Grumpyman Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Can a larger gas tank be fitted to an Auto- Trail 610 5.99 mtrs van conversion replacing the current 25ltr one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Have a word with Autogas 2000 in Thirsk 01845 523213. They just fitted a under slung 55lt tank on my Carado T135 on a Fiat 2.3 5.99 meters long chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Grumpyman An LPG tank for a X250/X290 Fiat Ducato panel-van conversion is normally installed transversely just behind the main exhaust silencer-box and all the examples mentioned on-line state the tank’s capacity as no greater than 25 litres. With a coachbuilt motorhome like a Carado T135 there’s likely to be more flexibility regarding where an LPG tank can be mounted and still retain a reasonable ground clearance, but (as will be apparent from the following link) if a cylindrical tank is mounted longitudinally under the side of a panel-van, ground clearance will be a potential problem. http://deepredmotorhome.com/gas.php I notice that GAS IT advertises a 55 litres tank (44 litres of LPG) https://www.gasit.co.uk/600-x-230-58ltr-gas-it-toroidal-vapour-tank.html I don’t know if this is the tank Zydeco Joe had fitted, but assuming that Auto-Trail doesn’t exploit the space where a spare-wheel would go on a V-line 610 for something other than a spare-wheel (eg. a water tank) that might be a possibility. Obviously, if a 610 comes as standard with a spare-wheel, putting an LPG tank there would prevent that wheel from being under-floor mounted. I can understand someone who is having an LPG tank retro-fitted to their motorhome opting for a tank-capacity that’s realistically as large as possible, but why do you feel inclined to replace the 25 litres tank of your 2018 motorhome with a larger one? A 25 litres tank will hold 10kg of LPG (which is a substantial quantity) and it can be refilled at any time and when it’s part empty without any financial penalty. It’s a completely different usage philosophy to relying on the exchange-only gas bottles that you’ve been accustomed to. I suggest you don’t spend money on replacing the 25 litres tank until you are sure you need to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Hi, I ave a 55 litre tank fitted on my 2012 Elddis Aspire 255. As we use our van in Europe over winter I find having the larger tank more convenient. Obviously payload has to be taken into account but this tank when full (44 litres) weighs less than two 6 kg. though the tank is mounted longways under the toilet at the rear so more loading on the rear axle. I belive that the minimum ground clearance is 255 mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 weldted - 2018-12-04 5:10 PM ...Obviously payload has to be taken into account but this tank when full (44 litres) weighs less than two 6 kg... Calor quotes the maximum weight of a full 6kg (12 litres) propane bottle as 17kg - so 2 x 6kg Calor full bottles (24 litres of gas) can weigh 34kg maximum. 44 litres of autogas will weigh around 22kg and the average quoted weight of a motorhome-suitable 55 litres cylindical tank is 32kg. 22kg + 32kg = 54kg Calor quotes the maximum weight of a full 13kg (26 litres) propane bottle as 35kg - so 2 x 13kg Calor full bottles can weigh 70kg maximum. So there are potential weight savings to be made with your 55 litres tank, but only if the comparison is with larger bottles than 6kg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Grumpyman - 2018-12-04 12:20 PM Can a larger gas tank be fitted to an Auto- Trail 610 5.99 mtrs van conversion replacing the current 25ltr one I think the 610 is a van conversion? Coachbuilts can sometimes have a larger diameter tank fitted which gives the required ground clearance but on a previous IH Tio we owned I took it to Autogas 2000 to see exactly what size tank they could squeeze in. Given all the physical constraints we managed to shoe horn in a 38 litre tank instead of the standard 25 litre. One of the distinct advantages of having Autogas 2000 do the work was that they fitted their own heavy duty purpose made chassis brackets instead of the flimsy mild steel powder coated ones normally used. They look OK to start with but once the powder coating starts to crack water gets in behind it and rusts away the thin metal band. While I was there having mine done a Hymer A-Class pulled dragging a (Very) large lpg tank hanging on by the remnants of the remaining band! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpyman Posted December 4, 2018 Author Share Posted December 4, 2018 Thanks for all your comments will give your comments some thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Opps! Meant two 13 kg bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 5, 2018 Share Posted December 5, 2018 It’s perhaps also worth pointing out that Grumpyman’s Auto-Trail V-Line 610 panel-van conversion (PVC) is near new (about 8 months old I believe). The model’s technical specification is provided here https://www.auto-trail.co.uk/range/v-line/610-se/technical-data and (apparently) this includes 16" Fiat alloy wheels and a steel spare-wheel. So, if it were practicable to fit the 55-litre LPG tank I referred to in my posting of 4 December 2018 2:05 PM above, the spare-wheel would need to be relocated or (more probably) not carried. Data for the LPG tanks marketed by Autogas 2000 are here http://www.autogasleisure.co.uk/pdf/caratank.pdf and it will be noted that, even if the 38-litre tank David Lloyd mentioned could be fitted to a V-line 610, this would only increase the usable amount of gas from 20 litres (10kg) for a 25-litre tank to 30 litres (15kg) for a 38-litre tank. Basically, for every 60 litres of LPG used the 25-litre tank would need to be refilled at least three times, but the 38-litre tank would still need to be filled at least twice. OK - if an LPG tank is to be retro-fitted to a PVC it makes sense to opt for a 38-litre tank rather than a 25-litre one, but replacing an already-installed near-new 25-litre tank with a 38-litre tank just means that refilling the latter can be a bit less frequent. To replace Grumpyman’s V-Line 610’s 25-litre tank with a larger-capacity one would not be a cheap exercise and doing so could be expected to impact on the Auto-Trail 5-year habitation warranty. Before seriously considering altering the standard gas system significantly, it would be wise to explore with the motothome’s selling dealership and Auto-Trail the possibility that doing this would invalidate the habitation warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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