John swift Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Went to caravan accessory shop to get a replacement gas bottle its a light weight with a gage they told me that callor has a recall on gas bottles they said they will change them for new full bottles free of charge as soon as they get a delivery anyone else heard about it think it's 2008 to 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 John, Where have you been for the last six months? Calor started this recall last September, see this link... http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/General/Motorhome-owners-warned-over-Calor-gas-recall/_ch1_nw3512_pg1 They recently publicised that they had only received back around one third of the one hundred and fifty thousand 'Lite' cylinders affected by the recall... http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/Legal/Dangerous-cylinders-still-on-the-market/_ch1_nw3853_pg1 So it seems that a lot of caravanners (and motorcaravanners) don't read any relevant press! Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Great when you buy these bottles you have to give your address and all details pity they can't bother getting intouch with us instead of expecting people to get intouch with them. i supose as long as they put an advert somewhere that covers there legal obligation *-) we were going to leave it and manage with the full one we had left from last year just as well we didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 And thank you for your reply Keith And thanks to lowdhams of huddersfield Cheers john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Yes, it's Calor lite bottles being recalled for a corrosion check. They will give you a full one for an empty one that is in the batch concerned. So I waited until I used mine up before taking them back. It's best to phone the local supplier as not all have them in. Most seem to be put back into circulation with a hole punched in the aluminium ring after checking. I don't think any have actually failed, but a free fill up is a bonus. If you are not a regular forum visitor you probably wouldn't be aware of the recall, only sad gits like me with nothing better to do than swap insults with old farts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southender Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Do you not read the press ? Did mine last september when the recall was issued, exchanged two empty lites for full ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 John swift - 2015-03-07 11:13 PM Great when you buy these bottles you have to give your address and all details pity they can't bother getting intouch with us instead of expecting people to get intouch with them.... Fair point.... but I wonder what percentage of Calor users took out their first cylinder several house moves ago?...or picked them up from the likes ebay, freecycle etc? (and therefore without any documentation anyway). I suppose as, for now, it seems to be a minor "rusting" issue(rather than a full on safety,"things going bang" issue), as well as the ads', they are just banking on swapping them when folk go in for refills?.. But for some, ourselves included, when summer "camp-cooking " can be a mix of the on board cooker, charcoal bbq and standalone camping stove, it can be a while before the bottle needed exchanging.... (..and not forgetting all of those who no longer use or have need for them but still keep theirs behind their shed, "just in case".. :-S ) Edit: RE "The Press" Has this actually be raised in the mainstream newspapers?...or by "the press" do we really just mean a handful of caravan and motorhome mags and online forums?...... I should imagine that only a small percentage of owners buy/read them, just like how only a very small percentage of car owners, buy car magazines..... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 I had subscription to mmm online last year can't remember seeing anything on there. and I don't buy newspapers as I think they are full of rubbish and depressing wife just thinks it's because I am to tight. and only get round to coming on here when I get a bit of time to myself and usualy when I need info on somthing Who needs news papers. Think I mite go and sit in the MH with the heating on gas and save putting my (home heating on) until it's empty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 John swift - 2015-03-08 11:21 AM Who needs news papers. Er, millions of people apparently. But if you find them full of rubbish, could it because you used to read rubbishy newspapers? And just think, if you did read newspapers or come on here more often you might not have been one of the very few motorhomers in the UK who hadn't heard about the gas bottle recall! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I heard about it from a warning notice on a CC site, so I checked my 2 Bottles and sure enough one fell within the recall period, it was about 2/3 full, so, I took it to the office (at Chapel Lane Site) to be told 'Sorry we don't exchange them here, you'll have to take it to a participating dealer' I said 'But you ARE my dealer, I bought it from you last year'. Sorry, they are in short supply'. NO bloody wonder ! WHY have a warning notice, if you are not prepared for the consequences ? I even asked if it could be swapped for a 'Standard' propane 6kg, he said No, Calor have stopped doing swaps between differant bottles now ? why ? I'm flabbergasted, either they want them back urgently or they don't ? I am now slowly using mine, when it is empty, I will exchange it in the usual way, If they don't have any 'Lites' I will keep it until they do. And manage on my 2nd one, if it causes too much trouble I will look into getting a Gaslow System. