LPG Gaslow, tank kits and other alternatives ooop North

[barryd]

He might charge you more if you do that Barry!

I ended up getting charged more yesterday than I was sure I was quoted at Armitage's so probably. I think they factor in customer PIA charges.

 

[Robmac]

I ended up getting charged more yesterday than I was sure I was quoted at Armitage's so probably. I think they factor in customer PIA charges.

Probably for greasing yer nipples Barry!

 

[barryd]

Probably for greasing yer nipples Barry!

No that was FOC apparently.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Yeah I think thats best. If I make the right hand side one the one that comes out it will be easier. Its the most expensive option of course. As long as its easy to swap them. It was your gas usage and a couple of others that made me wonder if we were using more gas than most in the old van and maybe 1 calor and 1 Gaslow would be ok in a newer van but if it works out the same average usage in this one it wont be most of the time. Ill end up swapping to the calor more often than I would like to.

The trick is to keep the Gaslow topped up when you see it regardless of where you are, so you hardly use any Calor, we've not had to yet and I have an almost full one at home anyway as I'd bought them before I thought frig it and got the Gaslow.

And yes of course Calor in the doorway, I always get them to lift the full ones in anyway, too easy to put your back out at my age.

 

[barryd]

The trick is to keep the Gaslow topped up when you see it regardless of where you are, so you hardly use any Calor, we've not had to yet and I have an almost full one at home anyway as I'd bought them before I thought frig it and got the Gaslow.

And yes of course Calor in the doorway, I always get them to lift the full ones in anyway, too easy to put your back out at my age.

Yes I know but remember our style of touring is a bit different to most. We can often end up somewhere in the middle of nowhere for three or four weeks without moving. That could be enough to certainly run out a single 6kg Gaslow and possibly even a twin one which would then mean finding an LPG station and moving the van. What I did in the past was if we thought the 11kg Gaslow was getting low we would swap to the Calor and once that was empty I could go off with it on the scooter and get it exchanged. Realistically this year I dont think ill need the Calor. 2 x 6kg Gaslow should do as I doubt we will be anywhere for more than two or three weeks and in the backend we will be on hookup anyway. Once we get to Europe (probably next year) it will be much less of an issue (I hope).

Where Calor will be essential is somewhere like Arran. Last time we were there we were there for two months. Once the Gaslow was empty we had to resort to Calor. There is no other choice. That I think though is the only place where it would be impossible to carry on without Calor where we will go at least.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

You need to get a tank fitted then you'll be fine.

 

[barryd]

You need to get a tank fitted then you'll be fine.

Yep. That would have been the best choice but for the Alko kit they are an absolute arm and a leg and I was never happy about having what looks like a bomb under my van and you cant move them. Having said that I have a feeling this afternoon I'm going to end up spending a fair bit more than I had imagined. Its not a bottomless pit! I might even have to do some work at this rate and that would never do.

 

[Nabsim]

Yeah I will. I'm name dropping you and Rob. Better still, give him a ring and tell him there is a VIP Rock Star coming today that hasnt got a clue WTF he wants. He will know who you mean!

I already have lol, mentioned you when I was speaking with him yesterday.

If you don’t think two refillables will last however long you like being parked up then the sensible choice is biggest refillable you can get in and an exchange cylinder. You can pop a 6kg Calor/Flowgas on the scooter and go off and exchange. No brainier to me. See if they can squeeze a couple of 11’s in there first

 

[Pudsey Bear]

With a bigger door which is an easy fit you can get an 11kg in as I mentioned ages ago, height would be the problem on some vans, I could do it on ours but it's not worth it as we drive more than Barry.

 

[barryd]

Well all done. Back home and back out again. John came out to look at what we wanted. In fact that was exactly his introduction. "Whaddaya Want!".

Long story short both him and Charlie strongly advised against a twin bottle system where I would swap to a calor on occasion. Dangerous apparently, a right faff on in what is an extremely tight space to work in on this van so I took their word for it. I reckoned one of you warned them that I was a mechanical numpty.

So I've ended up with one 6kg Gaslow and one Calor. I'll just make that work but as Charlie said, now the filler and other bits are in its a dead easy job for them to fit another 6kg Gaslow and take the calor out. Will see how we get on. Nice discount as well. Oh and finally it has an accurate guage!

Thanks for all the help. Pics below.

 

[barryd]

With a bigger door which is an easy fit you can get an 11kg in as I mentioned ages ago, height would be the problem on some vans, I could do it on ours but it's not worth it as we drive more than Barry.

Not a chance. The locker is shite.

 

[Nabsim]

Thought cCharlie had an angle grinder, was sure he could get an 11kg in. Cosmetics though…

 

[barryd]

Thought cCharlie had an angle grinder, was sure he could get an 11kg in. Cosmetics though…

Its a right wriggling act to get the right hand Calor out as it is. Even if they had got an 11kg in there is no way you would get a 6kg Calor in as well. the door is the biggest problem but the locker is just too small also.

