snail Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Hi Folks, i know there was a lot of talk/speculation recently about filling them, but now the dust has settled what is the general feeling, we are going to Shepton Mallet show hopefully to have them fitted this weekend, as we will be retired shortly and wanting to travel for much longer periods across the channel, we have had a survey to see if we could fit a tank but do not have sufficent space in the right places, 13kg bottles won't fit our locker which rules out euro cylinders, doesn't it? also is it better to have a external fill point, will the installer still do that now? gaslow is the most common i've seen and they put filler in locker now, so any advice welcome, do we really have a choice but go this route? regards Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Haven't got a refiilable set up myself but I gather an external point is advised,so as to attract less attention at the pump(..by not having to faff about in the gas locker). I'm sure someone with first hand knowledge will be along soon... Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I had my filler point within the locker. In view of the comments on this forum I moved it to be external. One of the best moves I have done as no more having to lift locker door to gain access at pumps which was a pan in the neck. Off to France for June/July and have enough for this period but will top up and report back although posting I have seen does not suggest any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky 8 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 My filler point is within the gas locker ,simply because I couldnt site it externally without any connections being open to the elements, But I would say if you can have it sited externally do so,for simplicity of filling without opening locker doors, If I,m ever stopped from filling my gas, as I have to open my gas locker be it here or in Europe,I will simply move on to the next Gas sales outlet who want my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 You could also have a gas BBQ point fitted. This enables you to externally connect a free standing gas bottle. A friend of mine is currently in Spain and uses this method for 2 reasons. There is no handy supply of Autogas Bottled gas works out cheaper than Autogas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Corky 8 - 2011-03-28 1:00 PM My filler point is within the gas locker ,simply because I couldnt site it externally without any connections being open to the elements. Isn't that how they are supposed to be though? (..as I didn't think the filling point should pass into an oboard locker etc,not unless it was fully boxed in/sealed?) Or have I misunderstood.. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 pepe63 - 2011-03-28 1:47 PM Isn't that how they are supposed to be though? (..as I didn't think the filling point should pass into an oboard locker etc,not unless it was fully boxed in/sealed?) Or have I misunderstood.. Chris No it is just done for ease of installation, the installer doesn't have to find a suitable route into the gas locker or cut a hole into an appropriate place to mount the filling point. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Oh..I thought Corky was saying that to have it externally mounted, would've meant the hose from the filler point would've been out in the elements(..possibly behind a side skirt?)..which is why I thought,that's what it's supposed to be like.. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 In the end we chose an underfloor gas tank with an external filling point. This had the added attraction of freeing up space in our panel van conversion but all the benefits of using bulk LPG. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 747 - 2011-03-28 1:30 PM You could also have a gas BBQ point fitted. This enables you to externally connect a free standing gas bottle. A friend of mine is currently in Spain and uses this method for 2 reasons. There is no handy supply of Autogas Bottled gas works out cheaper than Autogas. What a good idea B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky 8 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 pepe63 - 2011-03-28 4:06 PM Oh..I thought Corky was saying that to have it externally mounted, would've meant the hose from the filler point would've been out in the elements(..possibly behind a side skirt?)..which is why I thought,that's what it's supposed to be like.. :-S Pepe, your exactly right thats what I meant,to have the filler point on the exterior of my M/H would have meant having it somewhere in the skirt thus in the elements, and there is are good reasons for not having it there , 1, it would mean bending down low to connect the filling hose not a good option for me, 2, I dont believe the skirt would stand up to the regular pushing and pulling that goes with the bayonet fitting gas connectors, even when strengthened from behind, 3, if you note the converter of nearly all Motorhomes never pass any gas connections on the exterior of the Motorhome which is open to the Elements, even if they are made of Stainless or Brass, if they dont do it there has to be some reason for it , I just like to keep as many extra gas connections as possible in the sealed from the Habitation area gas locker . But each to his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I found that mounting the connector to the skirt behind/side of the cabinet would protect it from direct water spray. In addition it is a brass fitting contained within a plastic holder secured with stainless steel screws and connected with a stainless steel hose, so well suited to the environment. My understanding of the cabinet being sealed is that it is sealed to the interior of the MH. No seal would be required to the exterior as this would allow any leaking gas to escape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CISCO Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Hi Brian, Towards the end of 2008 we decided to have 2 x11 Kg Alugas super light/safe cylinders fitted. At the time we had two options MTH Gas Systems Ltd or GasGlow (yellow cylinders). It may have been down to saleman/salewomanship but decided to go with MTH. (Principle reason was I believed the engineering behind the 80% cut off valve was superior in the MTH Kit) I must admit I purchased the angle fitting for inside the locker from Gasglow (at that time MTH did not