Gas, a British farce

dethleff

Guest
Hi all
I have owned my motorhome for 14 years now still going fine, my use is 99%
long continental trips.with as much wilding and aire camping ,as possible.

The gas locker holds 2 x13 kg calor bottles, I recently exchanged one at a cost of £26.40p for these 2 ton Tessies.

Getting older now I began to look for an alternative to Calor.

First I looked at Gaslow,then I read Droops recent post ,on another site, below.

"I'm desperately in need of a filling station in (or close to) the Malaga Province.

I've tried a couple listed elsewhere (at least one if not both gained from this site). Both proved fruitless.

I really can't believe that it's not available anywhere down here as you can get it in other parts of Spain.

Can anyone help?

Out of interest does anyone know if it's available in Gibralter?"

Do I want to spend money on Gaslow, and have that kind of hassle? I don't think so.

Next I looked at Calorlite, they only do 6kg bottles, no use to me.

Next comes the best, BP gaslight bottles.

Having seen them in many places abroad I researched them on their website, and found "British BP Gaslight bottles" were not exchangeable
with BP bottles abroad .

I emailed customer services with regard to this (it said on their webpage, not available YET.)

Received email back below.

Good Morning Stan,

Unfortunately you cannot exchange a UK gaslight bottle abroad yet as we are not part of the European Exchange programme. This is something BP are actively pursuing and should be happening in the near future, please see our website for more info.

Kindest Regards
Vivienne
Gas Light Team.

What is the European Exchange programme.? are we not part of Europe?

Merry Christmas

Stan
 
Sorry mate got wrong end of stick, must have had my dozy head on yesterday. Reply deleted.

Happy Camping and a Merry Christmas,:)
 
Last edited:
There is a few threads on gasflo and if you are a full timer I would of thought it is a good option as the cost of refilling is cheaper than exchanging bottles.
I have been led to believe that gasflow is wildly available throughout Europe and uk.Have you considered solar panels if it is electric you are
after:D
 
Hi Cipro,
I have Gaslow fitted already, and use a fitted solar panel, sat dish etc, so self sufficient. Our wires are crossed, but no harm done. Do you full time?


Happy Camping:)
 
In answer

I have two large gas low cylinders and have never ran out of gas and we go away for months at a time, we use gas to cook on and sometimes heating the van, but always the hot water.
lpg can be found over most of europe and is cheaper then here in the uk if you know where to look.
michael
 
Reading Stan's original post it seems as though his main concern is availability of refilling points, particularly in Spain. There are very few stations there but it should be possible to plan your trip taking these in as we did with our gaslow system when we spent 6 weeks in northern Spain wilding in 07.

Try looking at http://www.gas-tankstellen.info/ for more info.
 
Pioneer said:
Hi Cipro,
I have Gaslow fitted already, and use a fitted solar panel, sat dish etc, so self sufficient. Our wires are crossed, but no harm done. Do you full time?


Happy Camping:)
Click to expand...

No I don't full time some times wish I do:D Would like to try it for a couple of years but don't when we are likly to try:eek:
 
We have had Gaslow bottles fitted to the last 3 vans and, on the whole, it is entirely successful. The difficult countries seem to be Spain and Denmark. Before we set out I usually do some significant web research for the countries we intend visiting and if it sounds difficult I contact fuel companies such as Q8, who then tell you which of their fuel stations have gas pumps. We try hard not to let ourselves get low and will elect to put in just a few litres to top up if we are passing a fuel station with gas in difficult countries. Having almost run out in Spain one very cold NY's eve, and having to rush across to Portugal, we know what it is like to be really desperate!

Not only do we have solar panels but in addition we have fitted a Sterling Battery to Battery and that's the killer application for us. It keeps our 2 leisure batteries topped up so using leccy is our first preference. Obviously the fridge freezer can be put on to electric as can the Truma, leaving the gas for cooking, which makes it last a pretty long time.
 
DIY Gaslow

Done a bit of research on the following link with the intention of fitting my own Gaslow system:eek: using genuine Gaslow products.

http://www.motorcaravanning.co.uk/

I worked out that I could have a twin cylinder basic system up and running for around £320;) (2@ 6Kg. Cylinders) but I have one question in mind and still await a definite answer:confused:

The gas that we draw from the pump on the forecourt, Is It Propane or Butane???
 
Fuel station gas is a mixture of both, not one or the other. But it burns perfectly well and we didn't need to modify our van for it.
 
flower3bird said:
Fuel station gas is a mixture of both, not one or the other. But it burns perfectly well and we didn't need to modify our van for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks Flower3bird,but does it still perform in sub zero weather conditions:confused:, as on 2 occasions I have seen campers messing with there Gaslow regulators after suffering heating failure in cold conditions.

The reason I ask is that I used to run on conventional butane cylinders (which I believe have a percentage of propane mixed in) and I believe that in freezing conditions the propane part of the mix burns off leaving the remaining Butane in the cylinder which ,on it,s own struggles to vapourize, giving the impression that the bottle is empty:confused:

Hope this all makes sense:rolleyes:
 
The gas that we draw from the pump on the forecourt, Is It Propane or Butane???

depends where you get it. hope this list helps

bertie
LPG Composition (% by volume) as Automotive Fuel in Europe

Country Propane:Butane

Austria 50:50
Belgium 50:50
Denmark 50:50
France 35:65
Germany 90:10
Greece 20:80
Ireland 100:0
Italy 25:75
Netherlands 50:50
Spain 30:70
Sweden 95:5
United Kingdom 100:0
 
butane, usually in blue bottles freezes when the temperature gets down just above freezing point but propane, usually in red bottles, will keep on working until the temperature is well below freezing BUT if any moisture is in the regulator that will freeze up giving the impression that either the gas has run out or the gas has frozen

bertie
 
In answer

Hi, haveing used gas low for two years, and I did do a DIY fit, its any easy job. Ayway the only time i had a fault was last year in italy, it was around 36* outside, and I had a smell of gas inside the van, after checking it was one of the cylinder valves blowing off gas, which was coming into the van by the open window. i cooled the cylinder down, and checked all was well the next day which it was.
As to denmark, there are a few lpg points around, I downloaded their positions into tom tom, but realy never needed any gas when there.
michael
 
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