Gaslow

lebesset said:
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
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Obviously it is horses for courses but I am intrigued by the fact that a single gaslow cylinder lasts you for 2/3 years if you are on the road six months - do you eat raw food, wash in cold water and only go to hot places???? Our two cylinders will last about six weeks.
 
He said his standby bottle lasts 2 or 3 years. Probably because he keeps his gaslow topped up.;)
 
derekfaeberwick said:
He said his standby bottle lasts 2 or 3 years. Probably because he keeps his gaslow topped up.;)
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Clearly, I can't read!!!! But the advantage of two cylinders is surely that you don't have to faff around manually switching to the standy - usually in the rain. Apart from the obvious cost-benefit we have found, we also appreciate the ease of use. Filling up with lpg is now just as easy as filling up with diesel and we haven't had to man-handle a cylinder for ages.
 
That's what I do as well but if I was in Spain I think that after reading Lebessets post I'd go his way because of the hassle scourcing lpg, not to mention the savings he mentions.

P.S. I use 2 refillable Calor bottles, not gaslow.;)
 
like derek i use a calor exchange or refillable anywhere ,a spanish exchange or fill anywhere also a morocan exchange fill anywhere. if going to spain /morocco dont use the calor. leave it at home ,and so on . can fill bottles at the pump or exchange if neccasary. all depends on price or availability .flexability is the name of the game. get the right connectors you can fill any gas bottle ,i think. if you have a sensible gas locker you dont lift any bottles to fill only to swap one for the other before you leave home. after that fill in situe. also i can fill friends or other travellers bottles to save them getting more bottles from ever country.total flexability . in maroc you cant use gaslow or fill at pumps. so swap bottles as when. in spain the same arises if there isnt an autogas station handy. if you just stay in uk even here autogas stations arent always closeto hand.so it can be handy to be able to exchange. after all we all forget to fill up sometimes, we are human.
 
John H said:
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.
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I think the gaslow instructions tell you to shut the valves, I suppose it's to protect the regulator. It also stops my standby bottle (calor propane) from getting overfilled. I suppose I could disconnect it, take it out, weigh it, subtract the cylinder weight, analyse the proane/ butane mix, work out the S.G. and figure out how much space there was left in it and refill it. But no, I just fill my shiny new gaslow tank until it shuts off. :D
 
don't misunderstand please , all gas bottles are refillable so that's what I do , refill gas bottles , but I use free ones !

but for people who think it is difficult to put 11Kg of gas in a 11Kg cylinder [ I only refill EMPTY bottles as a safety measure ] the gaslow type seems a good idea

so MY setup is an 11 Kg repsol bottle , an auto switch over device with 2 eurostandard tails , except I leave my emergency bottle closed so that when the main bottle is empty I just turn the tap and use that until the main bottle is filled or changed according to where I happen to be ; and my emergency bottle is just a 2.8 Kg camping gas with the euroconnector adaptor ..the reason THAT lasts 2/3 years is that the only place it is difficult to fill my main bottle is in spain where I can swop the it on every corner ....most places I stop the repsol truck stops when he sees my empty bottle standing outside

of course I could use a bigger emergency bottle , but why carry more weight than you need ..it ;leaves space for three 5 litre water bottles and , being last of the big spenders , I can afford an €8 camping bottle swop every three years when I am in spain ; yes alan , I know it is only 10 dirhams in maroc , but you have to lash out sometimes ! [ I have had one refilled in hungary ...for 50cents ]
 
I had my filler fitted on to the coach work just to the right of the locker. Seems ok there. I have a spare 6KG standard gas bottle in the locker as well just in case I run out of LPG or cant get any but its been in there all year and never been used. Might take it out. Guess what will happen if I do?
 
