John swift Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 Hi does anyone know if calor has sorted out the issue with calor light bottles and if so are they available thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 From this news article No! https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/news/gas-shortage-affects-motorhome-and-caravan-sales Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 Cheers Keith i have 2 x6kg lite bottles 1 empty and 1 almost empty been offered to change them for normal until they sort out but these were a lot more expensive so been waiting i have 1 normal bottle that came with our new motorhome so think i will hang on for now as only got small trips booked thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 If you go on EB, look at Tenthire Direct they always have some for exchange, they are in Walsall. Have had all mine from there since the Calor depot in West Bromwich stopped the public entering during the pandemic ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Keithl - 2021-05-31 10:32 PM From this news article No! https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/news/gas-shortage-affects-motorhome-and-caravan-sales Keith. I'm not sure if that article is directly relevant where Calor’s 6kg “CalorLite” canisters are concerned. In 2017 Calor said that it would be replacing (in the relatively near future) their CalorLite container with a different lightweight bottle. This was reported here https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Calorlites-to-be-replaced-/47021/ There was another forum posting in 2018 about this https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Calor-Lite-again/49956/ but no replacement lightweight Calor bottle has been forthcoming (and probably never will be) and Calor’s current advice can be read here https://shop.calor.co.uk/calor-lite-propane-gas-bottle.html The situation is that, as long as a CalorLite bottle is found to be ’safe’ when periodically tested by Calor, it will remain in the Calor bottle ‘population’ and - if someone has an empty CalorLite bottle and can locate a Calor agent that has some full CalorLite bottles - a like-for-like exchange can take place. Otherwise (as the Calor webpage says) the empty CalorLite bottle can be exchanged for a full Calor standard ‘heavy’ 6kg or 3.9kg propane canister. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 John swift - 2021-05-31 11:02 PM i have 2 x6kg lite bottles 1 empty and 1 almost empty You could always get them refilled if you have a harbour nr by I'd try there first they are filling all sorts of foreign bottles from visiting vessels daily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Calor’s warning on refilling their bottles with ‘autogas’ is here https://www.calor.co.uk/news-and-views/calor-warns-about-unlawful-filling-of-lpg-cylinders-at-autogas-refuelling-sites and the same caveats would apply to refilling Calor bottles at a marine site unless the refiller had been authorised to do this by Calor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John swift Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Thank you everyone i went to Southport 2 weeks ago and they had some so swapped 1 went again last weekend but none left Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 A caravaner friend of mine exchanged his Calor bottle recently and was offered a direct replacement for his Calor Lite. He mentioned to the dealer that he’d heard these were being phased out and was told that Calor seem to have resorted to refilling Lites to help cope with the national shortage of Calor bottles. I’ve read the warning on the Calor website about refilling their rental from autogas pumps and although there are clearly risks I do think Calor are continuing to give exaggerated statement to protect their monopoly position in UK - especially with regard to exaggerating the risks of refilling bottles (such as Gasit) which are designed to be safe being refilled. I’d like to see Calor’s monopoly challenged to open the LPG market up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Calor’s stance on their CalorLite canister is (repeated!) here https://shop.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/calor-lite.html There’s no question “...that Calor seem to have resorted to refilling Lites to help cope with the national shortage of Calor bottles”. As I said above, as long as a CalorLite bottle is found to be ’safe’ when periodically tested by Calor, it will continue to be refilled by Calor and provided to Calor distributors. Although “Calor" is used within the UK leisure-vehicle community as a generic name for any ‘exchange’ gas canister, the company does not have a UK monopoly. Flogas is the other main player, but Calor and Flogas will both accept for exchange certain other bottles that are differently branded (though a “Calor” branded bottle is not exchangeable for a “Flogas” branded bottle, or vice versa). https://www.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/advice/returns#gas-bottle-returns https://www.flogas.co.uk/gas-bottles/brands Calor’s warning about refilling gas bottles with autogas relates to “ its portable LPG cylinders” not to privately owned gas containers designed to be user-refilled. As should be apparent from this 2018 link, Flogas has exactly the same policy. https://www.flogas.co.uk/news/flogas-investigation-exposes-illegal-gas-cylinder-filling Calor’s autogas-related warning (hardly surprisingly) does not discriminate between ‘exchange’ and ‘user refillable’ gas containers, but GAS IT’s own advice makes abundantly clear the potential risks involved in refilling exchange bottles with autogas. https://www.gasit.co.uk/leisure-gas-refillable-products/7-gas-pipes-pigtails-and-vapour-tank-accessories/on-bottle-bayonet-fillpoint-p446.html The GAS IT website refers to the “Red Guide” https://www.gasit.co.uk/files/public/WEB-VERSION-Red-Guide-18.10.18.pdf?96371400 and (Pages 61-63) distinguish between “Portable LPG cylinders” Gas supplier owned cylinders: Cylinders supplied on an exchange empty for full basis are owned by the gas supplier and are designed to be filled by weight. It is a requirement that only the owner or their authorised filler may refill the cylinders. and "Customer refillable cylinders” Cylinders that are designed to be refilled by the public should be of a type that is recognisable by the forecourt operator and incorporate the following safety features: - Be fitted with an over-fill prevention device, that prevents the cylinder being filled above 80 % of its capacity. - Have a fill valve compatible with the nozzle of an autogas dispenser. This 2019 forum thread referred to gas bottle refilling at Morrisons service stations. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/MMM-Morrisons-and-Lpg/53942/ and I included a photo (attached below) relating to a fire in 2014 that resulted in Morrisons banning motorhomes from refilling with LPG. Murphy’s Law definitely applies to refilling LPG bottles with autogas, but - as these 2019 forum threads prove - even refilling a motorhome’s fixed LPG tank is not immune to that Law. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Flashback-LPG-FILL-UP/51928/ https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/IH-MOTORHOME-ALERT-LPG-GAS/51939/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 I can’t remember the precise threshold at which a share of the market qualifies for interest from the Monopolies Commission but pretty obviously Calor has a dominant market share and deserves to have its wings clipped. And I’m not for a moment supporting the filling of rental bottles at Autogas pumps on forecourts but I do think it is shameful that Calor banned motorhomes from refilling proper refillable bottles at all their depots on so called safety grounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.