Gregandmich Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 We're in France and can't get the propane fittings. Our French is pretty poor so having a bit of a nightmare. Currently near lac de st croix. Can someone advise how we get the connector from uk to French fittings so that we can buy the gas. Many many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 You don't say which type of gas you are using. If you are using Calor then you won't get any replacements in France. I don't know of anyone in France that would fill a bottle like they do in Portugal. To use a French bottle then you will need a regulator that you can usually get from the same place as the gas bottle, they usually charge about 10 euros for the regulator. You may need to change the pigtail if the one you have is different but these can be obtained from a caravan shop quite easily. We always have a French bottle (Repsol) and the appropriate regulator and pigtail as a backup. The Repsol can also be exchanged in Portugal and Spain. If you are using refillable bottles then the only way is to get someone to send you the appropriate fittings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Gregandmich. An adapter exists that can be used to convert a UK-norm propane gas-bottle POL connector (as used with Calor propane canisters) to the 21.8LH connector used on Calor 4.5kg butane canisters and on larger French steel gas canisters (propane or butane). There’s an example here http://gasproducts.co.uk/propane-pol-to-butane-adaptor.html?gclid=CKyqy8iB7s0CFQPgGwodiO0BNg However, although this adapter is marketed in France, the likeiihood is small of finding anyone there who carries one in stock. If your motorhome’s gas system has an ‘on-bottle’ regulator you’ll need to change this for a French propane regulator. If your motorhome’s gas system has a bulkhead-mounted regulator connected to your UK gas-bottle by a flexible gas-hose (‘pigtail) you’ll need to change that hose for a French-norm gas-hose. There is also the matter of which French gas-bottle you choose to obtain, as the connection of small-capacity French bottles differs from that of the large steel ones. For safety reasons I advise you VERY STRONGLY to visit a French motorhome or caravan dealer who should have suitable regulators/gas-hoses in stock and will quite likely be familiar with UK tourists having your sort of problem. (Nowadays most larger French leisure-vehicle dealerships will have some member of staff that can handle the English language.) For the same safety reasons I suggest you DO NOT rely on the expertise of well-meaning staff at DIY stores or fuel service-stations. To avoid potential catastrophe you need someone who fully understands motorhome/caravan gas systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentish lady Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Hi we had the same problem with the propane gas bottles in france. we used repsol in portugal and spain. we understood you could not get repsol bottles in france, to buy or exchange. if anybody has managed to exchange in france, would be grateful of any information. We went to electra DIY, to investigate gas bottles. they were extremley help full, but the shop could not help us with anything they stocked. luckily we had a selection of regulators in the motorhome, the man in shop looked at them and we had one regulator to fit the cube 6kg propane bottle. if we did not have this we would have run out of gas. the regulator we had that fitted the cube was 21mm id push fit. the cube is expensive! A deposit of 30 euros and then 17.50 to purchase the gas. if you buy the cube you will have to fill in a form and you will need a french address, luckily we had already read this on a forum. so i just used a french aires address, i had written on a piece of paper. someone had also said they used a french campsite address. the diy shop dont check address as paper work gets sent of to cube office. you get a copy, so if you want your deposit back (return your bottle) you have to give your copy of the paper work to the shop. we had no problem in finding places, to exchange the cube when we ran out of gas. i think as previous post, we also would have had to find a caravan/motorhome shop. sorry,if this doesnt help you right at this moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Kentish lady - 2016-07-14 12:51 PM Hi we had the same problem with the propane gas bottles in france. we used repsol in portugal and spain. we understood you could not get repsol bottles in france, to buy or exchange. if anybody has managed to exchange in france, would be grateful of any information. We went to electra DIY, to investigate gas bottles. they were extremley help full, but the shop could not help us with anything they stocked. luckily we had a selection of regulators in the motorhome, the man in shop looked at them and we had one regulator to fit the cube 6kg propane bottle. if we did not have this we would have run out of gas. the regulator we had that fitted the cube was 21mm id push fit. the cube is expensive! A deposit of 30 euros and then 17.50 to purchase the gas. if you buy the cube you will have to fill in a form and you will need a french address, luckily we had already read this on a forum. so i just used a french aires address, i had written on a piece of paper. someone had also said they used a french campsite address. the diy shop dont check address as paper work gets sent of to cube office. you get a copy, so if you want your deposit back (return your bottle) you have to give your copy of the paper work to the shop. we had no problem in finding places, to exchange the cube when we ran out of gas. i think as previous post, we also would have had to find a caravan/motorhome shop. sorry,if this doesnt help you right at this moment. We used to get our Repsol exchanged at our local E-leclerc in the Charente. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Randonneur - 2016-07-14 1:13 PM We used to get our Repsol exchanged at our local E-leclerc in the Charente. TOTAL subsumed the French gas-bottle-related Repsol subsidiary in 2014 and new gas-bottles were then branded “SOGASUD”. http://www.sogasud.fr/ Apparently 'Repsol France' gas canisters can still be exchanged for Sogasud canisters, but I was under the impression that 'Repsol Spain' gas-bottles could not normally be exchanged in France for 'Repsol France' bottles because the Spanish connector differed from the French-norm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Derek Uzzell - 2016-07-15 8:13 AM Randonneur - 2016-07-14 1:13 PM We used to get our Repsol exchanged at our local E-leclerc in the Charente. TOTAL subsumed the French gas-bottle-related Repsol subsidiary in 2014 and new gas-bottles were then branded “SOGASUD”. http://www.sogasud.fr/ Apparently 'Repsol France' gas canisters can still be exchanged for Sogasud canisters, but I was under the impression that 'Repsol Spain' gas-bottles could not normally be exchanged in France for 'Repsol France' bottles because the Spanish connector differed from the French-norm. Our current Repsol was obtained in Portugal when we exchanged our French Repsol bottle. We got the last French one in 2013 and left France for Uk in 2013 so unaware of any change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I notice that the ability to exchange Repsol gas-bottles in France, Spain and Portugal was mentioned here, and that it was said that all those bottles were identical: http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/repsol-gas-in-portugal/39969/ Having looked futher at the SOGASUD website it’s evident that SOGASUD-branded bottles (and presumably the previous Repsol France bottles) have the same outlet as Spanish and Portugese bottles, so my earlier comment about the French-norm bottle-connector was not relevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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