Mastodon said:
I think the gaslow instructions tell you to shut the valves, I suppose it's to protect the regulator. It also stops my standby bottle (calor propane) from getting overfilled. I suppose I could disconnect it, take it out, weigh it, subtract the cylinder weight, analyse the proane/ butane mix, work out the S.G. and figure out how much space there was left in it and refill it. But no, I just fill my shiny new gaslow tank until it shuts off. :D
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I suppose thats another advantage with having two gaslow cylinders rather than one and a standby!
 
where is the advantage of two .i sometimes just fill untill the pump stops .idont always wait to be empty .the cut off is in the pump not the bottle. having two gaslow does reduce the weight.(in your pocket)ha ha. you can join as many as you like together with the right conections . like i say you can buy all the fittings to fill any bottle with an outside filler if you want .the beauty of a loose adaptor is its so handy if you dont want to take the camper every time you visit the lpg pump. some of us have other uses for lpg as well as in the camper.
 
mastodon , how can you pump gas into a standby bottle ?
if it isn't turned off how is it a standby , it is always being used !
 
vwalan said:
where is the advantage of two .i sometimes just fill untill the pump stops .idont always wait to be empty .the cut off is in the pump not the bottle. having two gaslow does reduce the weight.(in your pocket)ha ha. you can join as many as you like together with the right conections . like i say you can buy all the fittings to fill any bottle with an outside filler if you want .the beauty of a loose adaptor is its so handy if you dont want to take the camper every time you visit the lpg pump. some of us have other uses for lpg as well as in the camper.
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And there you have it - some of us spend virtually all our time in our motorhomes and travel extensively throughout Europe. For us it is a very good idea to have two cylinders. You only need to fill up once every six weeks, you can get refills in every country we have visited (I think it is at least 16 to date) and you don't have to worry about ever running out in the middle of the night - just refill when the indicator tells you the first cylinder is empty. Ironically, the only country where refilling is a problem is the most-visited one - Spain - but if you know where to look it is not difficult. On top of that, our system has paid for itself already so from now until we die we are making a considerable saving on our gas bills (unlike people who live most of their lives in houses). I'm satisfied and would recommend the system to anybody.
 
so there we have it you travel around europe .so do i. its still the same an adapter costs 30 quid. we do under stand the reasons for filling bottles .its just the price of gaslow. i use gas for cutting and other things . its not the carrying of two bottles thats the question. why gaslow?why pay that sort of money. i prefer to use it else where. i can say that most of my life as been travelling around europe and further so you arent alone. in many countries it comes down to changing bottles or tipping one into yours . i have an lpg pump just to make it easier but its something else to carry . have fun fill em up thats the way. cheers alan.
 
So , in a nutshell , there we had it.;) Sorted, job done. :D


What's next, gennies, dogs, taxes? Good on here, innit.:cool:
 
hi john . did you know about the way to fill gas bottles before you bought the gas low system. honest question . i,ve been filling calor and others for years started in the 70,s when i first had a lpg powered car. i later used the filler connection and adapted to different bottles .i still have the original calor tank here. i do think of using it on the camper but find having a mix of bottles and ways of filling gives me greater flexability. cant fill in maroc ,some of the other countries i have visited dont have autogas. thats where i learnt to tip one into the other. anyway if you did or didnt know let us know.its interesting to others .not knocking your choice really just giving alternative solutions to others . as i say have filled many a friendly travellers bottle saves getting a local one .cheers alan.
 
hi derek want to start an aframe question or grey tank smell or or or or have you adaptered yours to fill butane bottles more use abroad our propne is only for uk .
 
vwalan said:
hi john . did you know about the way to fill gas bottles before you bought the gas low system. honest question . i,ve been filling calor and others for years started in the 70,s when i first had a lpg powered car. i later used the filler connection and adapted to different bottles .i still have the original calor tank here. i do think of using it on the camper but find having a mix of bottles and ways of filling gives me greater flexability. cant fill in maroc ,some of the other countries i have visited dont have autogas. thats where i learnt to tip one into the other. anyway if you did or didnt know let us know.its interesting to others .not knocking your choice really just giving alternative solutions to others . as i say have filled many a friendly travellers bottle saves getting a local one .cheers alan.
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Therin lies another point - for those of us who know nothing about gas other than you can kill yourself with it, it is worth paying the money for a professional system that comes with a 20 year guarantee - especially as it has now paid for itself. I have to say that your comment about "tipping" gas from one cylinder to another fills me with dread. I once camped next to an Italian who tried to do that and who ended up emptying the area of people as he filled not the cylinder but the air with gas. I told him (politely) that if he didn't cease immediately I would wrap him round his cylinder.
 
i normally would sugest to someone come and try before you buy .i dont sell them .only think the new breed of adaptors are so neat and small it is as safe as your system .maybe we will meet on the road somewhere and chat the usual camper things . till then have fun . i do. cheers alan.
 
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