sbsd2012 Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 Hi We've just bought our first motorhome and it only comes with one gas tank. I've seen the 6kg on eBay (£100) but there seems to be better deals on the Calorlite tanks. I have searched the web and can't find what the difference is? Please can anyone help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Hello, and welcome to the forum. If you get a notice that you have been "banned" when terying to log on, don't be put off - there is a technical glitch with the forum at present. Just close your browser for a few seconds and then try again to log on, and you should be OK. If you are repeatedly "banned" as above, try re-booting your computer. You may find this earlier string on CalorLite exchange cylinders helpful. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Calor-light/58258/#M693000 When you say your van "comes with one gas tank" do you mean that it was supplied with one (presumably) Calor cylinder, or that it can only accommodate one cylinder? In either case it would be helpful to know how many cylinders of what size/s the gas locker can accommodate. This link is to the Calor stockists, so there should be no need to comb eBay or similar. https://www.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/retailers Don't forget there are alternative cylinder gas suppliers: for example Flogas, who may have better supplies/prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbsd2012 Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 Hi Brian, Thanks for the links and guidance. We have been hiring for the last 4 years to find the right layout for us and finally found "the one" for us which we bought last weekend. There is space for 2 x 6kg gas cylinder tanks, but we being supplied with one tank so I wanted to get the additional one so we have a spare/back up. All the motorhomes we have hired had calor tanks, so I had assumed that was the one to get. So, thank you also for information on alternatives that are available. I will do some more research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Calorlite as name suggests is lighter in weight but supplies are virtually non-existent now from Calor dealers and if you can find any they will be on an exchange basis only. Ones for sale on ebay or Facebook Marketplace for £100 are from people who know the shortage and are just trying to make a quick buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 The "CalorLite" 6kg propane bottle was first marketed in 2008, The canister was constructed from lightweight steel and aimed at the caravan/motorhome market where weight-saving was often considered important. Some CalorLite canisters have a magnetically-operated contents gauge; some do not. In 2014 Calor issued a safety recall for all CalorLite cylinders manufactured between 2008-2011 inclusive. In 2017 CalorLite production ceased when testing cast further doubt on the bottles' durability. (Calor stated at the time that the company was researching a new lightweight container to be introduced in 2018, but this has never happened.) https://www.practicalcaravan.com/news/calor-lite-bottles-discontinued The present position with CalorlLite is stated on this Calor webpage https://shop.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/calor-lite.html#:~:text=Existing%206kg%20CalorLite%20customers%20can,and%20may%20be%20purchased%20online. It's perhaps worth emphasising that Calor will always retain ownership of Calor-marked gas bottles and the people who use Calor bottles (who essentially 'rent' Calor bottles) have no right to sell the bottles. (This is similarly true for alternative bottle-hire companies like Flogas.) Gas bottles circulating within Calor's UK network are subject to testing procedures, but such testing won't be being carried out on empty Calor bottles languishing in people's sheds. Given the CalorLite bottle's chequered durability history, it might be worth keeping this in mind where ebay-advertised CalorLite bottles are concerned. As Paulmold has said, exchanging a CalorLite canister on a like-for-like basis nowadays may be very challenging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 An alternative to Calor may be the 'Gaslight' composite cylinders being offered by Homebase, although they are the clip-on regulator style and do seem rather expensive by comparison with Calor! https://www.homebase.co.uk/gaslight-propane-cylinder-refillable-10kg/12804413.html Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancepar Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Your profile doesn't say your location but you could try Tent Hire Walsall. https://www.a2zcamping.co.uk/cylinders-cartridges.html Their the web site says "out of stock" and Receive a priority email as soon as this item becomes available. Dunno if this is still applicable. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbsd2012 Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 Thanks Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbsd2012 Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 Great, thanks Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbsd2012 Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 Thank you everyone for your amazingly helpful feedback and links. We are based in the Scottish Borders (apologies I will see how I update our profile) and am finding it difficult to get the smaller canisters. I will look at alternative providers, but thanks to all your help I have a much better understanding of what to look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 Keithl - 2022-05-25 4:01 PM An alternative to Calor may be the 'Gaslight' composite cylinders being offered by Homebase, although they are the clip-on regulator style and do seem rather expensive by comparison with Calor! https://www.homebase.co.uk/gaslight-propane-cylinder-refillable-10kg/12804413.html Keith. Nowadays "Gaslight" composite propane cylinders are marketed by the Flogas company. https://www.flogas.co.uk/shop/category/all-cylinders Two capacities are offered (10kg or 5kg) with both having a diameter of approximately 305mm, as opposed to the 256mm diameter Calor quotes for their standard 6kg metal propane cylinder. Calor and Flogas are the main UK providers of 'rental' gas cylinders, with Calor dominating the leisure-vehicle marketplace. Calor agents will only exchange Calor cylinders and Flogas agents will only exchange Flogas cylinders. There are some smaller providers (example here) https://www.gas-uk.co.uk/rent-free-gas-cylinders/propane-butane but they won't have the UK exchange-coverage of Calor or Flogas. Where UK-built motorhomes are concerned, it has been commonplace for the dimensions of the gas-locker to be based tightly on storage of a pair of Calor 6kg cylinders, and (in some cases) even if the locker's interior could accommodate a larger cylinder, the locker's doorway has been too narrow for any bottle with a larger diameter than 256mm to pass through it. (It might be useful to know the make, model and age of Stuart's motorhome) An alternative to using 6kg-size 'rental' gas bottles is to choose a user-refillable cylinder with similar dimensions. Gaslow's R67 6kg bottle is a popular choice and there are installation instructions here https://www.gaslowdirect.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Filling-Fitting-Instructions-2014-onwards.pdf 'Autogas' - which is the gas put into user-refillable bottles - is difficult to obtain in some areas of the UK (and the current international situation doesn't help either) but it's an attractive option for motorcaravanners travelling abroad. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/GAS-IN-EUROPE/48534/ There's plenty of online general advice about caravan/motorhome gas (a couple of examples here) https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/advice/equipment/gas-caravans-motorhomes/ https://www.caravanguard.co.uk/news/all-about-gas-for-caravans-or-motorhomes-11701/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deffheads Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 Hi, Rather than going for a hired bottle [Calor or Flogas] buy a Safefill bottle that fits your locker, this can be refilled at most LPG stations especially Morrisons fuel stations much cheaper than exchange bottles. We filled our 10kg last week at 79.9 a litre which is 19 litres of gas. We carry one 6kg Calor and the Safefill, the Calor is only for backup if we can not find a LPG station quickly. Both Safefill and Calor have the same POL left handed fittings and to illustrate the saving on self filling, an exchange Calor 6kg costs over £25 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 The Safefill composite cylinder is available in three capacities https://www.safefill.co.uk/our-cylinders.html but all three have a 310mm diameter, and thus present the same potential storage issues as a Gaslight canister when a motorhome has a gas-locker designed specifically for UK 6kg propane bottles. There has been a good deal of forum discussion about Safefill bottles, not all of it positive. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/search/query.asp?action=search&searchforumid=all&keywords=Safefill&author=&days=&Submit=Search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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