BobGarrett Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 On a new van (to us) we have these clip on gauges. Can anyone comment on how accurate they are as on the active cylinder it stayed at the top for a long time, then suddenly was in the yellow and now red. Yet there is still gas coming out. Getting it out to weigh is difficult. So many options of what could be wrong and we have already changed the gauge to a new one which is still red. Could it be that they indicate full until the last dregs, or maybe the rod/magnet in the cylinder has failed, or maybe we have a gas leak. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayc Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 (edited) its just the way they work. The float action is fairly primitive and in the green most of the range. Just look on the yellow as a warning and don't be surprised when it runs out on the red. If you have an auto changeover then leave it on the in use bottle and when it gets into the yellow open the second bottle so that it changes over to it when the first bottle runs out. Edited January 4 by rayc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Bob. This particular product is marketed by Gaslow (advert here) https://www.gaslowdirect.com/product/gaslow-clip-on-contents-gauge/ There are three reviews and the 3rd one says Fitting was easy. Still shows full even though we have used the gas for about 6 weeks. Utube shows that it won’t read until it is about 2 thirds empty.. and the 'Utube' video referred to is probably this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFwuSp-KEJc Gaslow used to fit this design of contents gauge to their original user-refillable gas bottles that are shown on this ancient Gaslow brochure .pdf file http://www.dicklanemotorhomes.co.uk/pdfs/gaslow-brochure.pdf The outlet on the upper surface of the early bottles was offset well to the side. The result (as rayc has advised) was that the simple float mechanism within the bottle had limited vertical movement and 'graduated' measurement of the bottle's liquid-gas contents was only possible from 50% to 18% full. From 100% to 50% the gauge's pointer would stay at the top of the gauge's green sector and the gauge would enter the red sector when 18% of the gas contents still remained. This limitation is highlighted in the Gaslow brochure and I've copied the relevant part below. Although (in principle) the gauge fitted to the original Gaslow bottles SHOULD have been reasonably informative from 50% full down to 18% full, its accuracy and the credibility of its readings was often criticised. As rayc has suggested, it would be wise to refill the bottle when the gauge entered its yellow sector. Modern user-refillable metal gas bottles that have a float-operated contents gauge use a 'multi-valve' arrangement that's centralised in the bottle's upper surface (example below) This permits a more sophisticated float mechanism with a much larger movement and the gauge is able to provide a reliable 'graduated' contents measurement from (near enough) 100% full to (pretty much) empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Hi. I have been using these for 12+ years. They work for me. I use them as an early warning that the cylinder is nearly empty so I can be ready to change. Cheap and cheerful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 This is an old (2012) MotorHomeFacts forum thread about gas-bottle gauges https://www.motorhomefacts.com/threads/gaslow-pressure-gauge-reading.102978/ It is perhaps worth highlighting that there are two sorts of relatively inexpensive retro-fittable dial-type contents-level gauge. Ones like the Gaslow clip-on product require the bottle to have an existing internal float mechanism, while others measure the pressure of the vaporising liquid gas within the bottle. The latter type was discussed in this long O&AL forum thread https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/62924-pxin-gas-pressure-gauge-indicator/ and - although they provide a useful leak-testing capability - cannot provide 'graduated' contents measurements. There are alternatives (eg. Truma's "LevelChecK" and "LevelControl") that may not be suitable for use with gas-bottles having an internal float mechanism, and cheap magnetic/stick-on level indicators https://colourchanging.co.uk/collections/gas-level-indicators-1 that I never found effective. There are also translucent composite gas bottles designed for user-refilling. These do not need a gauge as the amount of gas in the bottle can be visually identified. "Safefill" composite cylinders have proved popular with the caravanning community (presumably because of their light weight) but the "GasBank Multi" or "GasBank Duo" range of composite bottles are more suitable for motorhomes as refilling does not require disconnection from the motorhome's gas system and an external filling-point can be installed if so wished. https://lpgshop.co.uk/gasbank-composite-bottles/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 We have had these in the past and found them to be unreliable, plus having to open the gas locker to look at them was often overlooked. Newer ones may be better but would I still would not rely on one. The best method we found was to have a decent and easy to use manual changeover valve. Not automatic as then you get two empty bottles which is really inconvenient! I also used to note how many days a bottle of gas lasted, less in cooler trips of course, as a rough guide to anticipating when. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 When I visited a French motorhome dealership a few years ago, they had a Gaslow R67 11kg canister on display that had a section of the bottle removed allowing its contents-level float mechanism to be easily seen and operated by hand. This was of interest to me as I had one of these bottles in my Rapido motorhome and I had wondered about the design, robustness and engineering quality of that mechanism. I was impressed by what I saw, particularly the engineering of the rack-and-pinion mechanism that drove the gauge. Unlike the magnetically-operated gauge used on earlier Gaslow bottles and that could only register the contents-level across a limited range (as shown here) the mechanically operated gauge on Gaslow R67 bottles can provide much more accurate 'graduated' readings across a much wider range. While, historically, UK-built motorhomes have tended to adopt caravanning practice and have a smallish gas-locker designed for (at best) 2 x 6kg Calor gas bottles, more recently it's become fairly common for Continental European-built motorhomes with diesel-fuelled air/water heating (and, hence, a much reduced gas usage) to have a gas-locker sized for a single 13kg or 11kg gas bottle. This precludes fitting a bottle changeover device and makes the user-refillable bottle more attractive. The position on the central 'multi-valve' of the standard gauge can make it a mite hard to read and, to make reading easier, small right-angled mirror attachments have been advertised in the past. Nowadays - for Gaslow R67 bottles - a couple of options are available that allow remote reading of the bottle's contents, either via a smartphone or from a separate gauge in the motorhome's interior.. https://www.gaslowdirect.com/product/gaslow-wave-bluetooth-gas-level-gauge-kit/ https://www.gaslowdirect.com/product/gaslow-remote-gauge-01-4030/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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