johnfromnorfolk Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Newbes first motorhome trip to France next week for three months. Taking calor gas as a backup but need to purchase a French gas bottle. Can any of you very knowledgeable folk please advise me which gas I need to buy and where I may find an outlet? Our route from Dunkirk takes us along the West coast of France to the Pyrenees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
multiplamum Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 We used Le Cube which was available everywhere,(garages, supermarkets etc), but you will need to get the correct size connectors which you can buy before you go. Unfortunately Calor is not compatible with any if the French brands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Something like half of all supermarkets and fuel stations will have a selection of at least 8 different brands of gas. Cheapest, and with the smallest deposit, will be supermarket own brand, eg SuperU. Buy propane rather than butane in case you need to use it in winter. Buy a hose to connect to your regulator with a 21.8 LH thread as your calor bottle has a different connection to French bottles. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombies Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Similar to whats been said Go to a major supermarket Hyper U / L eclerc they will sell everything - all your camping stuff as well as decent engine oil/filters anti freeze etc, buy a regulator (screw on type) circa 8euros and then to the filling station for a bottle, approx 35 euro deposit Instead of going straight down to Northern Spain I recommend a drive through the Dordogne - Brantome down to Sarlat, Beynac and work you way through the Lot towards Biarritz, unless of course you have been before but its a must see area. In the Vendee just a few km off the motorway is Mervent and Vouvant (inland) and a few km towards the coast is Coulon (I think Deux Sevres region), nice little places, obviously lots of places for your van. Wish I was going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheer lunar-see Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi johnfromnorfolk, what other posters have forgotten to tell you is, at most supermarkets you will need to give an address to obtain a bottle on contract hire, but if you visit a dechetterie on your route, you will see the signs, you can possibly pick up an empty bottle for a couple of euros, you can check the size and fit for your gas compartment before you buy, you can buy a adaptor from calor propane to gaslo bottle, which will fit the French bottles, but if you have time and money I would go straight to Gaslo reffilable system, it will pay for itself in no time!!! Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Hi JohnfromNorfolk and welcome I use two propane Le Cube bottles. These was chosen as they are lighter to carry, easily obtainable and fit well in my gas box. They also work perfectly well with the fittings already on my gas pipes. The regulators are the clip-on type 27mm(the same that fit the BP light bottles in the UK) so I never have to change any fittings, just unclip the bottle, change it and clip back on. My m/home is a 2001 so does not have new fittings. If your van has the new style fittings you will have to buy connectors, probably in the UK. Supermarkets are your best bet for special offers but I recommend Le Cube highly - much cheaper refills too than in the UK. This is the type of connector you will need: http://www.leisureshopdirect.com/caravan/gas/product_35408/27mm_adaptor_for_french_le_cube_and_bp_lightweight.aspx but would probably be cheaper in France. Whichever bottle you choose you will have to pay a deposit ( look out for offers) but keep your receipt safe in case you want to change to another brand as you will get back some of it . Only lasts a few years though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfromnorfolk Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Many thanks for all your excellent advice. I’m looking forward with more confidence to an exciting three months in France. Yes Zoombies we will be visiting the Dordogne area. Thank you all once again and happy and safe motor- homing to you all. John and Jane – The Grey Nomads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildi Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 If you plan on long trips it may be worth looking at refillable bottles like Gaslow, Fit one and have a Calor as back up will keep the cost down. Out of interest I filled mine up the other week at Leclerc and the girl at the payment cabin came out to look at my bottles before she would set the pump, no problem though and let me fill up 16 euro for 22L about £11.70 for a 11kg bottle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 To all of which I would add: 1 Will you use campsites or aires? If campsites, with EHU, you will use a lot less gas than on aires. It is debatable whether refillables would be cost effective if using sites, taking account of the initial cost and the inevitable cost of gas consumed. If using aires then the economics would probably favour refillables. 2 How large is the gas locker? If it will take two 13kg cylinders, I'd suggest getting one 13kg Butagaz propane cylinder on arrival in France. Butagaz is the most widely available bottled gas in France, and therefore the easiest to exchange when needed. Be cautious of the supermarket "own brand" gases, they will only be exchangeable like-for-like, and the various supermarket chains are not evenly represented in all regions of France. The pigtail connector is the same type as a UK butane connector, so easily bought before you go. 3 Depending on the age of the van, you may have a bulkhead mounted regulator (more recent vans) or a cylinder mounted reguator (older vans). 