have them) Temporarily fitted the angle bracketin position. (used rubber washers to seal gas cupboard from inside) Visited the then two (more now) LPG outlets in our area and asked if it would be allowed to fill the two tanks that would be permanently fitted behind this fixture. As I remember they were more amused that I was asking the question and said as it will be a permanent fixture they saw no problems. (and there’s been none) (we haven’t had the need to refill overseas yet but have the adaptors) Sadly MTH don’t appear to be trading but I note in the MMM – Autogas 2000 Ltd (www.autogas.co.uk) use very similar tanks if not the same. (cannot remember the name of the lady at MTH but she had a lovely African Ridgeback) We preferred the internal point. Our locker door opens like a door and the extra height and stability of the filler is first class. Like others the skirt, low down and a tad flimsy for the job. The angle bracket is blank bolted through the top of the cupboard and the nuts come out inside under the diner seat. It does mean that you can only remove the tanks if you have access to the inside of van. Filling is a doddle – wish we’d done it years ago. We only switch one tank on until empty. Switch empty off switch full on and refill asap. Looking for a figure of 22.2 for an empty tank. (confirm 80% fill) (Our 1999 unit came with auto change over but prefer our way) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njw Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I have a refillable system in my panel van.the filling point is outside.The gas locker has 3 circle vents in the bottom and the hose is through one of the vents and the filling point is fixed to my tow-bar.having had 3 motor homes and had refillable bottles on all of them.first motor home the filling point was put in the door,second motor home was put in the skirt which was made of aluminium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 From the Caravan club, this is from 2007. but from what I have read regulator failure is still an issue for some. Wish they would sort it ! ! Vessels which are attached to a vehicle for heating or cooking (on camper vans or similar) present similar risks on filling to those for propulsion purposes and may be permitted to be re-filled at Autogas refuelling sites provided they: remain in-situ for refilling; and are fitted with a device to physically prevent filling beyond 80%; and are connected to a fixed filling connector which is not part of the vessel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Had 2 x 11Kg gaslow cylinders fitted on my new van last year. Fitted with Auto Exchanger and both cylinders have their own level gauges. Filler point is inside gas locker. Got an account with Countrywide Farmers and only ever needed to re-fill within vicinity of one of their locations (£0.55 per Litre incl 5% VAT). Not yet had to re-fill at a normal Fuel Station yet so havn't encountered any problems similar to some of those mentioned on here. Certainly more economical than Calor Gas who charge £20 for a 6Kg (12 Ltr) and £25 for 13Kg (26 Ltr) refill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 We have a single large Gaslow bottle in our motorhome, we can't fit two in as our locker was only made for 1 bottle, and to be honest I can't see the point in more than one - we just top up when the level starts to drop below 2/3rds or thereabouts. I would suggest seeing how you get on with one bottle and then, if you find you need another, you can simply add a second, if not, you've saved yourself some dosh! I fitted it myself without a problem - the bracket is in the top corner of our gas locker, nice and secure and kept clean; also I didn't fancy sticking a hole in the side of my new motorhome and possibly ending up with a dispute over warranty if it came to it. It is advisable to wear gloves when filling which are kept in the locker so I'd have to open the door anyway. We've not had a problem at all with being allowed to fill in the UK or abroad. If you buy at a show you will pay a lot of money for something you can get cheaper elsewhere and it is easy to fit - the pipes are no more difficult than replacing the standard rubber hoses, and the bracket/filler is easy enough to attach if you have some DIY knowledge - in my view the suppliers charge quite a premium for this service. If you haven't read the relevant threads on the subject already, do a search and you'll find them easily enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wirralian Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I have had two gaslow refillable gas bottles for the last five years and for the first few years I thought, like Mel , that the second bottle was a waste of money as I just kept topping up the one bottle. But this year I have found the value of the second bottle. I spend the first three months of the year in Spain and use Spanish gas. The Spanish bottle is too big to go in the locker and stands on the ground outside. Every time I took the van off site(about once a week) it has meant disconnecting the bottle from the fixed regulator in the locker - a fiddly operation as there isn't much space. However, recently Gaslow have brought out a new system whereby you connect the Spanish bottle via the filler point, which in my case is on the outside of the van. The way it works is that the Spanish gas is fed through the gaslow bottle which you have open! To start using the Spanish gas you need to ensure that have used up all the gas from the Gaslow bottle. When the Spanish bottle is empty I just open up the second Gaslow bottle until I have an new Spanish bottle. Now when I move off site for a few hours I just disconnect at he filler point and don't have to connect a Gaslow bottle back to the regulator as before. When Gaslow explained all this to me I was bit sceptical but it does work. Whats more, by closing the bottle that the Spanish gas is fed into and leaving the Spanish bottle open, gas collects in the Gaslow bottle and we have use of the Spanish gas even though not connected to the bottle! This keeps the fridge working and provides gas for a cup of tea when we are out off site. John (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Big Momma - 2011-03-28 7:45 PM Got an account with Countrywide Farmers and only ever needed to re-fill within vicinity of one of their locations (£0.55 per Litre incl 5% VAT).Certainly more economical than Calor Gas who charge £20 for a 6Kg (12 Ltr) and £25 for 13Kg (26 Ltr) refill. Blimey! 