kind of problem the steam fraternity doesn't need. There seems to be
> entirely too many folks anxious to regulate us in some way.
>
> rta,
>
>
>
> Peter Foley
> Hamilton, Ontario.