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Rayjsj - 2015-03-08 1:35 PM I heard about it from a warning notice on a CC site, so I checked my 2 Bottles and sure enough one fell within the recall period, it was about 2/3 full, so, I took it to the office (at Chapel Lane Site) to be told 'Sorry we don't exchange them here, you'll have to take it to a participating dealer' I said 'But you ARE my dealer, I bought it from you last year'. Sorry, they are in short supply'. NO bloody wonder ! WHY have a warning notice, if you are not prepared for the consequences ? I even asked if it could be swapped for a 'Standard' propane 6kg, he said No, Calor have stopped doing swaps between differant bottles now ? why ? I'm flabbergasted, either they want them back urgently or they don't ? I am now slowly using mine, when it is empty, I will exchange it in the usual way, If they don't have any 'Lites' I will keep it until they do. And manage on my 2nd one, if it causes too much trouble I will look into getting a Gaslow System. Ray Please don't think that I'm having a go because it's you, I'm not, but I think you may be being a bit unfair to the site. As I understand it, and I'm happy to be corrected, most CC wardens offer replacement cylinders as a service for members and they are not official Calor agents. They buy the bottles from a proper Calor agent who probably gives them a small discount, which enables them to make a profit for their investment and trouble. Swapping the faulty cylinders will mean special paperwork and authority to do this from Calor. Calor probably doesn't even know that the site warden sells its cylinders as they do not deal directly with him. It's also true that in the initial stages there was a shortage of cylinders as Calor struggled to keep up with the large number of new bottles needed. I don't think that site wardens should be criticised in this case for offering a service, a service which saves members having to travel to the nearest official Calor stockist if running out when on a site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Rayjsj - 2015-03-08 1:35 PM ...I even asked if it could be swapped for a 'Standard' propane 6kg, he said No, Calor have stopped doing swaps between differant bottles now ? why ? I'm flabbergasted, either they want them back urgently or they don't ? ... Ray That doesn't sound very good , does it. :-S As it's a safety issue- and presumably they would've been aware of shortages - you'd think that they'd have a system in place where folk could swap for standard cylinders-even if only temporarily? (maybe issuing a chitty that folk could present enabling them to swap bank to the 'lites again? ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 John swift - 2015-03-08 11:21 AM I had subscription to mmm online last year can't remember seeing anything on there... The CalorLite recall was mentioned on Page 29 of the November 2014 issue of MMM. If I remember correctly, when the CalorLite bottle was first marketed in 2008 Calor permitted a free exchange of an ‘ordinary’ 7kg/6kg size bottle for the CalorLite container. But you could not swap the other way and CalorLite has, since then, had its own Calor bottle-exchange category, and there has been a relatively small number of Calor agents where CalorLite bottles could be obtained or exchanged. The 2008 free-exchange policy means that Calor won’t know who ‘owns’ many (most?) of the CalorLite bottles in circulation, so relying on direct contact (as John has suggested) would have been much less effective than the widespread advertising that has appeared in leisure-vehicle publications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Hi I had 2 to take back, but very hard to find a stockist who have any to exchange, managed to replace 1 last week at Calor direct in West Bromwich, but would only let me do 1 as they are short still. Can understand why they say only 1/3 of customers have exchanged when nobody has them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Not getting at the CC Wardens, they are just doing as they are told, But Calor could have handled it better, by allowing 'Back and forth' exchanges until they have recieved all of the 'Suspect' lites back for checking. Just makes me think that it cannot be that important, and why put up warning notices, then refuse to exchange ? not logical. My Only source of Gas is CC sites, never been to a regional depot, and wouldn't know where to look. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Rayjsj - 2015-03-08 5:54 PM Not getting at the CC Wardens, they are just doing as they are told, But Calor could have handled it better, by allowing 'Back and forth' exchanges until they have recieved all of the 'Suspect' lites back for checking. Just makes me think that it cannot be that important, and why put up warning notices, then refuse to exchange ? not logical. My Only source of Gas is CC sites, never been to a regional depot, and wouldn't know where to look. Ray Your problem is nothing to do with Calor, that's the whole point! This is how it works - CC wardens are allowed to buy Calor gas using their own money. They then sell them to members as a service. Quite frankly, I were a warden and people were moaning at me because I couldn't exchange their cylinders I'd stop offering the service and make CC members go to proper Calor gas stockists. What would you do if you weren't in the CC? You'd do what everyone else does and buy your gas from a Calor retailer, you don't have to go to a regional centre. And as for displaying warnings not being logical that makes no sense. If the CC wardens didn't sell Calor they'd still issue these warnings as they don't want people on their sites with potentially dangerous dodgy cylinders. Are you really suggesting that the CC, having learned of this problem, shouldn't do its utmost to tell people? It's nothing to do with whether they sell them or