2 above is true only for the bulkhead mounted variety. 4 A number of French suppliers have patented "snap on" connectors. Have a look at the Gaslow website for "universal" snap-on connectors. 5 If the gas locker will take only 6kg cylinders, be careful what you buy in France, as most of the available options are of different size/shape to a Calor 6kg, and not all will fit. Make sure to measure the space in the locker before buying, and try to get an agreement to try a cylinder for size first. I think it fair to say the most commonly available are Twiny and Le Cube. For either of these you will need to get the correct adaptor/connector. 6 For all of the above I would suggest supermarkets as the best place to buy. Many wayside filling stations are now unmanned (automated, card only, pumps, or manned only for relatively short periods), so getting assistance while buying a cylinder is likely to be easier at supermarkets where there is usually a manned booth. Try to arrive mid-morning. It seems many of the manned supermarket filling stations only have someone in the booth between 08:00 and 12:00, with quite a number not re-manning the booth again after 14:00. About 11:00 should be fairly quiet. The attendant will have to lock and leave the booth to serve you with gas, and that will potentially cause problems at busy periods. Between 11:00 and 12:00, is when many French ladies do a mid-day shop, with the period running up to 12:00 becoming quite frantic in some places. I think you will have to sign a supply contract for at least Butagaz, and will be directed to the customer service counter in the store to do this before the gas will be supplied. I did, but that was 2005. Anyone who has got one more recently should be able to say whether this is still the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfromnorfolk Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Hi Brian Many thanks for the useful information and advice. This is the full situation. We recently purchased a 2013 Swift Sundance and intend to tour France for three months using Aires, Acsi sites and trying a bit of wild camping. Our Swift has a fitted regulator and I have two (full) 6kg Calor Propane gas bottles. Although I can use my electric hob when hooked up and do not expect to use much gas for heating, I do not wish to be concerned with running out of gas. It was my intention to take just one of my Calor bottles as a backup and purchase one French bottle. Am I being over cautious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
multiplamum Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 johnfromnorfolk - 2015-06-07 1:50 PM Hi Brian Many thanks for the useful information and advice. This is the full situation. We recently purchased a 2013 Swift Sundance and intend to tour France for three months using Aires, Acsi sites and trying a bit of wild camping. Our Swift has a fitted regulator and I have two (full) 6kg Calor Propane gas bottles. Although I can use my electric hob when hooked up and do not expect to use much gas for heating, I do not wish to be concerned with running out of gas. It was my intention to take just one of my Calor bottles as a backup and purchase one French bottle. Am I being over cautious? Our gas cupboard us quite small so only le cube would fit in. We took out one of our Calor bottles and took a full one and then purchased le Cube when it ran out and replaced that as and when. Regarding address required on form: - they were not too bothered in the shop and we gave the address of the site we had stayed on the night before!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 johnfromnorfolk - 2015-06-07 1:50 PM Hi Brian Many thanks for the useful information and advice. This is the full situation. We recently purchased a 2013 Swift Sundance and intend to tour France for three months using Aires, Acsi sites and trying a bit of wild camping. Our Swift has a fitted regulator and I have two (full) 6kg Calor Propane gas bottles. Although I can use my electric hob when hooked up and do not expect to use much gas for heating, I do not wish to be concerned with running out of gas. It was my intention to take just one of my Calor bottles as a backup and purchase one French bottle. Am I being over cautious? No, I think you're about right. If you do as you intend, using the Calor as back-up, you should be fine. I'd get the Cube or whatever as soon as practical after you arrive in France, so that you minimise demand on the Calor until you work out how fast you empty a Cube. Perhaps multiplamum could give some idea how long hers last, to give you some idea of what to expect? We find one 13kg cylinder generally lasts us a bit over three months, but we almost invariably use sites and their facilities so hardly ever heat water, and we don't have an oven or grill. You will inevitably use more when on aires or wilding, as the fridge will be on gas 24/7, and you'll presumably also be using the water heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Johnfromnorfolk As has been advised above, your best bet is probably the "Le Cube” container. http://www.castorama.fr/store/Charge-cube-5-kg-propane-Butagaz-prod4460003.html There are other small-capacity French gas bottles (eg. Twiny, Elfi, Malice) designed to ‘stack’ one on top of another, but these have a larger diameter that may be critical where a small gas-locker is concerned. Le Cube dimensions are 355mm(height) x 282mm(width) and it contains 5kg of propane or 6kg of butane. The empty weight varies from 5.5kg to 8.5kg according to the year of manufacture. The deposit required when obtaining a ‘new’ Le Cube is currently 29€ (though vendors may have special offers) and a ‘refill’ around 19€ - so expect to pay about 48€ for a bottle initially. The Le Cube’s design means that the 27mm clip-on connector needs to have a high-mounted outlet to accept a gas-hose (ie. as shown in the link Patricia provided in her posting of 7 June 2015 12:08 AM) and (as kev advised earlier) the gas-hose itself will need to have a 21.8LH end-fitting (as used with UK Calor 4.5kg butane canisters) to allow it to be attached to the clip-on connector. You MAY find that, when first obtaining a Le Cube, a ‘full pressure’ clip-on connector will be offered free of charge (or if you ask for one) though I would not rely on this happening! The French asking-price for the connector is currently around 15€ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfromnorfolk Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Brian and Derek Many thanks Brian and Derek for all your detailed and informative comments. I will use the information to find a Le Cube as soon as possible on arrival in France. As a relative newbe to Motor Homing and to The Out and About site, I have found subjects discussed very useful and interesting. Thanks once again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 In addition to Dereks info can I add that Butagaz in the 13Kg size is available in both Butane and Propane and takes the same regulator. My Supermarche Gaz (Simply/Auchan) is only available in Butane.If you are on site remember that you may well be limited to 6A which will limit your options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfromnorfolk Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Update from France. Have managed to obtain and fit a cube gas cylinder that only just fitted alongside my calor gas cylinder. A few millimeters larger and it would not have fitted in my gas locker. The purchase and fitting proved problematic. It needed the very grateful help from a shop assistant in a B and Q type of warehouse to assist, advise and supply (free of charge) the parts we required. Our motorhome fitted regulator was a problem with the Cube regulator that comes as part of the Cubes set up (if that makes sense). We now have two regulators in line that the very nice, helpful lady informed us would be o.k. All appears to be working - so we're looking forward to three months worry free touring in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coach2000 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Hi John. I had problems with this arrangement of 2 regulators in line as they are not designed to operate in this way. I have a Truma blown air heating system and the pressure was too low. If I remember rightly the hob rings jets were also smaller than they should be. The reason I ended up with 2 regulators was that I already had the Le Cube from a previous van. If you do have problems you can get round this by changing the regulator on the bottle for a valve that only opens and closes without regulating the pressure. You can get these off the internet. Or do away with the fixed one. If your gas system seems to be working ok with more than 1 item turned on you may be alright but be prepared for the worst. Clive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 johnfromnorfolk - 2015-06-17 8:34 PM Update from France. Have managed to obtain and fit a cube gas cylinder that only just fitted alongside my calor gas cylinder. A few millimeters larger and it would not have fitted in my gas locker. The purchase and fitting proved problematic. It needed the very grateful help from a shop assistant in a B and Q type of warehouse to assist, advise and supply (free of charge) the parts we required. Our motorhome fitted regulator was a problem with the Cube regulator that comes as part of the Cubes set up (if that makes sense). We now have two regulators in line that the very nice, helpful lady informed us would be o.k. All appears to be working - so we're looking forward to three months worry free touring in France. John Unfortunately the French shop assistant's lack of leisure-vehicle experience (and your own innocence) has resulted in the system you now have being unsuitable. As Clive advises, you should not have two regulators ‘in series’. The system may work after a fashion but, as the gas pressure is being regulated twice, gas appliances with a high demand (eg. gas heaters, ovens, hobs) may well be unable to attain maximum output. Your 2013 Swift Sundance already has a bulkhead-mounted 30mbar regulator and - in order to connect to a “Le Cube” bottle - you should use (as Patricia said in her earlier posting of June 2015 12:08 AM and I repeated subsequently) a ‘full pressure’ 27mm adapter that clips directly on to the Le Cube bottle and attaches to the gas-hose leading from the bulkhead-mounted regulator. Patricia provided a link to a UK supplier of the adapter, but it should be easy enough to obtain in France. This is what you should use, replacing the on-bottle regulator currently fitted to the Le Cube bottle http://www.laboutiquedebob.butagaz.fr/bob/clip-direct-butagaz and it’s likely that most French caravan/motorhome dealerships will stock it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Coming to this thread rather late, but quite why anyone would advise all the faffing about with French bottles I simply cannot understand, hundreds of GPL outlets that enable self service refilling of a fixed refillable bottle makes life very simple. A single bottle is all that's needed, so absolutely no need for spending hundreds of pounds, I'd urge anyone "doing" Europe to go the refillable route, and leave the French to faff around with conventional bottles whatever their shape lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 This is what you should use, replacing the on-bottle regulator