Camping Interior Propex
Economy: this is the specs for a modern one from here Average gas consumption 128grams/hour
3.9kg propane cylinder 30.5hrs 4.5kg butane 35.0hrs
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Heat input 1.8KW
Heat output 1.6KW
Voltage 12V or 24V
Current consumption 1.2A cont. running
Air throughput 50 C.F.M.
Hard Starting
Unfortunately, it refused to light. I could hear the sound of the igntion trying to fire up but no warm air. Everything else works fine i.e. the fridge and the hob but not my heater. Are they dependent on gas pressure as I am unsure of the amount of gas left in the bottle? Any ideas before I freeze to death?
Hacksawbob propex wont light if pressure is too low, get a refill and try again. Also if your running blue bottle (butane) this doesn't like the cold so wont light. ( Only solution is to warm the bottle (I've heard of people taking it into the shower with them on campsites!) or upgrade to propane (red bottles) you'll need to change the regulator too. I have an autohomes and the red bottle wont stand up in the cupboard so lie it down when not in use and secure it some how for driving.
Aidan: Modern version needs to be used regularly cos there's a secondary passive fan with an optical sensor in the air flow to check the flow is as required, part of interlock for CE approval that old ones didn't have apparantly. If not used the bearing grease in the passive fan goes a bit thick and so when the blower notor blows the fan doesn't spin fast enough to activate the optical sensor so locks out. I phoned Propex when this happened to me and the advice was take an airline with nozzle on and blow through the external pipes in the inlet which will spin up the passive fan, after about thirty secs the grease will be redispersed and the thing will then light ok when you go through the normal start. Worked fine for me, I used an old sock to seal the inlet end with the air line blower attachment. Top tip from Propex and it's in the manual is run the heater every month, even in the summer just to keep it free running and ready to light when you really need it.