55p is good..it's 80p around by us :-S (..making a 13kg bottle,20 quid just to refill... :-S ) It may be worth those with large gas usage,having a look at sorting out something similar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Mel B - 2011-03-28 9:18 PM We have a single large Gaslow bottle in our motorhome, we can't fit two in as our locker was only made for 1 bottle, and to be honest I can't see the point in more than one - we just top up when the level starts to drop below 2/3rds or thereabouts. I would suggest seeing how you get on with one bottle and then, if you find you need another, you can simply add a second, if not, you've saved yourself some dosh! Surely Mel it depends on your gas usage & where you are touring. We have 2 x11kg bottles, as we found out in Ireland last year LPG filling stations are very rare if we had only one bottle we would have been stuffed. In the winter one bottle lasts less than a week, fine if you are near a filling point otherwise not much use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy99 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 hi snail bought 2 X 11 kg gaslow bottles recently and had them delivered to France where we live. bottle size h 580 X dia 304, capacity of both 44 litres at 80 % max fill auto cut off (but need to check working first fill)filled "up" first time last sat at eleclerc st astier no problems except suspect air lock which i think not uncommon first fill. first bottle full but suspect second only part full.! old pump with no dial or price so will sort when next fill. combination of my bad knees and wifes bad back made them attractive proposition as lifting 2 X 13 kg full metal bottles no joke for us. bought them from motorcaravanning.co.uk queriesmotorcaravanning.co.uk neill extremely helpful. no problem fitting in our Hymer Van 562 gas locker but did need 3 of the elbow fittings , 1 for auto changeover as limited headroom, 1 from 2nd bottle + 1 other from 90 degree filler bracket floor of gas locker. hope this helps. keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We only have the one and couldn't fit another in the locker, so we carry a tiny Campingaz (901) just in case we have trouble finding somewhere to refill for several days. Our cylinder lasts at least a week, even with max usage (cooking & washing up every day, and both having showers every morning). So we've only used the 901 once in 3 years (and 6 continental trips). Worth it for peace of mind though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 snail - 2011-03-28 11:12 AM Hi Folks, i know there was a lot of talk/speculation recently about filling them, but now the dust has settled what is the general feeling, we are going to Shepton Mallet show hopefully to have them fitted this weekend, as we will be retired shortly and wanting to travel for much longer periods across the channel, we have had a survey to see if we could fit a tank but do not have sufficent space in the right places, 13kg bottles won't fit our locker which rules out euro cylinders, doesn't it? also is it better to have a external fill point, will the installer still do that now? gaslow is the most common i've seen and they put filler in locker now, so any advice welcome, do we really have a choice but go this route? We have had two 6kg bottles with auto changover for around fours years now. This setup lasts us between 6-7 weeks in summer using mainly hookup. Our filler is in the locker door and although others have disagreed with this we have had no problems in fours years of use with two differant vans. regards Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 lennyhb - 2011-03-29 10:10 AM Mel B - 2011-03-28 9:18 PM We have a single large Gaslow bottle in our motorhome, we can't fit two in as our locker was only made for 1 bottle, and to be honest I can't see the point in more than one - we just top up when the level starts to drop below 2/3rds or thereabouts. I would suggest seeing how you get on with one bottle and then, if you find you need another, you can simply add a second, if not, you've saved yourself some dosh! Surely Mel it depends on your gas usage & where you are touring. We have 2 x11kg bottles, as we found out in Ireland last year LPG filling stations are very rare if we had only one bottle we would have been stuffed. In the winter one bottle lasts less than a week, fine if you are near a filling point otherwise not much use. Yes Lenny, it does depend, but some people think that they HAVE to have 2 bottles, even though their usage won't mean that they'll really need them, simply because that is how they are used to working with non-refillable bottles. I'm just pointing that it should not simply be ASSUMED that they necessarily needed 2 bottles - if a second bottle is deemed to be warranted it can be easily added later but if it is not then why buy it in the first place? In our previous van we had gas blown air heating as well as water heating and didn't have a problem with a single refillable bottle for a 23 day trip. In our current van we only have gas water heating, with diesel blown air heating, so our gas usage will have gone down quite a lot. This may, or may not, be the case with the OP, unfortunately he hasn't been back to offer any more info and how long his 'longer' trips are is anyone's guess. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMC Camper Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 We had a single Gaslow cylinder with gauge installed at the Peterborough Show last year and can recommend CMR Ltd who fitted the setup. We went for an interior filler as I too did not fancy having a hole cut in the sidewall. Our cylinder store is in a good sized garage so there is no access issue. Also - an out of sight filler cap is out of mind for the low life. The system works perfectly well and for our motorhome use we can live easily on one cylinder. One word of warning - watch out for short filler hoses in France which require you to get close to the pump to fill. If - like me - you then exit the pump station and turn sharpish you lose your rear tail light! Fortunately not too expensive to repair. So go for one cylinder and interior filler fitted at the show for a very reasonable price if you want peace of mind on gas tight fittings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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