currently fitted to the Le Cube bottle http://www.laboutiquedebob.butagaz.fr/bob/clip-direct-butagaz and it’s likely that most French caravan/motorhome dealerships will stock it. Exactly like one of mine Derek which I obtained 2-3 years ago at a supermarket (Intermarché?) kiosk in France. The original one is similar but just a different colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Hi folks, I see that no one has dared mention the solution that I have..yes it is not the cheapest, but works fine for me.. in my gas locker, I have 3 camping gas 3.9kg bottles..basically leftovers from yesteryear when we had a v w campervan.. hypers sell refills, and the gas locker also houses the various tap connectors, the electric hookup cable, and the waterhose with 4 different adaptors..it also houses a spare bottle top regulato and short length of low pressure gas hose in case of failure of the fixed regulator Lastly, we have short reverse polarity adaptor, and selection of hookup adaptors on short leads.. and a selection of back to back couplers for the hose. camping gaz is currently 21 euro for a refill..not the cheapest I know..advantage for me is that local hyper has stock when in uk, we use 2 calor lite 6kg bottles, and all the other bits and pieces as well lastly, wedged in amongst it all are 2 small yellow levelling blocks. ps ..van is a Stargazer by Autocruise.. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoko8pups Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Can I hijack this a bit and ask if anyone has had experience of Portuguese bottles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfromnorfolk Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Bug--r excuse my English Will hotfoot in the morning to obtain said adapter.. Time is running short as I only have 2 months and 20 days left to find a suitable system for my gas!!!! Thanks for all the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 tonyg3nwl - 2015-06-18 6:58 PM Hi folks, I see that no one has dared mention the solution that I have..yes it is not the cheapest, but works fine for me.. in my gas locker, I have 3 camping gas 3.9kg bottles..basically leftovers from yesteryear when we had a v w campervan.. hypers sell refills, and the gas locker also houses the various tap connectors, the electric hookup cable, and the waterhose with 4 different adaptors..it also houses a spare bottle top regulato and short length of low pressure gas hose in case of failure of the fixed regulator Lastly, we have short reverse polarity adaptor, and selection of hookup adaptors on short leads.. and a selection of back to back couplers for the hose. camping gaz is currently 21 euro for a refill..not the cheapest I know..advantage for me is that local hyper has stock when in uk, we use 2 calor lite 6kg bottles, and all the other bits and pieces as well lastly, wedged in amongst it all are 2 small yellow levelling blocks. ps ..van is a Stargazer by Autocruise.. tonyg3nwl As far as I’m aware the largest capacity Campingaz excahangeable bottle is the 907 canister that holds 2.75kg of butane. (There is a 3.9kg bottle, but it’s marketed by Calor in the UK and contains propane.) The primary advantage of Campingaz is that bottles can be exchanged across national boundaries, so a 907 bottle obtained in the UK can be exchanged in France, Germany, Italy, etc. However, it is very expensive per kg of gas and, because only butane is available, will potentially be unsuitable for camping in very cold weather and/or when gas appliances are high demand. For johnfromnorfolk, planning to spend 3 months in France, “Le Cube” was the logical choice provided that the container could be accommodated in his Swift’s gas-locker. This bottle contains 6kg(butane) or 5kg(propane), costs about 29€ to obtain (fully refundable if he decides that he no longer wants the bottle and has retained the ‘bottle-hire’ paperwork) and another around 19€ for the gas and for subsequent exchanges for a full bottle. A Campingaz 907 canister currently costs about 58€ to obtain (bottle including gas) in France and over 20€ to exchange. Although many French supermarkets do sell Campingaz, my experience is that it’s pot-luck that they will have the bottle-size you want in stock when you need it (or - if it’s Sunday - that the supermarket will actually be open). Where refillable bottles are concerned, the largest canister johnfromnorfolk’s motorhome’s gas-locker could handle would be a 6kg bottle, and the cheapest system would probably involve the Gaslow "Direct Fill” product. But this would cost about £160 - that’s around 220€ compared to about 50€ for the Le Cube approach. I would also argue that it will be simpler and less stressful for a novice motorcaravanner to exchange a Le Cube bottle in France than to faff about with a refillable-bottle at French GPL service stations. User-refillable gas-bottles have their attractions (I’ve used one for 15 years), but the initial cost of a refillable system is not small and one needs to use a lot of gas and/or travel widely and often outside the UK to justify the expenditure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 yoko8pups - 2015-06-18 9:06 PM Can I hijack this a bit and ask if anyone has had experience of Portuguese bottles? Portuguese bottles are generally Repsol, BP are also widely available. Repsol being spanish are exchangable in Spain and southern France. Repsol bottles are available in both steel and plastic, 11 & 6kg. Portuguese Repsol are blue and orange whilst spanish are orange and blue. If you want propane, (which you won't generally get in the south) these come with a black band horizontally around the bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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