While poking around Bunnings this morning I saw some Butane cookers for sale.
Butane cookers of this style were withdrawn from sale or recalled because of explosion risk.
It seems that Gasmate are now marketing an improved model (CS170) that has an AGA certificate because of its 'Shut off Safety device'. Made in China of course.
The one below is the one that failed. From the little information that is on the www it appears there has been a catastrophic failure leading to a fireball that caused serious burns. IMHO the most likely failure is some kind of heat bleed into the gas cylinder causing it to fail suddenly and completely. FWIW I still have my old one and continue to use it. I am carefull to ensure the gas bottle is not exposed to heat as one always would be, when working with pressurised flammable fuels.
I only really use it to boil a billy or a small pot. It is a bit too nasty to be messing about with big hot skillets considering the heat that could spread to the fuel canister.
Santa said
06:44 PM Aug 29, 2015
I simply cant comprehend the " I know there's a problem but I know what I'm doing mentality"
Jafan said
07:04 PM Aug 29, 2015
I had one of those, "had" being the operative word !!!!
Ondabeach said
07:13 PM Aug 29, 2015
From everything I've seen there was never a problem with the cookers themselves but only the canisters. The cookers were taken off the market as a precaution. The cooker can't make the canister explode, it's excess heat from using too large a pan or pot so that it transfers the heat to the canister. The new canisters have an over pressure relief or cutoff valve so they can't explode (in theory).
03_Troopy said
07:29 AM Aug 30, 2015
Ondabeach wrote:
From everything I've seen there was never a problem with the cookers themselves but only the canisters. The cookers were taken off the market as a precaution. The cooker can't make the canister explode, it's excess heat from using too large a pan or pot so that it transfers the heat to the canister. The new canisters have an over pressure relief or cutoff valve so they can't explode (in theory).
If you pull up at a roadside rest area for a cuppa what's wrong with turning the van gas bottle on & boiling the kettle. It sure beats mucking around with these potential fireballs. We carry two full thermos flasks of boiling water to make coffee/tea/packet soup while we're traveling. Simple!
-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Sunday 30th of August 2015 07:58:35 AM
Ondabeach said
08:59 AM Aug 30, 2015
Nothing at all wrong with that DD, but anyone who has a van with that facility wouldn't need to use a portable cooker for making their cuppa.
These cookers only pose a threat to morons who use them in ways that the average person would find impossible to comprehend. Calling them 'potential fireballs' is just perpetuating the misinformation propagated by the sensationalist media. I'm sure you'll find that more people are injured or killed using conventional fixed gas appliances than these portable units.
Stupid people killing themselves is called natural selection... should be more of it
-- Edited by Ondabeach on Sunday 30th of August 2015 09:49:01 AM
Bruce and Bev said
10:03 AM Aug 30, 2015
that I can remember 3-4 people have died this winter in Aust from using things like BBQs as house heaters etc (2 caused fires and the others were from leaking gas from 5 or 9kg bottles). How many houses burn down every year in each State from people who light and keep candles burning when they go to bed and how many die from these fires??
This subject has come up at least 3 times this year and its been flogged to death now ! Theres two sides to it - those that think theyre dangerous and those that will continue to use them.
Can we think of something new to discuss please folks
Ondabeach said
10:09 AM Aug 30, 2015
Bruce and Bev wrote:
...Theres two sides to it - those that think theyre dangerous and those that will continue to use them.
Slight correction needed there Bruce... that should read 'Theres two sides to it - those that think they're dangerous and those that know they're not'
Weevil said
11:32 AM Aug 30, 2015
I saw them on sale at Bunnings again on 17th August 2015, they told me the cooker had been modified but not what, see;
(Read right down the page on the link for that info).
-- Edited by Weevil on Sunday 30th of August 2015 11:43:03 AM
Ondabeach said
12:41 PM Aug 30, 2015
No surprise that the media got their facts mixed up Weevil. They were pulled off the market because they were involved in incidents causing injury, gov's react first, test later. The testing came after they were pulled from the market. In some instances, allegedly, the cooker's valves were found to have failed due to overheating. The majority of cases are the canisters exploding. If the cooker's valve fails then it will spew gas and flame for some time before the canister explodes. If the first sign of something going wrong is the canister exploding then the canister has exploded due to overheating. The cooker's valve failing can not cause the canister o explode. The media, even the ABC, is no longer a reliable source of information... at least not accurate information.