Its one less thing for me to worry about for now anyway on this coming trip. I can always get a 6kg Calor somewhere and ill be surrounded by campsites. Quick ride out on the scooter with it, sorted. I might still not need it. First stop is 2 weeks off grid and ill fill up on the way to the second one. We will almost certainly run out there though on the Gaslow as we are likely to be there three or four weeks.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I dont see why he says swapping is dangerous, it is precisely the same procedure as swapping a Calor bottle.

 

[barryd]

I dont see why he says swapping is dangerous, it is precisely the same procedure as swapping a Calor bottle.

Not according to both the guys there. He seemed to be suggesting an amount of LPG would come back out of the disconnecting pipe and could seriously damage your hands. Now at first I questioned this with John as the guy I had been communicating with who it turns out just works in the office had said it would be no problem as had you and several others on here but I could see I had to tread carefully as a mechanical numpty questioning the experts. Discussing it with Charlie later while the work was being done he said its doable but you need to be careful and its quite a fiddle especially in that small locker. It does kind of fly in the face of what has been discussed on here and indeed the advice I was given from the guy in the office but I guess I had to go with their advice them being the experts.

Its clearly not quite the same procedure though as swapping a Calor as there are two hoses for a kick off.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

With the POL fitting it is exactly the same as swapping Calor Barry (IE one pipe) and there would be no gas escaping as the bottle would be empty and turned off, possible if you were removing a Gaslow which did have some gas in it and putting a Calor in for the UK trips then yes a minuscule amount of gas would escape but if they think it as dangerous then they are trying to scare you as you cannot undo the fittings fast enough for gas to escape sufficient to hurt you, and the bottle would be turned off so only the pipe contents and running the hob for a few minutes would empty that.

I had to use them to fit my filler point on the self build as I'd never seen it done and in 07 not much info on it online and it was a second hand bottle too so I just wanted to be safe, lets just say I was less than impressed by how they did it having since seen other professionals do it. they charged me a fortune and made a mess inside the van, but others do seem to rate them so maybe mine was an off day, but I just do my own now as drilling the hole is the only awkward bit and most of that is siting it for best pipe run.

 

[rugbyken]

proof of the pudding & all that after running one 6kg gaslo you’ll have a better idea of how they last i have 2x 11 kg and just have one turned on & run till empty ( always silly o clock in the morning) then refill, the reason my local tyre place for lpg and even charlie charge so much for gas is people topping up a half empty bottle means someone has to stop work go and refill etc for pence per litre profit margin i know a couple of places where they do £10 minimum sale because of that , when i first had a single 11kg gaslo because on a swift couldn’t get anything else in l carried a dumpy 2.5 kg calor in a locker

 

[Nabsim]

If you had a twin bottle system it isn’t only the pig tail you have to disconnect, it will have a fill pipe linked from number one bottle to number two. It isn’t the same as using an exchange cylinder. You would need to make sure you have capped the full pipe properly whenever you went to an exchange bottle. If you are struggling to get in with access then it could easily become a problem. It’s one thing reaching in and adding/removing a Calor pig tail to an exchange bottle, different when you need spanner’s and have to make sure connections are properly made and tightened.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

If you had a twin bottle system it isn’t only the pig tail you have to disconnect, it will have a fill pipe linked from number one bottle to number two. It isn’t the same as using an exchange cylinder. You would need to make sure you have capped the full pipe properly whenever you went to an exchange bottle. If you are struggling to get in with access then it could easily become a problem. It’s one thing reaching in and adding/removing a Calor pig tail to an exchange bottle, different when you need spanner’s and have to make sure connections are properly made and tightened.

There is T in the system Niel, that is where the POL fitting goes and the second bottle has a mushroom end on the fill pipe at both ends you turn off the bottle, run the gas out on the lit hob, and simply swap the bottles, I've done it on three vans and no issues, I grant you it may not be normal but the parts are out there.

You can also put the POL onto the second bottle and use this fitting which is easier, of course the Gaslow will be empty so the valve would need to be turned off.

 

[Nabsim]

You have a tee on number one cylinder fill valve then a pipe into an elbow on number two cylinder. The fitting you show goes onto the different tee that feed to the regulator.
If you disconnect the feed to number two cylinder and leave the fill pipe uncapped you will have high pressure gas escaping when you go to fill up.
There are all sorts of things you can do (someone has set up a system to refill SafeFill bottles with an external filler) but it doesn’t make it safe. Autogas 2000 work to the Gas Safe LPG regs and would not fit or advise anything that doesn’t comply. You can assume everyone is competent at doing things.