Barryrj Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Does anyone know if two 11kg gas bottles will fit in the gas locker in the garage of my 2008 Hymer Exsis I 562. Currently two 6kg bottles are fitted with the regulator mounted high on the back wall of the locker. I have to manually swap the hose from one bottle to the other, which is no problem for me as I know when a bottle is empty. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Hymer’s specification for an Exsis-I 562 indicates that 2 x 11kg GERMAN gas-bottles can be accommodated (which would be what one might anticipate for a German-built motorhome). What bottles are you considering using? I would have thought a pair of any 11kg canister (Gaslow, Flogas, etc.) ought to fit in the locker, but it might be wise to say what you have in mind. The regulator’s position MIGHT influence choice - though if it was installed by Hymer I doubt that would be the case. At the last NEC Show met a couple who had ordered a new Rapido motorhome and being able to carry a pair of UK Calor 13kg cylinders appeared to be of vital importance. They had made very careful measurements of the locker’s dimensions and told me that it should be OK but only just. Calor 13kg bottles are pretty big and, if I really really wanted to carry two, I’d want to actually try them in the locker of a French-built motorhome to see if they’d go. So the wisest thing for you to do would be to actually try putting the cylinders you plan to use into the locker. Better safe than sorry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 All Hymer's take 2 x 11kg bottles and as your locker is in the garage you will probably get 2 x 13 kg bottles, I have 2 x 13kg Alugas re-fillables in my garage gas locker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryrj Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Derek and Lenny, Many thanks for your prompt and informative replies. I am not sure what I want to do yet but simply upgrading to one or two 11kg bottles would substantially increase my gas capacity. On a recent trip to Spain I used one 6kg bottle in the first week as it was freezing cold in France. Hence the idea. It's good to know that all Hymers are built to take two 11kg bottles. As you you say it's best to physically check though. Thanks again, Barry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Barryrj - 2015-03-20 9:52 AM Does anyone know if two 11kg gas bottles will fit in the gas locker in the garage of my 2008 Hymer Exsis I 562. Currently two 6kg bottles are fitted with the regulator mounted high on the back wall of the locker. I have to manually swap the hose from one bottle to the other, which is no problem for me as I know when a bottle is empty. Thanks. If the gas locker looks like this one (578), I can comfortably get two 13Kg steel cylinders in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Barryrj - 2015-03-20 9:52 AM Does anyone know if two 11kg gas bottles will fit in the gas locker in the garage of my 2008 Hymer Exsis I 562. Currently two 6kg bottles are fitted with the regulator mounted high on the back wall of the locker. I have to manually swap the hose from one bottle to the other, which is no problem for me as I know when a bottle is empty. Thanks. I took out 2 x 11kg German bottles from my Hymer, and these are currently sitting in my garage, any takers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I wouldn't even consider a van that couldn't take 2 Calor 13 Kgs Propane bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 peter - 2015-03-20 5:48 PM I wouldn't even consider a van that couldn't take 2 Calor 13 Kgs Propane bottles. Me neither! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 That does seem like an awful lot of extra weight off your payload to cart about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Tracker - 2015-03-20 8:36 PM That does seem like an awful lot of extra weight off your payload to cart about? Which is a very good point. Whether you need to carry a lot of gas (and therefore the weight of the cylinders to store it) depends on where you are touring and especially on how easily refillable cylinders can be refilled. I went for two large refillables but experience has shown me that I could easily manage with one large, as the main supply source, and one small cylinder as the fallback for when it gets low or empty, because one large cylinder usually covers the full duration of a trip and I have never taken my second cylinder down below about 70% on the relatively rare occassions when it has come into use. If I can always refill easily, then maybe two smaller cyliders would be enough, or even one small and one even smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Tracker - 2015-03-20 8:36 PM That does seem like an awful lot of extra weight off your payload to cart about?Maybe, but I won't have to fart about looking for a gas refill in Spain for two months. My choice. No right or wrong way just different. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Why so defensive? Of course it's your choice but that does not mean it is any less right, or wrong, for others to make a different and equally informed choice - just different. If you look again you will see that nowhere have I, or anyone else, said it is the wrong choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 lennyhb - 2015-03-20 10:38 AM All Hymer's take 2 x 11kg bottles and as your locker is in the garage you will probably get 2 x 13 kg bottles, I have 2 x 13kg Alugas re-fillables in my garage gas locker. I thought the larger Alugas refillable canister was 11kg-capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryrj Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Thanks again for the replies. I like the idea of one large and one small as a backup. My locker is on the right hand side of the garage and the internal measurements are 67cm x 66cm (ht) and 33cm deep. Would the carry cradle need to be changed or are they universal? I would have attached a picture but need to find out how! Lol. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Tracker - 2015-03-20 10:12 PM Why so defensive? Of course it's your choice but that does not mean it is any less right, or wrong, for others to make a different and equally informed choice - just different. If you look again you will see that nowhere have I, or anyone else, said it is the wrong choice. As I read it Peter was saying that with his pattern of using a MH, where there are relatively few sources of LPG, especially for refilling your own cylinders, and/or he spends a longer time on site without moving, he wants to install the biggest cylinders he can. Nothing wrong with that and nothing "defensive" about it either. He's just explaining that the priority you want to give to minimising weight by carrying less gas wouldn't be valid for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Two full 6kg cylinders weigh roughly the same as one full 13kg cylinder, or about 28kg, which is roughly the same as 6 gallons of water. If the van has a slim payload, as I suspect is the case with Rich's new AS, the weight saving will be useful. However, as he spends much of his time outside the UK, and off grid, his gas consumption will be relatively high. I think refillables are therefore highly desirable. Once installed, the only downside is the need to find places to top up. Don't know if Rich has an auto-changeover valve on his regulator, but it might be better not to have (or to have one that signals when the cylinder has changed), so that he knows when one cylinder is empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Apologies for wandering off topic but gas set ups and use is kinda relevant and since Brian was kind enough to ask! Never using an ehu a 6kg bottle lasts us about 12 days in summer and a bit less in spring and autumn so we normally take two full 2 Calor Lites to cover about 3 weeks which is as long as we usually go abroad for. I also carry a Camping Gaz 907 (with pigtail and adapter) as a back up but have never used it - although it has been close at times after a month away! The Executive has a decent enough gross payload for a two berth van of 629 kg, 481 kg nett user payload, and as it comes pretty well equipped payload is never going to be an issue for us even with a few essential extras like a 2nd battery. The gas locker however like many UK vans holds 2 x 6kg bottles and that is the decider, but that said I doubt we would return to two 13kg Calors even if we had the space. I would never not buy the right van for us as we see it at that time just because of gas locker size as there is always a work around solution, which in this case, like so many others before me, one refillable 6kg and one Calor 6kg will do nicely. Since having the Warwick with an Autogas tank we have had no problems at all finding gas in France, Spain and Germany. I can't yet speak for other countries but it has always been simple enough to top up once a week when getting diesel. No Brian, absolutely not having an auto changeover as I too prefer to know when each bottle expires so I can act accordingly whilst I still have plenty of gas. The manual changeover works quickly and easily - not so much fun though at dawn, in the wet which is when Soddes Law dictates gas bottles should expire! Neither do I trust gauges because often when they say empty the gas often lasts for a few days more and when they still say full after a few days use they can't be so for calculating gas reserves I just make a note of when the bottles are full and count the days in use - simples! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Tracker - 2015-03-20 10:12 PM Why so defensive? Of course it's your choice but that does not mean it is any less right, or wrong, for others to make a different and equally informed choice - just different. If you look again you will see that nowhere have I, or anyone else, said it is the wrong choice.Calm down dear. Where did I suggest that anyone had inferred that I'd made the wrong choice. But on reflection, you did make this comment "That does seem like an awful lot of extra weight off your payload to cart about" Which many would construe is exactly what you had done. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 StuartO - 2015-03-21 8:53 AM Tracker - 2015-03-20 10:12 PM Why so defensive? Of course it's your choice but that does not mean it is any less right, or wrong, for others to make a different and equally informed choice - just different. If you look again you will see that nowhere have I, or anyone else, said it is the wrong choice. As I read it Peter was saying that with his pattern of using a MH, where there are relatively few sources of LPG, especially for refilling your own cylinders, and/or he spends a longer time on site without moving, he wants to install the biggest cylinders he can. Nothing wrong with that and nothing "defensive" about it either. He's just explaining that the priority you want to give to minimising weight by carrying less gas wouldn't be valid for everyone.That's exactly what I meant Stuart. But it obviously wasn't obvious to poor old Tracker. Paranoia must be an age thing. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 More examples of paranoia! Peter said. I wouldn't even consider a van that couldn't take 2 Calor 13 Kgs Propane bottles. Peter then said. I won't have to fart about looking for a gas refill in Spain for two months. Peter then said. But on reflection, you did make this comment "That does seem like an awful lot of extra weight off your payload to cart about?" - Spot the question mark - it was a question, not a comment and a perfectly reasonable one according to Stuart who also seems to think that Peter spends long periods on sites where one would suppose that ehu is available? I was happy to let this go but since you are not please be aware that 'tis not I who is being paranoid !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 O/k Richard, point taken. But as you will become aware if you read your opening comment which I will paste below, it will be obvious to anyone with a grasp of grammar that it was a statement and not a question. Even though you ended it with a question mark. Tracker mistakenly posted "That does seem like an awful lot of extra weight off your payload to cart about?" Is it now clear dear boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 No Peter it was definitely a question, hence the question mark! It is all in the way we choose to read each others postings. Had it been a statement without a question mark without knowing the reasons why you opt to carry a hundredweight of gas and steel it might have been construed as contentious which I was trying to avoid! But it does beg the next question which is if you do use sites a lot as Stuart suggests and you do stay put for a while does not the site ehu help your gas last longer so do you find in real terms that you need 2 x 13kgs? Nevertheless I can understand that if you do have the spare payload and the space to be absolutely gas secure from the day you leave till the day you come home does have it's merits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Would this help? We go spring and autumn, generally for 8 - 10 weeks at a time. At some point during that time, we will want to run the heating. Heating uses a lot of gas, but otherwise, using sites, our consumption is light. One 13kg propane cylinder lasts us between 70 and 125 days (difference dependent on duration, country, time of year, and weather at the time). As we invariably set off with one full reserve and one part used cylinder (remaining quantity unknown), it is likely we shall switch to the reserve during any trip, but possible we may not. We carry one 13kg Calor and one 13kg Butagaz. Calor cylinders exchanged in UK, and Butagaz in France (wherever we have been we have entered France at some point on our trips, so exchange of the Butagaz is no problem). All our vans have therefore been selected because they had/have lockers large enough for 2 x 13kg cylinders, and all have had adequete payloads for the potential combined weight of 56kg. It suits us. Others do otherwise, and it suits them. Would it have paid us to get re-fillables at the outset? I don't think it would. We should have consumed about the same quantity of gas, which we should still have needed to buy, albeit at lower cost. So, even after 10 years, I think exchange cylinders have probably been cheaper - and at the time we started motorhoming I had no idea we'd still be doing so in 10 years time! As things are, I usually only need to change one cylinder per year, and I in any case remove the cylinders from the van while it is out of use during the winter (precaution: November 5 is celebrated big-time around here, and there have been a number of arson attacks around that time. As the van is on our drive beside the house I prefer not to have a couple of mini-bombs in it just in case!). So, although removing/installing the cylinders is a bit of a fag, having exchange cylinders doesn't add significantly to the number of times I have to hump them around. Conclusion: that there is, indeed, no right or wrong way, just different. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 We camp off grid as much as possible, but not exclusively. My solution is one large refillable and one large exchange cylinder, in our case a Repsol. I find that generally I leave home with 2 full cylinders, use between a third/half of the refillable getting through France (in the winter) if I have the chance to refill before leaving France I take it. Once in Spain I switch to the Repsol propane and keep on it till it expires then switch back to the refillable. I exchange cylinder asap and switch back to Spanish gas, only now in the south it will be butane, and so on until we start to head home, trying to exchange to, hopefully propane usually around Jaca or even at Pau, yes they sell "Spanish" gas in France. Finally refilling the Gaslow before crossing the ditch. Then we start the whole process again on the next trip to the sun. Simples even for an old fart like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 We camp off grid as much as possible, but not exclusively. My solution is one large refillable and one large exchange cylinder, in our case a Repsol. I find that generally I leave home with 2 full cylinders, use between a third/half of the refillable getting through France (in the winter) if I have the chance to refill before leaving France I take it. Once in Spain I switch to the Repsol propane and keep on it till it expires then switch back to the refillable. I exchange cylinder asap and switch back to Spanish gas, only now in the south it will be butane, and so on until we start to head home, trying to exchange to, hopefully propane usually around Jaca or even at Pau, yes they sell "Spanish" gas in France. Finally refilling the Gaslow before crossing the ditch. Then we start the whole process again on the next trip to the sun. Simples even for an old fart like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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