If the same fools use the new ones today in the same way, they will eventually blow themselves up again... well, I live in hope anyway
Weevil said
01:19 PM Aug 30, 2015
I am sure the one I have came with instructions about using oversize pots and pans, and I have no doubt that some (maybe most) exploded due to oversize pots and pans. I have never had any problems with mine, I always make sure the canister is seated correctly and use the appropriate size pots and pans. Will continue to do so, but will use the new type canisters in it (and keep taking the overlapping precautions of the pots and pans etc).
D and D said
01:31 PM Aug 30, 2015
In March 2015 the NSW Office of Fair Trading was the first authority to issue advice that certain portable stovetops using pressurised butane as a fuel should not be purchased by the public and retailers should remove them from the shelves because they had been tested following some that exploded in 2014 and found to not comply with the requirements of the relevant Australian Standards. It is illegal to offer for sale gas products that do not have a valid certificate indicating compliance with the relevant Australian Standards. As many of these stove tops (but not all) had lost their certification following testing they were no longer allowed to be sold. Products being offered for sale now would either have not lost their certification in the first round of testing or have been modified to enable new certificates of compliance to be issued after subsequent testing. bit.ly/1JE1CHo; bit.ly/18VQU0k
A number of other consumer protection and safety authorities have issued similar advisory notices and they can be found using a google search. If you have concerns about whether the products being offered for sale do have valid certificates of compliance contact the relevant consumer protection authority or gas regulatory authority in your state or territory.
Regards
Dave
Cupie said
01:40 PM Aug 30, 2015
Weevil wrote:
I am sure the one I have came with instructions about using oversize pots and pans, and I have no doubt that some (maybe most) exploded due to oversize pots and pans. I have never had any problems with mine, I always make sure the canister is seated correctly and use the appropriate size pots and pans. Will continue to do so, but will use the new type canisters in it (and keep taking the overlapping precautions of the pots and pans etc).
Exactly my thoughts.
I also take extra precautions in where I place the cooker, so that in the event of a failure, it is less likely to injure me or others.
eg. Placing it away from others & having the controls facing away from the user.
ps. Pls note .. It was not my intention to restart the discussion on the safety or danger of the cookers, but just to alert GNs to the fact that they are back on the market.
pps. The one explosion that I have knowledge of was being used to heat a large pot of stew at the time.
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of August 2015 01:41:00 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of August 2015 06:53:08 PM
Sheba said
06:43 PM Aug 30, 2015
Weevil wrote:
I am sure the one I have came with instructions about using oversize pots and pans, and I have no doubt that some (maybe most) exploded due to oversize pots and pans. I have never had any problems with mine, I always make sure the canister is seated correctly and use the appropriate size pots and pans. Will continue to do so, but will use the new type canisters in it (and keep taking the overlapping precautions of the pots and pans etc).
While poking around Bunnings this morning I saw some Butane cookers for sale.
Butane cookers of this style were withdrawn from sale or recalled because of explosion risk.
It seems that Gasmate are now marketing an improved model (CS170) that has an AGA certificate because of its 'Shut off Safety device'. Made in China of course.
http://www.gasmate.com.au/sub-category/stoves-and-cookers/product-code/Camping-Stove/
Only problem is that it is $29.
I think that I will wait until there is competition & the prices fall before replacing any of mine.
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 29th of August 2015 02:28:02 PM
I emailed this Mob several weeks ago, asking them to explain the new safety features,
To this date, there has been no reply,
No-one seems to know what improvements have been made and can-not show me what they are.
Makes me wonder,???
K.J.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-10/scramble-to-determine-safety-of-portable-gas-cookers/6296160
The one below is the one that failed. From the little information that is on the www it appears there has been a catastrophic failure leading to a fireball that caused serious burns. IMHO the most likely failure is some kind of heat bleed into the gas cylinder causing it to fail suddenly and completely. FWIW I still have my old one and continue to use it. I am carefull to ensure the gas bottle is not exposed to heat as one always would be, when working with pressurised flammable fuels.
I only really use it to boil a billy or a small pot. It is a bit too nasty to be messing about with big hot skillets considering the heat that could spread to the fuel canister.
