How to fit a gas cartridge
Updated: 23 October 2026
The hiss you are worried about usually starts when a can is changed in a porch, or when a thread is forced because the collar looked close enough. This is how to fit a gas cartridge that already matches the appliance: outdoors, flame off, hand tight, and stop if it will not start. If the notch and the screw thread are different parts, do not improvise a fit. Which pack to buy is the [gas cartridge comparison](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/gas-cartridge). The steps below assume you already have the matching resealable can in your hand.
The hiss you are worried about usually starts when a can is changed in a porch, or when a thread is forced because the collar looked close enough.
The hiss you are worried about usually starts when a can is changed in a porch, or when a thread is forced because the collar looked close enough. This is how to fit a gas cartridge that already matches the appliance: outdoors, flame off, hand tight, and stop if it will not start. If the notch and the screw thread are different parts, do not improvise a fit. Which pack to buy is the gas cartridge comparison. The steps below assume you already have the matching resealable can in your hand.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Connection | Resealable claim | Fuel stated | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Green Haven Green Haven C500 butane-propane mix, pack of 12 | EN417 screw | Threaded resealable valve | Butane-propane mix | 9.4 | about £46.48 | View offer |
 Straame Straame 227 g push-fit, pack of 8 | Push-fit | Self-sealing valve | Butane | 9.2 | about £11.99 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  Green Haven Green Haven butane 8-pack, bayonet bullets | Bayonet / non-threaded in the bullets | Non-threaded valve | Butane | 9.2 | about £11.99 | View offer |
On this page
Where you change it
Stand in the open air, with the stove off the groundsheet and clear of the tent door. Liquid Gas UK’s consumer guidance, written with the Health and Safety Executive consulted, says you change a cartridge outdoors, never in a tent or a building. The Camping and Caravanning Club says you never hunt a leak with a flame. A porch, an awning and a car boot count as enclosed.
Keep the can upright. Campingaz UK says connect outdoors and never use a stove or lantern inside a tent. None of the eight listings is identified as a pierceable can. Pierceable cans stay on until empty. A resealable valve has a right-hand thread and may come off before the can is empty. That is not permission to do it indoors. If the stove is still hot, wait until you can hold the burner body. No lighter yet.
The sequence for a resealable can
Close the stove valve and wait until the burner is cool and the flame is out, Confirm the new can is the collar you already matched. Set it upright on level ground. A nicked, missing or flattened seal is a stop. The bayonet listing says you replace a damaged or lost connection seal, and that you change the canister with no ignition sources nearby.
A screw valve turns clockwise until it seats. Snug is enough. Do not use pliers. Open the valve only after the can is seated, still outdoors. If you smell gas before you open the valve, close it, separate the can if it comes off cleanly, and move upwind. Check the joint with soapy water, not a match. Bubbles mean you shut down and do not cook.
Screw and push-fit are not the same motion
A screw can turns. Straame’s listing, the push-fit in this set, says you push and turn. A notched can will not start in a threaded stove, and a C500 will not lock in a push-fit cup. Stop and compare the photo with the stove. Forcing either one is how a seal tears.
Green Haven reviews mention a tight Weber thread and a collar that spins. A spinning collar means the valve body is moving instead of threading. Back it off. A can that still held liquid is still full. Do not invert it. One page says EN417 in the title and bayonet in the bullets. If you follow the title and screw, you are using the wrong motion.
When you stop
Stop when the thread will not start by hand, when the collar spins, when you hear a hiss you did not open a valve for, or when soapy water bubbles. A fixed barbecue on a patio pipe is Gas Safe work, not a cartridge change. Call 999 if an LPG fire has started, or if gas is leaking and you cannot make the can safe outdoors. Headache, nausea or dizziness while a fuel appliance is running means fresh air and help, not a relight.
Do not refill, puncture or cut a can, including one that feels empty. Do not warm it with a flame or boiling water. A flame that dies in the cold is a fuel problem, covered in camping gas cold weather, not a fitting fault. Empty cans stay out of the kerbside bin. Cornwall Council and Suffolk Recycling both say so. Check your own council.
Common questions
Do I disconnect a resealable can before it is empty?
You may, if it is a resealable valve and you are outdoors with the flame out and the stove cool. Liquid Gas UK says resealable cans have a right-hand thread and can come off before they are empty. Pierceable cans stay on until empty. None of the kept titles in this comparison is identified as pierceable. That permission still means hand tight, upright, and no tent.
Can I change it in a porch or a tent?
No. The guidance is open air, not a tent, not a building, and not a hunt for leaks with a flame. A porch and an awning hold gas the same way a small room does. Move the stove outside, wait until it is cool, then change the can. Campingaz UK also says not to use a stove or lantern inside a tent.
What if the thread will not start by hand?
Stop. Do not use pliers. A tight Weber thread shows up in Green Haven reviews, and a spinning collar shows up on the mix 12-pack. Both are reasons to back off and check you have the matching family. Cross-threading ruins the stove socket as well as the can. If it will not start, the can goes back, not into the cupboard as a spare.
How do I check for a leak?
With soapy water on the joint after the can is seated and the stove is still outdoors. Bubbles mean you shut the valve and separate the can if it will come off cleanly. A match, a lighter held near the thread, or a sniff test in a porch is the check to avoid. The Camping and Caravanning Club says you never search for a leak with a naked flame.
What if I still hear liquid after the flame dies?
Treat the can as still holding gas. Straame reviews include a can that felt finished and still had liquid. Do not invert it, do not vent it on purpose, and do not bin it as empty. Change it outdoors as a part-full resealable can, or leave it fitted and upright until you can. Cutting an empty can is not a fix.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs, captured on 20 October 2026. Retrieved 22 October 2026.
- Liquid Gas UK, Consumer Guidance Sheet 28 (2022) (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Camping and Caravanning Club, gas for tent campers (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Campingaz UK, gas families (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Trangia, gas burner guide (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Cadac 2024 consumer catalogue (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Cornwall Council, camping gas canisters (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- WildBounds, camping gas explained (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- LeShuttle, carriage of dangerous and hazardous goods (retrieved 22 October 2026)