Exchange gas bottles

[AndrewJo]

We have just retuned from our first outing with our motorhome A short visit to Hayling Island in Hampshire Having purchased the motorhome second hand for a very nice couple from Gloucester The van performed perfectly an extremely well kept van with loads of extra bits Unfortunately, one of the gas bottles they gave us with the van ran out Therefore, I went to the campsite shop & tried to swap the bottle for a replacement The campsite owner stated that the bottle we had 6 or 8 kgs I cannot recall exactly the size (flo gas) could not be swapped for Calor Therefore, I could not exchange the bottle I also went to a nearby hardware shop that dealt in calor & they could not swap the bottle Although they were a lot more helpful than the campsite, they gave me a list of bottles that could be swapped with calor but ours wasn’t on the list Has any one come across this problem before & what is the solution Do I keep lots of bottles of different makes in case I cannot find a particular dealer that will exchange? Does any one do a list of suppliers that do deal in flo gas? The chap at the hardware shop suggested going to the local recycle centre as the sold old bottles that could be changed for calor & the cost was considerably cheaper than the hire cost that they would charge (A very considerate helpful suggestion I thought) Unfortunately the recycle centre didn’t have any of the bottles that were on his list I don’t wish to have the expense or storage problems with all the different manufactures The screw fitting is exactly the same as a calor bottle Any suggestions or answers PS the van is great & we are totally hooked on motorhoming Looking forward to going to Newbury show in a couple of weeks

[david lloyd]

Hi andrew and jo - and welcome to motorhoming - long may you enjoy it. Calor are probably the best known and most widely available of gas cylinders. They have relaxed their rules in recent years - as you say they will accept some other cylinders in exchange - but I think I am right in saying that only Flo-Gas will take Flo-Gas cylinders. So, you could find out where the nearest Flo-Gas supplier is or change and the suggestion to find second hand Calor cylinders is the cheapest way. Even if you have a local Flo-Gas outlet nearby you are less likely to find one readily wherever you happen to be camping but Calor is widely available in the UK and especially at campsites - there are even bigger problems finding outlets in Europe even for Calor! We are just changing our motorhome shortly and this time we are having Gaslow refillable gas cylinders and an external filler point so that we can fill up at any filling station with lpg - again widely available even on the continent. This will take away the uncertainty of finding refills, save the hassle of having to remove and replace cylinders and is about half the price of bottled gas. If you want to simply change to Calor (as the best exchange type of option) you may be able to post a wanted ad on this forum (in the buy and sell) but you will need to decide on a) propane or butane - propane is better for winter use and b) size of cylinder to fit your gas locker. If you go down this route I will have a 6kg Calor Propane available after we have had our refillable cylinders fitted and you are more than welcome to that to get you started. Best regards, david

[Yorkshire Tyke]

Hi David & Andrew Yep Callor will only accept Calor bottles similarly with Shell gas Reason is that they are only allowed to fill their own and (from both Sell & Calor) They say that as they only get one or two bottles belonging to "the other side" it isnt even worth the fuel to take the bottles back to each other We had an industrial unit with no mains gas only bottled, which had Shell bottles in when we took it over. Shell came round weekly to change to cylinders at the cafe next door and checked our while thet were there Then we had to take a trio to the depot for our van Calor bottles changeing. Have a look round one of the local tips You often find empty bottles that have been dumped, the men retreive these & Calor go round and collect them You may get a couple for about a fiver - much cheaper than Calor charge - then you can get them filled/exchangeed

[David Dwight]

Hi Guys, i have in the past tried several tips in different part of the country, but always been told no you cant have them. The legal reason being that once they are on Council property they then become the property of the council. But then it could be "Jobs Worth"

[Derek Uzzell]

Andrew&Jo: I can normally lay my hands on empty Calor gas-bottles fairly easily as they are regularly dumped at a local recycling centre. It's usually the ex-room heaters, big 15kg butane cylinders that are discarded, but that should be OK nowadays as Calor agents are empowered to swap pretty much any empty Calor bottle for a full one irrespective of bottle capacity or gas type. I live near Ross-on-Wye, so if that's reasonably close to you we could arrange a rendezvous for you to collect a couple of spare Calor bottles. e-mail me on derek.uzzell@talk21.com if you are interested. David: No, I don't believe it's "Jobs Worth", it's just that the recycling centre attendants aren't supposed to be flogging off (or even giving) dumped stuff to the general public. Probably several good reasons for this, but health and safety must rank high. Nevertheless it goes on and free/cheap empty gas-bottles can often be sourced from 'tips'.

[alanmac]

You seem to be fortunate - 2 shops selling Calor Gas in my vicinity had also refused to accept an empty cylinder and it was too big for my van. The shops advised me to take it to the tip. This I did but an eagle eyed employee spotted me and I was told in no uncertain terms that they will not accept them (of any make). I too expected Calor to somehow or other collect it from there ! I rang Calor and they said they will collect from my premises and it now sits just inside my front gate 5 weeks later !

[AndrewJo]

Thank you so much for the offer David Uzzell & David Lloyd It’s so comforting to see that motor homers are so helpful & generous Unfortunately, we live in sunny Sussex Brighton to be exact I will try the local recycle centre first But I will seriously look at the gas low system as you suggest. This should stop all the problems when we travel abroad next year Thanks again for the advice We will be going to the Newbury show hope to see you if you are going Regards Andrew & Johanna Hutchings

[arturus]

Have a look at the Flo-Gas website--they give location of their outlets all over the UK. www.flogas.co.uk. I have been using them in preference to Calor for about 3years--no problems. I did not have to buy or put deposits on my two bottles.

[Ranger]

I stopped using Calor years ago mainly because of the expence. I always bought my gas fom a local builders merchant, but many years ago he stopped stocking Calor because builders wanted a cheaper supply so he switched to Handy Gas, which is BP, who also do Autogas. On changover no charge was made for BP bottles, and my regulators were exchanged free of charge. For conveniance I use propane in my motor home as all propane bottles take the same regulator, so I don't need to change it, if I get a Calor to replace the BP... I use Butane in my caravan as I can always nip out with the car to a builders mechant or BP station or what ever to get another cheaper Handy Gas. You can get a list of Handy gas stockists from you local dealer or on the web. Being a 'belt and braces' man I also carry an empty Calor bottle in my motor home, just in case I run out at an awkward time, (ie motor home show, where there always a Calor man) but touch wood I have not yet 'not' found a Handy Gas stockist when I needed one. Just some thing else for you to think about, Cheers, all the best David Powell.

[Mel E]

Your local FloGas distribution point will be in Yellow Pages. They took over from British Gas and include SuperGas and various other brands. Their cylinders are a bit narrower than Calor's big ones and we used them because we could fit 2 into the gas locker of both our previous motorhomes (Italian), whereas only one Calor (or 2 much smaller ones) would fit. It's also about 2/3rds the price of Calor for a refill exchange.

[o midKnight]

Go to a large boot sale and there you may be able to pick up calor cylinders for a few pounds

[tonyishuk]

Try good old Friday Ad ? (Caravan Section)

[Clive]

Our local dump , sorry "Recycling Centre" keep a stock of gas bottles of all types and sell them at a fiver a time. Have you tried yours?. Alternatively having a bulk tank or a re-fillable bottle overcomes all these problems including filling up on the continent.