I simply cant comprehend the " I know there's a problem but I know what I'm doing mentality"
I had one of those, "had" being the operative word !!!!
From everything I've seen there was never a problem with the cookers themselves but only the canisters. The cookers were taken off the market as a precaution. The cooker can't make the canister explode, it's excess heat from using too large a pan or pot so that it transfers the heat to the canister. The new canisters have an over pressure relief or cutoff valve so they can't explode (in theory).
See this post:
http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t60771943/lunch-box-cooker-explosion/?page=1#comment-60775501
If you pull up at a roadside rest area for a cuppa what's wrong with turning the van gas bottle on & boiling the kettle.
It sure beats mucking around with these potential fireballs. 
Simple!
We carry two full thermos flasks of boiling water to make coffee/tea/packet soup while we're traveling.
-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Sunday 30th of August 2015 07:58:35 AM
Nothing at all wrong with that DD, but anyone who has a van with that facility wouldn't need to use a portable cooker for making their cuppa.
These cookers only pose a threat to morons who use them in ways that the average person would find impossible to comprehend. Calling them 'potential fireballs' is just perpetuating the misinformation propagated by the sensationalist media. I'm sure you'll find that more people are injured or killed using conventional fixed gas appliances than these portable units.
Stupid people killing themselves is called natural selection... should be more of it
-- Edited by Ondabeach on Sunday 30th of August 2015 09:49:01 AM
that I can remember 3-4 people have died this winter in Aust from using things like BBQs as house heaters etc (2 caused fires and the others were from leaking gas from 5 or 9kg bottles). How many houses burn down every year in each State from people who light and keep candles burning when they go to bed and how many die from these fires??
This subject has come up at least 3 times this year and its been flogged to death now ! Theres two sides to it - those that think theyre dangerous and those that will continue to use them.
Can we think of something new to discuss please folks
I saw them on sale at Bunnings again on 17th August 2015, they told me the cooker had been modified but not what, see;
http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t60716653/single-burner-gasmate-canister-stoves-back-on-the-market-at-/
According to an article earlier in the year they were pulled off the shelf because of faulty shut off valves, see;
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-08/portable-gas-stoves-pulled-off-shelves-after-nsw-warning/6289236
This article below also says there was a fault with shut off valves, but the canisters had been modified as a precaution also, see;
http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/1419-nsw-bans-portable-butane-stove-cookers-lunchbox-cookers
(Read right down the page on the link for that info).
-- Edited by Weevil on Sunday 30th of August 2015 11:43:03 AM
No surprise that the media got their facts mixed up Weevil. They were pulled off the market because they were involved in incidents causing injury, gov's react first, test later. The testing came after they were pulled from the market. In some instances, allegedly, the cooker's valves were found to have failed due to overheating. The majority of cases are the canisters exploding. If the cooker's valve fails then it will spew gas and flame for some time before the canister explodes. If the first sign of something going wrong is the canister exploding then the canister has exploded due to overheating. The cooker's valve failing can not cause the canister o explode. The media, even the ABC, is no longer a reliable source of information... at least not accurate information.
If the same fools use the new ones today in the same way, they will eventually blow themselves up again... well, I live in hope anyway
I am sure the one I have came with instructions about using oversize pots and pans, and I have no doubt that some (maybe most) exploded due to oversize pots and pans. I have never had any problems with mine, I always make sure the canister is seated correctly and use the appropriate size pots and pans. Will continue to do so, but will use the new type canisters in it (and keep taking the overlapping precautions of the pots and pans etc).
A number of other consumer protection and safety authorities have issued similar advisory notices and they can be found using a google search. If you have concerns about whether the products being offered for sale do have valid certificates of compliance contact the relevant consumer protection authority or gas regulatory authority in your state or territory.
Regards
Dave
Exactly my thoughts.
I also take extra precautions in where I place the cooker, so that in the event of a failure, it is less likely to injure me or others.
eg. Placing it away from others & having the controls facing away from the user.
ps. Pls note .. It was not my intention to restart the discussion on the safety or danger of the cookers, but just to alert GNs to the fact that they are back on the market.
pps. The one explosion that I have knowledge of was being used to heat a large pot of stew at the time.
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of August 2015 01:41:00 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Sunday 30th of August 2015 06:53:08 PM
Same here Vic.
Cheers,
Sheba.