Gaslow

[ajs]

as an engineer cant you see that fitting the adaptor is no more than fitting the regulator . then you are left with the same fitting to fill .open bottle . when at litreage required stop pumping turn off bottle disconect. pay for gas .it is the same gas . children could do it. gas low actually market an adaptor to fit normal bottles to an external filler but it costs more. gas wont burn if you keep flames etc away from it. its so simple. cheers alan.

knowing what and how calor refill their empties...
i have always thought that logically there is no reason why you or i can't do the same.

if you are worried about over fill fit a gauge or fill by weight (scales)

the only problem with doing this on the road is the encounter with the uneducated

regards
aj

 

[vwalan]

why would you have liquid gas squirting around your van?even with gas low it squirts a little. you dont have to know the pressure switch is in the pump .it should only fill to 85 percent. if you have 2 bottles when one is empty fit the other one. convieniance is not paying a fortune .

 

[vera]

Hi noticed a gaslow system on E Bay last night-
Look under Caravan Club
Obviously it has no bids. Think it finishes soon.We changed to gaslow a few months ago and think its a great system

 

[barryd]

This thread has been debated a few times. I take my hat of to people like Alan who are clever (and confident) to set up their own systems. Gaslow is hugly succesful because of people like me. Im not going to dick around with Gas (or electrics really) for that matter. Its much to dangerous. All I wanted was for a man to come and fit me a filler on the side of the van so I could pull up at an LPG pump, fill it up and forget about it. Thats what I got and its brilliant.

 

[derekfaeberwick]

That's what I would have as well if I'd money to throw away, but I don't.

 

[tan-all-over]

This thread has been debated a few times. I take my hat of to people like Alan who are clever (and confident) to set up their own systems. Gaslow is hugly succesful because of people like me. Im not going to dick around with Gas (or electrics really) for that matter. Its much to dangerous. All I wanted was for a man to come and fit me a filler on the side of the van so I could pull up at an LPG pump, fill it up and forget about it. Thats what I got and its brilliant.

I agree .....what price safety. anybody seen a caravan/motorhome explode

 

[barryd]

That's what I would have as well if I'd money to throw away, but I don't.

Well even if you take away the fact that Gaslow is convenient, safe and in theory you shouldnt ever run out of gas at a rough guess mine will pay for itself in 2 years or so. We use our van a lot and every time I fill it up its half the price of replacing a normal gas cylinder. Add the fact that you can use it in most countries in Europe with very little hassle then for us it was a no brainer really.

 

[biggirafe]

Well even if you take away the fact that Gaslow is convenient, safe and in theory you shouldnt ever run out of gas at a rough guess mine will pay for itself in 2 years or so. We use our van a lot and every time I fill it up its half the price of replacing a normal gas cylinder. Add the fact that you can use it in most countries in Europe with very little hassle then for us it was a no brainer really.

yep if you can afford it, either fitted or fit yourself seems to be a no brainer.

If my van was worth less and did not have my children in it I would possibly ignore the insurance and saftey issues which are no doubt exagerated and refill normal propane bottles.

I think I will be looking to fit a single bottle and remote fill point in the new year.

 

[vwalan]

looks like you only got a cheap one anyway. there is no safety issue. never mind good job we are all different. i know its a personal thing either you do or you dont. we only try to put alternative ways you might not know about . have fun thats what we all want. keep your eyes open for an articulated truck conversion it may be me ,give us a wave.see you on the road somewhere ,cheers alan.

 

[barryd]

yep if you can afford it, either fitted or fit yourself seems to be a no brainer.

If my van was worth less and did not have my children in it I would possibly ignore the insurance and saftey issues which are no doubt exagerated and refill normal propane bottles.

I think I will be looking to fit a single bottle and remote fill point in the new year.

Just remember to shop around if your getting it fitted. Should be around £250for a single bottle, guage regulator thingy and filler cap all fitted in around an hour.

 

[colpot]

We had a gaslow system fitted to our Swift and the cost fitted for 2 x 7kg bottles was about £400. We bought the kit ourselves and paid a local guy to fit it.
We have just changed to a Rapido and I took the gaslow system off the Swift and transferred it to the Rapido myself.
When working out the payback its difficult to put a price on the convenience of not having to swap bottles out, so I'm not going to bother worrying about it.
On both Motorhomes we situated the filler in the locker, so didnt have to cut door/bodywork.

 

[Deleted member 8180]

I thought about putting the filler in the door but the constant flexing didn't seem like a good idea. Made some woodwork inside the door to to hold the filler and tanks in place, so no excess holes anywhere.

 

[biggirafe]

I thought about putting the filler in the door but the constant flexing didn't seem like a good idea. Made some woodwork inside the door to to hold the filler and tanks in place, so no excess holes anywhere.

