Stupid questions about gas cylinders!

[Pointlessfan]

Just bought a new camping stove with small propane cylinders. I just wondered what people do with them whilst camping? If it's in a hot tent all day won't it explode? Likewise a hot car? Would it be best to just leave it outside the tent?
Can I do this at night too so we don't get gassed to death in our sleep?
Sorry, one more question - is it ok to disconnect it from the stove when not in use or do you have to wait until it's empty?
Hope someone can help me!

I disconnect the stove, making damned sure everything is off first, put the cap back on the gas and leave in the car overnight.

Thank you. What do you do with it during the day?

We take our CO detector with us to avoid, umm, death! We've always kept it in the tent during the day.

Can I ask a stupid question too? We've had our gas canister for a few years now & have no idea how much longer it will last. Can we take it back to the shop to get it topped up? On their website they only talk about exchanging empty ones - we don't really want to wait until it runs out half way through a camping trip!

I think it depends on the canisters. Could you phone the camping shop and ask?
Thanks for reassurance, I didn't want it to explode in a hot tent!

Pointless: are yours the aerosol style canisters? You can remove them half used, yes. I prefer to move all gas out of the tent at night, but I don't think there is any danger from even hot summer temperatures.

AGNu: if you have a Campingaz or Calor cylinder you can simply take it to anywhere that stocks those bottles and exchange your empty one for a full one and just pay for the gas. You can't usually get a refund on the bottle and hand it back unless you can prove (with receipt ) that it came from there in the first place.

Thanks Blu it's actually a small propane cylinder. I think I'm going to put it in the tent by day and outside or in the car at night. We really do need to get a porch for our tent then I wouldn't worry about this sort of thing!

AGnu - try and get a second cylinder so you only swap when the first is empty.

I pick them up wherever I see them for just this reason to avoid anyone having to pay the £40 empty charge for the first one.