not. If you did a favour for a friend and picked up a couple of cylinders for him, does that mean that he should bring them to you when it's announced that there is a recall? That's no different from what CC wardens do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Hi I had a chat with the Calor people at the NEC last month and the guy said it could be another 12 months before they get back to normal. He told me they had, on order, another 50,000 bottles but the biggest problem was, there are still thousands out there that people hadn't bothered to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Rayjsj - 2015-03-08 5:54 PM ...My Only source of Gas is CC sites, never been to a regional depot, and wouldn't know where to look. Ray Surely that cannot be the case? The CalorLite recall webpage provides a link to a ‘find a stockist’ facility. https://www.calor.co.uk/find-a-stockist This allows CalorLite stockists to be specifically identified within a specified radius ranging from 2 miles to 50 miles from a stated town-name or postcode. Each stockist’s entry will include a telephone number, so a quick call would establish whether a particular stockist was in a position to exchange a CalorLite bottle a part of the recall and avoid a wasted trip. The Calor recall website http://www.calor.co.uk/recall advises that “There have been no reported consumer incidents to date”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Looks like two thirds of the people who have these bottles don't read the news papers either since according to members only one third have been brought back for exchange :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Just had a look at November still couldn't see it not to worry think I should be sorted cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adiebt Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Pete-B - 2015-03-08 6:40 PM Hi I had a chat with the Calor people at the NEC last month and the guy said it could be another 12 months before they get back to normal. He told me they had, on order, another 50,000 bottles but the biggest problem was, there are still thousands out there that people hadn't bothered to change. So the biggest problem for a company that has produced a faulty product is the customers who bought their faulty product ?????????????? feck me we are all doomed ! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 John swift - 2015-03-08 11:49 PM Just had a look at November still couldn't see it not to worry think I should be sorted cheers The CalorLite recall notice in the November 2014 issue of MMM was in the magazine’s “NEWS” section. I have attached a scanned copy of Page 29 showing the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Adiebt - 2015-03-09 12:29 AM Pete-B - 2015-03-08 6:40 PM Hi I had a chat with the Calor people at the NEC last month and the guy said it could be another 12 months before they get back to normal. He told me they had, on order, another 50,000 bottles but the biggest problem was, there are still thousands out there that people hadn't bothered to change. So the biggest problem for a company that has produced a faulty product is the customers who bought their faulty product ?????????????? feck me we are all doomed ! :-D The situation as of last month was explained in the link provided by Keithl in this thread’s 2nd posting. http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/Legal/Dangerous-cylinders-still-on-the-market/_ch1_nw3853_pg1 It’s likely that the majority of CalorLite bottles will be ‘owned’ by caravanners and it’s a fair bet that only a relatively small percentage of these will have been caravanning across the winter months and might become concerned about their gas-bottles’ safety. Also, when caravanners do use gas, many of them won’t use enough to force them to exchange their gas-bottles regularly. Then there’s the obvious incentive to exploit Calor’s recall policy where a full CalorLite bottle is provided irrespective of how little gas remains in the Calorlite bottle being exchanged. So, if you have a part-empty CalorLite bottle that’s affected by the recall (and the warnings that have appeared repeatedly in leisure publications and been discussed regularly on leisure forums don’t cause you a panic attack), waiting until the bottle is empty before exchanging it will be an attractive proposition. In February Calor said that some 55k CalorLite bottles had been returned so far, leaving over 100K bottles that required checking still in circulation. That return-rate doesn't surprise me in the fecking least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanS Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Both my Calor Lites were OK from a date point of view but one of them ran out of gas this weekend. I took it to my local camping supplies shop today and exchanged it for a refill - they had plenty in stock. I put the cylinder in the car boot and had a look at it's base and saw a date stamp of 2008 ! I almost went running back into the shop but then looked at the neck of cylinder where the aluminium collar is and there printed on it was "Tested 11/2014" - nearly made an idiot of myself ! Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 The Calor recall website carries the following advice: "Please carefully examine the cylinder tare disc. Any 6kg CalorLite® cylinder which has already been recalled, tested, and confirmed as safe for use will have a small hole (5.5mm diameter) punched into the tare disc. These cylinders are safe to use. They do not need to be returned to Calor, even if the date is 2008, 2009, 2010, or 2011.” Perhaps Calor is now marking the disc with a test-date as well as (or instead of) punching a hole in the disc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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