Jackal Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I'm just about to take off the factory fitted Gok regulator, hose and joint which is fitted to the copper piping. I've bought a 5/16" joint/coupler with ribbed male end, on which I intend to place the hose that goes to the regulator. Question is, is the size of the joint/coupler going to be OK, given that the piping is sure to be metric? As I understand the piping should be 8mm or 10mm. If so where can I get one from. I've tried everywhere 2 dealers locally but the only stock they have is imperial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonB Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Try any plumbers merchant and ask for compression fittings with cones or olive connection. You will find most caravan dealers workshops have metric fittings but the spares department in some of them are still in the dark ages! Please do not do as some people say that metric and imperial olives are near enough the same to use on each other. They are not, especially for gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 28, 2007 Author Share Posted October 28, 2007 Thanks DonB. Just as much as I thought, really. Gas being gas and all that. I'll take my 5/16" back and see if I can locate a plumbers' merchant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I would use calortite joint sealant or similar or ptfe tape around the olive before compression to ensure a good seal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 If the compression joint is made properly there should be no need to use calortite and most certainly no need for PTFE tape around the olive. Sorry Rich but using PTFE tape like this is a pure bodge. Be sure to leak test after you've made any joints, ideally with a proprietary leak detection fluid rather than washing up liquid as the salt content of the latter can attack the copper pipe and brass fittings. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 28, 2007 Author Share Posted October 28, 2007 I removed the current fitting and it would appear that it is a 15mm metric thread compression fitting on the pipe. However there doesn't appear to be an olive. I have left the nut on the pipe into which I intend to thread the 15mm compression fitting with what is termed a Fulham nozzle to push into the hose, on which I'll place a a jubilee clip Does this sound right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Apart from the size, which at 15mm sounds extremely oversized for LPG in a motorhome and the lack of an olive it sounds spot on. Never seen a compression joint that didn't have an olive though 8-) D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 28, 2007 Author Share Posted October 28, 2007 The thread is 15mm but the nozzle is 8mm. But I'll be blowed if I can find an olive on the original. I'll get myself some Gas Leak Detector Spray as you suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Jackal: I've got a feeling your motorhome has the same arrangement as my Hobby, with a 30mbar GOK regulator designed to attach directly to a German gas-bottle and a low-pressure hose connecting that regulator to the vehicle's metal gas pipework. (ie. similar in principle to the 'old' UK motorhome gas system) Wouldn't it be simpler just to add a suitable adapter to your GOK regulator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Jackal,I did a similar thing with my Knaus about a year ago. If you speak to the helpful people at CAK they will advise you on the best solution and can supply any number of appropriate fittings, depending upon what you decide is best for you.http://www.caktanks.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 davenewell@home - 2007-10-28 5:36 PM If the compression joint is made properly there should be no need to use calortite and most certainly no need for PTFE tape around the olive. Sorry Rich but using PTFE tape like this is a pure bodge. Be sure to leak test after you've made any joints, ideally with a proprietary leak detection fluid rather than washing up liquid as the salt content of the latter can attack the copper pipe and brass fittings. D. Fair enough Dave, I accept the wisdom of your superior knowledge and experience. However, like many other people I have been using Calortite (or failing that ptfe tape) to seal joints and dilute washing up liquid to leak test for many many years without any problem whatsoever and I don't quite see that taking a belt and braces approach towards avoiding potential gas leaks as a bodge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I didn't make that very clear, there is nothing wrong with calortite but if the joint is made properly there should be no need for it. Its the PTFE tape on an olive that I referred to as a bodge Richard. just a little aside regarding PTFE tape and gas, the correct tape to use is double thickness for use on gas systems and then it should only be used on threaded connections, not compression. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 Thanks for all your suggestions. I ended up ordering the said Fulham nozzle from www.leisureshopdirect.com online but when I rang up today to add the Gas Leak Detection Spray to the order, I spoke to two very helpful people who assured me, just like Dave, that it was highly unlikely that a motorhome would have a compression end which was 15mm. As a relative novice to these things of course what I'd done is to measure the thread on the existing compression fitting which came to 15mm, which in itself, so I'm told, doesn't make it a 15mm fitting (!!!). They are now going to make me an 8mm Fulham nozzle with a 10mm compression end which will fit on to the 15mm threaded nut which I have left on the copper piping. Derek, My first thought was to do exactly what you said as, like most people I hate to see a perfectly good bit of kit go to waste! However, when I looked and asked around it seemed as though this would be more difficult! Nobody could come up with a suitable adapter. If you remember the initial problem was that I wanted to fit a BP Gas Light bottle and no suitable fittings that I could find would end up with being able to keep the original GOK regulator. Much to my annoyance, it has to be said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Jackal: If you wanted to take the BP GasLight route and retain your original system then you would probably need two adapters - the 1st to convert the GOK regulator's German-standard inlet to a UK Calor 4.5kg butane connector-type (or the identical French standard connector-type) and the 2nd to convert that connector to the BP Gaslight snap-on connector-type. Few motorcaravanners choose the BP bottle. If they tour in the UK then they normally opt for 'traditional' UK propane cylinders that use a POL connector. (A German-to-POL adapter is certainly available in this country.) Although large 13kg Calor propane cylinders may not fit in German-built motorhomes' gas-lockers designed to accept German 11kg bottles, it's quite likely that slightly smaller capacity propane containers from alternative UK gas suppliers can be shoehorned in. To be frank, I'm not exactly sure what you are planning to do, mainly because of your earlier reference to "a jubilee clip". My Hobby has 8mm diameter metal gas pipework with a nut/olive compression fitting that connected to a low-pressure flexible hose that connected to an on-bottle 30mbar German-standard GOK regulator. I chose to convert this arrangement to the present UK-norm that comprises a 30mbar 'fixed' regulator with high-pressure hose ('pigtail') connecting regulator to gas-bottle. There are (at least) 3 suitable such regulators available in the UK. One (marketed by Truma) has variants with the outlet designed for either an 8mm or a 10mm compression fitting. I used the former that connected directly to my motorhome's original pipework once the flexible hose had been removed. The other regulators have either a screwed outlet (Gaslow regulator) that requires an 8mm or 10mm adapter (respectively Part No. 01-1682 or 01-1683) to connect regulator to metal pipework, or a 10mm 'compression-type' outlet (Clesse regulator) that will connect directly to 10mm diameter pipework or require a 10mm-to-8mm converter (available, I understand, from plumbing/gas suppliers like BES Ltd) to connect to 8mm pipework. If you are proposing to replicate your motorhome's original system but using UK-type components instead, then the best of luck - it's not something I'd consider doing. You may also need to be careful about the "copper piping". I assumed my Hobby's gas pipework was copper until I came to replace the olive on the compression fitting that originally connected to the low-pressure hose. Whatever metal the Hobby's pipework is made of it ain't copper and, given its injurious effect on hacksaw blades, it could well be stainless steel. Anyway, it's bloody hard! General: I remember Truma(UK) technicians being scathing about use of gas-joint sealing products. It wasn't the products themselves they were critical of, just the carelessness of people using them. I was told it was commonplace for heaters/boilers that had been worked on by dealerships to fail later on due to sealing compound finding its way into the equipment after being over-liberally applied during reassembly of the joints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackal Posted October 30, 2007 Author Share Posted October 30, 2007 Derek, The clip on BP Gas Light regulator has a nozzle (Fulham type) that fits into the flexible hose. To ensure a tight fit it is customary to tighten a jubilee clip over the hose where the nozzle fits into the hose. At the other end, in order to utilise and not cut the existing pipework, copper or otherwise, I'm trying to find something with the same thread as the original connection or nut that is still fixed on to the end of the piping. One common option is what I now know to be called a Fulham nozzle to compression fitting. The compression fitting will screw on to the existing connection, just like the original threaded end but then connect to the hose via the fulham nozzle and another jubilee clip. As far as BP Gas Light is concerned I was one of those motorhomers you mention using a standard propane bottle but quite honestly I really can't see why I lugged all that weight and had the uncertainty of whether I would make it through a holiday without refilling all those years. I really can't. I've also done the sums and really can't see why I would go to the expense of a Gaslow set-up either, especially when there are places that will fill-up normal propane bottles anyway. For £45 I get a lighter container, I can see how much I have left and I know a full bottle will definitely see me through the longest of my holidays (3 weeks) with ease. Personal choice maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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