French gas bottles?

clf86ha

Guest
Hi, we're currently in france and have had a nightmare with our 6kg calorlite gas.
1st gas bottle ran out, no problem, we had a full spare one and one bottle usually lasts us 5-6 months anyway.
We changed to the new bottle and stopped the evening on an aire, woke up the next morning to put the kettle on and absolutely no gas.
We've managed for the last two evenings using sites, but l'm seriously missing my oven and hob, not to mention, loads of fab aires we could of used but can't!

Can anyone tell us what gas/connectors we need to buy (a picture would be excellent)?
Many thanks
 
I bought a french bottle from Super U recently which fitted my calor connection. If it didn't they sell the connector in the store. You need to fill a registration on the first bottle which cost about 5 euros and the total was about 32 euros. This was for a 13 litre bottle but they do smaller bottles. I believe carreflour and Le Clerk do something similar. As a back up you can always pick up a portable camping stove for about 15 euros.
 
You normally need a french address for registration on the first bottle ....use the campsite. Odds are your regulator will not fit and/or incorrect pressure. Explain you need both "detendre" is the french for regulator. Remove your calor one attach the french one in its place andoff you go ....all the Bricos tend to deal in gas, the large supermarkets often do the refills but not all do the regulators or can sign you up . I found Antargaz Calypso the best deal. Also why did your bottle empty so quick ? If you are confident it was changing th ebottle fine , if you are not confident needs checking over

Channa
 
might only need an adaptor to a pigtail. bet it hasnt got a bottle top reg.
could be wrong.
 
They took my uk address when i registered the bottle Channa. This was in Bourg St Maurice about a month ago.
 
My UK address was enough and the connector was a freeby when buying the bottle from Intermarche
 
Why was the second bottle empty? This happened to me and I needed the hose changing.
 
channa said:
You normally need a french address for registration on the first bottle ....use the campsite. Odds are your regulator will not fit and/or incorrect pressure. Explain you need both "detendre" is the french for regulator. Remove your calor one attach the french one in its place andoff you go ....all the Bricos tend to deal in gas, the large supermarkets often do the refills but not all do the regulators or can sign you up . I found Antargaz Calypso the best deal. Also why did your bottle empty so quick ? If you are confident it was changing th ebottle fine , if you are not confident needs checking over

Channa
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We have two French bottles, never been asked for our address. Both came with a regulator.
 
carol said:
Why was the second bottle empty? This happened to me and I needed the hose changing.
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The little guage at the top was snapped off somehow. We obviously didnt notice it when we connected the bottle, so it obviously leaked slow and steady from the guage hole 😦
 
Did you get a bottle yet? I'm a coffee addict and I know what it's like without a slurp in the morning. That's why I started carrying a portable as back up.:D
 
Haaamster said:
Did you get a bottle yet? I'm a coffee addict and I know what it's like without a slurp in the morning. That's why I started carrying a portable as back up.:D
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We had to come onto sites to keep the fridge running, so able to use the electric kettle for coffee making. But the lack of gas has rendered cooking fa ilities useless. Weve just got ourselves together and off out now to sort the gas issue hopefully, so will be back on later when we're back online and will let you know ☺
 
Good luck, do not do as I did and pick up a bottle that is turned upside down. These are the empties, had to pay for another full one cos the lovely french lady had forgotten how to speak English when I went back the next day. :baby:
 
Haaamster said:
I bought a french bottle from Super U recently which fitted my calor connection. If it didn't they sell the connector in the store. You need to fill a registration on the first bottle which cost about 5 euros and the total was about 32 euros. This was for a 13 litre bottle but they do smaller bottles. I believe carreflour and Le Clerk do something similar. As a back up you can always pick up a portable camping stove for about 15 euros.
Click to expand...

A long-term solution (perhaps better investigated after your return) might be to investigate the Gas-It and Gaslow refillable systems; with these, you can fill up with LPG at any filling station that has an LPG pump at prices far lower than those indicated above for exchangeable bottles. There are 3 (IIRC) adaptors available to cover a range of European connectors.

Tom
 
clf86ha said:
The little guage at the top was snapped off somehow. We obviously didnt notice it when we connected the bottle, so it obviously leaked slow and steady from the guage hole 😦
Click to expand...
you were lucky not to have the van blown up.
 
notice you are using 6Kg bottles ..is that because of restricted space ?
if you go to Intermarche their own brand 10Kg bottles are about the same size [ you can get it holding 9Kg propane as well ]
the thread is a standard left hand european thread [ as used on the 4.5 Kg Calor dumpy butane in the uk ] if you get an adaptor for that you will be able to use german/dutch/french bottles as well ...if you have an on board regulator any caravan /motorhome dealer will sell you the correct pigtail
 
Well it took all day to get something sorted ( we've been to nearly every motorhome shop in southern brittany, supermarkets and a mr bricolage too), but a caravan accessories shop sold me the correct adapter and found a bottle to fit it in the last supermarket we tried at 5.45pm (it only JUST fit in the locker). So thank you all for your input and help in getting us back up and running 👍
 
lebesset said:
notice you are using 6Kg bottles ..is that because of restricted space ?
if you go to Intermarche their own brand 10Kg bottles are about the same size [ you can get it holding 9Kg propane as well ]
the thread is a standard left hand european thread [ as used on the 4.5 Kg Calor dumpy butane in the uk ] if you get an adaptor for that you will be able to use german/dutch/french bottles as well ...if you have an on board regulator any caravan /motorhome dealer will sell you the correct pigtail
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This is exactly what we found in the last supermarket, bought their own bottle and the first caravan store sold us the adapter end that made our pigtail fit the bottle.
 
glad you got sorted . it really isnt that hard once you try to get sorted . the adaptot in uk for the france thread to our propane thread is 3.96 pounds from BES.
 
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