You did the right thing, On the Gaslow site you can download instructions. They make a point of saying don't put the filler in the door for the reason you stated. They also sell an angled bracket you can put inside the locker. But it sounds like you have made a cheap alternative, I like that idea

 

[derekfaeberwick]

Well even if you take away the fact that Gaslow is convenient, safe and in theory you shouldnt ever run out of gas at a rough guess mine will pay for itself in 2 years or so. We use our van a lot and every time I fill it up its half the price of replacing a normal gas cylinder. Add the fact that you can use it in most countries in Europe with very little hassle then for us it was a no brainer really.

You quote £250 for a 1 bottle system, Mine was £30 for a 2x13kg system which is also safe and the bottles can be changed to whatever size fits any van.

Now that's what I call a no brainer. Anyone who is competent enough to fit their own Gaslow can surely manage to refill a Calor with an adapter safely, those who can't must surely be suspect when it comes to even changing a cylinder safely.

 

[John H]

We had our two-cylinder Gaslow system fitted 18 months ago for £400. Before that we were paying around £30 per month for gas; now we pay £8. In other words, the system has just about paid for itself. The benefits depend on how long you spend in your van and what you use gas for. We spend most of each year in the van and run everything off gas as much as possible (ie we spend a lot of time wildcamping and therefore without mains electricity). The system came with a twenty year guarantee and is easily transferable to another van if and when we change it. Obviously, if you only use your van a couple of months each year it will take 10 years to pay for itself.

 

[Mick H]

You did the right thing, On the Gaslow site you can download instructions. They make a point of saying don't put the filler in the door for the reason you stated. They also sell an angled bracket you can put inside the locker. But it sounds like you have made a cheap alternative, I like that idea

The gas locker door is EXACTLY where the installer, recommended by Gaslow themselves, fitted our filler point!
Perhaps they have learnt that this isn't the best place, over a period of time, since ours was fitted over 4 years ago. Still, there haven't been any problems and it doesn't get sprayed with road dirt, like it would have done if fitted lower down.
We had ours fitted professionally, when the M/H was new, so as not to experience any guarantee or insurance issues.

Mick H.

 

[biggirafe]

The gas locker door is EXACTLY where the installer, recommended by Gaslow themselves, fitted our filler point!
Perhaps they have learnt that this isn't the best place, over a period of time, since ours was fitted over 4 years ago. Still, there haven't been any problems and it doesn't get sprayed with road dirt, like it would have done if fitted lower down.
We had ours fitted professionally, when the M/H was new, so as not to experience any guarantee or insurance issues.

Mick H.

You might be right that they have learnt from experience, mind you if you have the filler in door there is no reason to open the door and therefore why would the hoses get damaged, something to keep an eye on.

 

[Deleted member 8180]

You have to shut the tank valve before filling so yes, you do have to open the door. I also use the locker to store my spare gas cylinders for the indoor barbie and other homeless stuff.

 

[John H]

You have to shut the tank valve before filling so yes, you do have to open the door. I also use the locker to store my spare gas cylinders for the indoor barbie and other homeless stuff.

We have our filler on a bracket inside the gas compartment (thus making it easier to shift the whole system if and when we change vans) and so have to open the door to fill up but were never told to shut the tank valves before filling and never do. In fact, the professional guy who fitted the system said it didn't matter.

 

[lebesset]

as I see it , whether this is is a good idea depends on where you motorhome
eg in the uk gas is a rip off price so a single gaslow or perhaps a better make would be an economic proposition ; with a small normal bottle as a standby in case you run out you could get your money back in a few years ; why anyone would buy 2 gaslows is beyond me ...my standby bottle lasts me 2/3 years and I am generally on the road for 6 months

if you travel in france you can get free bottles with the standard european 4.5 Kg calor dumpy thread , costs about 10cents/litre more than the supermarket pump and less than the autoroute pump , , so you can work out how long it would take to get your money back , you would need to buy about a tonne and a half of lpg to break even where I live

in spain bottles are cheaply an easily available and the gas is cheaper than at the pump [ or it was earlier this year when I took an lpg powered vehicle AND bought exchange bottles } if you don't have a spanish bottle go to a supermarket in s.france that sells repsol , they will GIVE you a repsol bottle plus adaptor to standard thread ; thereafter you can just swop incl spain/portugal ..... the handle is different in spain but the vendors in spain have always accepted when I have arrived with a bottle from france/portugal [ they are all refilled in spain in any case ]; if you can't fit in a normal sized bottle , just go to a repsol filling station , put a deposit on one of the small bottles , keep the receipt and get your money back when you hand it back when you leave spain ; if you are without the adaptor there is a repsol distributor in every town and they sell them , if you are still on the old fashioned low pressure system with a rubber tube you can buy a regulator instead , even the supermarkets sell them !

the important thing if you travel outside the UK is to use the standard european thread [ calor butane dumpy 4.5 Kg type ] ...then you can just slot on a local bottle

for those with british motorhomes with gas lockers that won't take a proper 13/11 bottle , the intermarche/casino own brand [free] bottle is only 300mm in diameter and 500 mm high , and is therefore a 10/9 size

as an aside , when I had a fall in spain and couldn't drive or lift anything , I always disconnected my bottle and the man at the repsol depot or gas truck always swopped it over for me , plenty of old people in that position anyway I suppose