yoko8pups Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Thanks, we have BP light bottles which in the house are joined to the tap by a union clip, the UK butane bottle we have in our (new to us) van is a brass nut type of connection. I'm not sure if the union clip would be safe enough in the van and can we even use the light bottles safely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoko8pups Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Thanks, we have BP light bottles which in the house are joined to the tap by a union clip, the UK butane bottle we have in our (new to us) van is a brass nut type of connection. I'm not sure if the union clip would be safe enough in the van and can we even use the light bottles safely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 If I understand you correctly, probably not. The regulator in your photo is cylinder mounted, whereas the regulators in the majority of motorhomes are bulkhead mounted. Thus, the hose ("pigtail") in your photo, and its connection, are only subjected to low pressure of about 30mbar (actual pressure depending on age of installation, and whether butane or propane is being used). However, the pigtails used with bulkhead mounted regulators are subjected to the full pressure of the gas inside the cylinder. For that reason, a "made on" hose union will be present at each end of the hose, as the "Jubliee Clip" type connection in your photo is unsafe at the pressure involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Derek Uzzell - 2015-06-19 7:22 AM tonyg3nwl - 2015-06-18 6:58 PM Hi folks, I see that no one has dared mention the solution that I have..yes it is not the cheapest, but works fine for me.. in my gas locker, I have 3 camping gas 3.9kg bottles..basically leftovers from yesteryear when we had a v w campervan.. hypers sell refills, and the gas locker also houses the various tap connectors, the electric hookup cable, and the waterhose with 4 different adaptors..it also houses a spare bottle top regulato and short length of low pressure gas hose in case of failure of the fixed regulator Lastly, we have short reverse polarity adaptor, and selection of hookup adaptors on short leads.. and a selection of back to back couplers for the hose. camping gaz is currently 21 euro for a refill..not the cheapest I know..advantage for me is that local hyper has stock when in uk, we use 2 calor lite 6kg bottles, and all the other bits and pieces as well lastly, wedged in amongst it all are 2 small yellow levelling blocks. ps ..van is a Stargazer by Autocruise.. tonyg3nwl As far as I’m aware the largest capacity Campingaz excahangeable bottle is the 907 canister that holds 2.75kg of butane. (There is a 3.9kg bottle, but it’s marketed by Calor in the UK and contains propane.) The primary advantage of Campingaz is that bottles can be exchanged across national boundaries, so a 907 bottle obtained in the UK can be exchanged in France, Germany, Italy, etc. However, it is very expensive per kg of gas and, because only butane is available, will potentially be unsuitable for camping in very cold weather and/or when gas appliances are high demand. For johnfromnorfolk, planning to spend 3 months in France, “Le Cube” was the logical choice provided that the container could be accommodated in his Swift’s gas-locker. This bottle contains 6kg(butane) or 5kg(propane), costs about 29€ to obtain (fully refundable if he decides that he no longer wants the bottle and has retained the ‘bottle-hire’ paperwork) and another around 19€ for the gas and for subsequent exchanges for a full bottle. A Campingaz 907 canister currently costs about 58€ to obtain (bottle including gas) in France and over 20€ to exchange. Although many French supermarkets do sell Campingaz, my experience is that it’s pot-luck that they will have the bottle-size you want in stock when you need it (or - if it’s Sunday - that the supermarket will actually be open). Where refillable bottles are concerned, the largest canister johnfromnorfolk’s motorhome’s gas-locker could handle would be a 6kg bottle, and the cheapest system would probably involve the Gaslow "Direct Fill” product. But this would cost about £160 - that’s around 220€ compared to about 50€ for the Le Cube approach. I would also argue that it will be simpler and less stressful for a novice motorcaravanner to exchange a Le Cube bottle in France than to faff about with a refillable-bottle at French GPL service stations. User-refillable gas-bottles have their attractions (I’ve used one for 15 years), but the initial cost of a refillable system is not small and one needs to use a lot of gas and/or travel widely and often outside the UK to justify the expenditure. There is zero faffing about with an external point fill, I fill my bottle in a fraction of the time ANY other solution offers, as for cost, around £200 all in is soon recouped, but where a fixed refillable system really scores is sheer convenience, no more lugging bottles about, and especially in the UK avoiding the rip off prices on bottle exchanges. In my view anyone having spent a fair amount of money on a van should easily be able to justify a relatively small initial cost, against the long term benefits and simplicity of supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I know I am late on this thread. Currently in France on route home from Spain. We have a Sundance which holds two bottles (The French/Spanish) bottles will not fit our locker. But we have been away for 10 weeks and have only used half a bottle of gas!! We use sites, and I guess as a newbie you will too. Sadly you are going to miss out on a lot of ACSI sites, due to end of season. Enjoy your first trip PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-06-19 3:09 PM..............................There is zero faffing about with an external point fill, I fill my bottle in a fraction of the time ANY other solution offers, as for cost, around £200 all in is soon recouped, but where a fixed refillable system really scores is sheer convenience, no more lugging bottles about, and especially in the UK avoiding the rip off prices on bottle exchanges. In my view anyone having spent a fair amount of money on a van should easily be able to justify a relatively small initial cost, against the long term benefits and simplicity of supply. But, the OP wanted to know, at short notice, what French cylinder he could house alongside his existing 6kg Calor. That question was answered, and he now seems to be sorted. No-one has advised against using re-fillables. But, he would have needed to get them installed within one week, in the midst of general packing. What he now has will work for his trip, and as you have drawn his attention to the possibility and approximate cost to install, he can pursue the option for his next trip if he wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 yoko8pups - 2015-06-19 12:01 PM Thanks, we have BP light bottles which in the house are joined to the tap by a union clip, the UK butane bottle we have in our (new to us) van is a brass nut type of connection. I'm not sure if the union clip would be safe enough in the van and can we even use the light bottles safely. You asked about the safety of BP “GasLight” bottlres here: http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Gas-Bottles/37972/#M459332 In principle there should be no safety issues as the Gaslight container was marketed for use in leisure-vehicles. In fact, one of its selling points (never realised) was that it would be possible to exchange the bottles across national boundaries as can be done with Campingaz canisters. As far as I’m aware the Gaslight container has only ever been marketed in 5kg- or 10kg-capacity and only containing propane. It’s still possible to obtain Gaslight bottles in the UK and there’s information about them here: http://www.macgas.co.uk/39/gas-light A 27mm clip-on adapter or regulator is used to connect to a Gaslight bottle. As your motorhome has a “brass nut type of connection”, it’s likely that you would need the type of clip-on adapter shown here: http://www.gaslowdirect.com/Gaslow-27mm-Clip-on-Adapter http://www.gaslowdirect.com/Gaslow-27mm-Clip-on-Adapter-with-Top-Entry-Elbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I thought French gas was called Peter :D .............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoko8pups Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Thank you everyone for helping me as well, got to go out now but will read and digest later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfromnorfolk Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 See my new thread - Warning gas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevandali Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Hi EveryoneI was in the same position last year as johnfromnorfolk and we found it very difficult to understand what we actually needed, thanks to these posts I now have a far better idea. (I have two 13kg propane bottles at the moment)I now assume that I need both these items listed below and my Le Cube bottle and away I go?!?Hope you are all sorted now John?QUESTION:I have an Elddis motorhome which I take to France regularly. I would like to be able to use French gas cylinders and believe that I need an adapter or suitable pigtail to be able to do this. Do you stock such items, please? ANSWER:A popular cylinder in france is the 'Le Cube' and the adaptor for this is our part 135408 You can use your existing pigtail if you are currently operating on butane (blue gas bottle). If not then you will also need pigtail 119869.http://www.leisureshopdirect.com/caravan/gas/product_35408/27mm_adaptor_for_french_le_cube_and_bp_lightweight.aspxhttp://www.leisureshopdirect.com/caravan/home/product_19869/pigtail_hose_for_butane._20inch_long.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 But why, if your locker will take 13kg cylinders, are you faffing around with Le Cube? You could buy, at a better price per litre, a 13kg Butagaz propane (blue/silver) cylinder to which your existing pigtail (labeled for the UK market as for Butane) will connect with no adapter being required. I know this, because it what I do! :-D One Calor propane and one Butagaz propane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Assuming that kevandali’s 13kg propane bottles are to the historic UK-norm (and not, say, 13kg Calor “Patio Gas” canisters) they will have female left-handed-threaded POL (“Prest-O-Lite”) outlets. Given that his Lunar motorhome is 2008 vintage, it’s also reasonable to assume that it has a bulkhead-mounted 30mbar regulator connecting to the gas-bottle via a high-pressure gas ‘pigtail’ with a male POL end-fitting. This pigtail will not connect to a French 13kg gas container unadapted. The options are either to replace the POL pigtail with one with a 21.8LH end-fitting (as used with Calor 4.5kg butane canisters) http://www.gaslowdirect.com/Gaslow-218LH-Rubber-Hose-045m or to fit the POL pigtail with a POL-to-21.8LH adapter http://www.gaslowdirect.com/epages/cyujrhdmmu67.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/cyujrhdmmu67/Products/01-4331 The ‘deposit’ for a Butagaz 13kg propane canister is currently 9€ and a ‘refill’ is around 30€. So (as you rightly say) why bother with “Le Cube” if the gas-locker can accommodate a traditional French 13kg steel bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.