Sparky7 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Hi all, I'd like some advice on the following please, I'm thinking of downsizing from a coachbuilt to a PVC. The coachbuilt has gaslow cylinders with the filler outside, and I'd like to transfer the system to a PVC with the gas compartment behind the side sliding door. Obviously, there is less grief if the filler is outside, as it appears that some garages don't like you opening lockers and doors when you refill. Is it possible to fit an external filler to this sort of van? Can it be fitted behind the sliding door, ie, the door remains closed on filling? Looking forward to your learned replies. Sparky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 If your question is "Can I make a hole behind the door", the answer is yes, we have the fridge vents behind the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Yes. My gas low is in a cupboard accessed by opening back doors BUT filling is by a filler socket in the side panel. Works really well. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keninpalamos Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 I have a small AutoSleeper based on the Mercedes Vito (1998) with two sliding doors and space on the O/S rear wing panel is taken up with fridge vents etc. This is the area close to the internal gas locker. The simplest system I could think of for re-filling was to remove the refillable bottle ( in my case a small Safefill) from the internal gas locker and place it just inside the O/S sliding door before arriving at the gas pump. I’ve only been question once about the bottle by a garage owner just outside Beer in Devon. He was ok with Safefill bottle once he had seen it. I have had an early “refillable” bottle bought at a Motorhome show years ago refilled by myself at the pump and at a Repsol gas depot near Palamós, Spain. With no problems so far. I think Derek has a similar bottle marketed by UTH or simular Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Hi I have a filler point on the side of my van, you just need to make sure the hose from filler can be fed through to the gas looker before cutting the hole for the filler point. I think you can get filler hoses up to 2.5m , my filler hose is inside a vent hose to keep it sealed from the interior of the van. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Sparky It might be useful to know which make/model of PVC you are considering buying, as having a gas-locker behind the sliding door is unusual. In fact, the only PVC I can think of off-hand was Rapido’s V56 model that had a behind-door large gas-compartment that also provided seating (1st photo attached). Retrofitting a Gaslow system is potentially more difficult with a PVC than with a coachbuilt sandwich-body-panel motorhome as, if the intention is to install the filling-point in the bodywork, a large hole will need to be cut in thickish sheet-metal (rather than in a coachbuilt’s thinnish aluminium or GRP skin) and that hole will need to be carefully rust-proofed. There’s also the question of what bodywork insulation material the PVC manufacturer will have used. Instead of mounting the filling-point in the PVC’s bodywork, you might consider installing it below the door. For example, if the PVC has a slide-out step, the filling-point could be attached to a bracket behind the step’s cassette that should provide protection from road debris or damage. The ‘bracket’ method is commonly used when Autogas conversions are carried out as it’s simpler to do than performing surgery on the car’s metal body. (Example in 2nd photo). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky7 Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 Many thanks to you all for the helpful advice.Happy Christmas!Sparky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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