renegadecow Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 I was supposed to make my own gas can from a propane adapter and some aluminum tubing not wanting to pay for one of AIs cans (I'm cheap plus I find them a little too fat to fit in a pocket) when I realized I could simply use depleted butane cans, the ones used to refill lighters and such. My idea was to drill a hole in the bottom where I can braze on a brass fill valve but then thought I could easily fill it from the top like how they're filled to begin with at the factory. So all I basically did was "make" an adapter hooking up the spent can and the filling can be it propane, 134a or green gas. I put make in quotations as there's really not much work involved. What you need: 1 gel pen, 1 empty butane can. Open up the gel pen and cut off about an inch off the end of the ink reservoir. The tube cut from the pen is a snug fit and gas tight bridging the two cans without even needing an o-ring in between. To fill the butane can properly you need to keep it at a lower temperature than the bigger can or very little liquid propellant will actually make its way through. You can do so by sticking the butane can in the freezer for a couple minutes or keep it bathed in cool water as you refill it. The recycled can is much smaller in diameter than the one by AI so fits pockets much more easily. The size I used can fill a regular pistol magazine about 3-4 times which is handier for refilling other things particularly revolvers, rifles, and other guns that use gas in gun systems. edit: It's also more convenient in refilling Tanaka revolvers with small cylinders where normal sized cans get in the way. Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Love it. Well done sir Link to post Share on other sites
DeltaZero Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Very clever and so simple! Well done! I'll be using this! Link to post Share on other sites
bankz5152 Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Thats fantastic. One of those ideas 'Why the hell has no one done this before!' This I will be doing. The AI cans are terrible anyway, leak like bandits. I fixed mine then 2 weeks later it leaked again :/ Link to post Share on other sites
ED-SKaR Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 The only problem with this technique is that I don't smoke. Link to post Share on other sites
Imperator Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 This is brilliant!Thank you RC! Link to post Share on other sites
renegadecow Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 You're welcome! And Ed's reminded me about one important thing: if you have smokers in the house, relabel the can if you're putting green gas or propane in it to avoid accidents. Many cigarette lighters (like the cheap transparent ones) can't handle propane and will explode if you try to refill them. Link to post Share on other sites
luke213 Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 The only thing I wonder is about the pressure difference is the butane can capable of handling the propane pressure. Do we have any idea max pressure on them? Just thinking it blowing up in a pouch from over pressure would be very bad. Luke Link to post Share on other sites
Horsem4n Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Not to be a kill joy, but in the US, refilling those cans is illegal. Just be careful. Link to post Share on other sites
bankz5152 Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 So refilling propane tanks but it still happens. on my phone, my spelling will suck Link to post Share on other sites
renegadecow Posted March 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 The only thing I wonder is about the pressure difference is the butane can capable of handling the propane pressure. Do we have any idea max pressure on them? Just thinking it blowing up in a pouch from over pressure would be very bad. Luke Depends on the can. The valves are identical with green gas cans but the can itself can vary from pressed aluminum to rolled steel. The smaller ones like the one I used are aluminum which is also what the much larger green gas cans are made of too. I couldn't find any actual numbers from can manufacturers (though I do know they're supposed to withstand a lot more pressure than what they're normally meant to hold) but found one from a cooking stove. They have an internal safety device which turns on if the can starts expanding when it reaches 200psi. To get propane pressure that high it would need to be over 43°C so basically keep it in the shade and don't leave them inside vehicles to cook under the sun; basically the same safety rules as green gas. When I come across another empty can I'll try testing it to destruction and measure the wall thickness vs green gas cans though right now they seem to be just about the same.Regarding the refilling of canisters in the US, that's more to do with washing of hands for any legal liabilities on the manufacturers part. When they do refil cans they go through a series of tests (mostly common sense) which they don't expect every regular Joe to follow on their own. Link to post Share on other sites
luke213 Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Yeah I wasn't knocking the idea I dig it more just was thinking out loud;) That said you bring up a good point about green gas cans. It has been so many years since I used one I forgot not everyone uses propane tanks;) They are fairly thin and probably this is just as safe as those cheap cans they use. Luke Link to post Share on other sites
heroshark Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Humm, think I'll be refilling my 100ml smart gas cans from now on. Link to post Share on other sites
Siavash Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Great idea!! Defo will do it!! Link to post Share on other sites
hotelkilo Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 many years ago kwc gas pistols came with a tiny gas can filled with 134a, and a retailer in reading used to sell these cans seperately http://www.greekairsoft.gr/eshop/img/p/6/6/1/7/6617-large.jpg i still have one of these and have refilled it hundreds of times with green gas using a similar method as mentioned it is possible to keep adding more gas by freezing the receptive can for a few minutes between attempts to fill, be careful though because it is possible to overfill the can. if i do overfill the smaller can it is quite obvious though, so then i just let some gas out i am not recommending anybody does this at home, i am just talking about my own experiences to add to the discussion Link to post Share on other sites
scorch Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 This will be very useful now that I'm using gas weapons more. Link to post Share on other sites
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