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Calor Gas currently not supplying new fills


PeterF

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6 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Yes. The Gaslow bottles are refillable through a fitting on the side of the vehicle. Not something that you can just carry around with you to fill up removeable bottles.

I don't think supply is improving just yet. There are still plenty of people doing van conversions who are crying out for bottles.

You can get bottles that are directly refillable tho. 
 

https://www.gaslowdirect.com/product/gaslow-direct-fill-11kg-refillable-cylinder-01-4011-67-d/

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9 minutes ago, frangar said:

So you can. Hadn't seen those when we ordered our kit from them for the van.

 

Not sure how fussy the LPG stations are about you refilling them. We have seen them refuse to serve a couple of vans where they were not happy with the locations of the filling points. Not seen anyone trying to refill a bottle like that though.

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28 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Are you thinking of the SafeFill cylinders that are approved for lugging to a forecourt and refilling?

The advantage of safefill botles is you can fill them up at any state of the content of gas in the bottle. Morrison’s lpg stations are approved by them. Also most petrol/lpg stations if you approach them with the right attitude ,if you know what I mean will accommodate you. We filled our up at Leamington spa Morrison’s right next to the canal.😁👍

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You can always buy a 47kg cylinder and a pipe with POL attachments and fill your smaller cylinders from the 47Kg.

 

Connect the pipe at both ends, open the valve on the empty one, open the valve on the full one, when full close the valve on the 'full one' then close the valve on the 'empty one'.

Ideally you should stand the empty cylinder on a set of scales, note the empty weight, and fill until the weight reads 13kg (assuming you are filling a 13kg cylinder) more than it did. It is then 'full'. Gas cylinders should not be overfilled (more than 80% of capacity) to allow for expansion as in hot weather the gas will expand and could increase the pressures to danger point if the cylinder is 100% full.

 

The advantage of this is you can fill up your cylinder at any 'level' of gas remaining so you can ensure you have a full cylinder for your cruise.

 

Calor even supply the pipe to do it :

 

 

Calor Essentials 0.75m (30") POL x POL Standard Hose | Hoses and Pigtails | Calor Gas Appliances

 

Calor Essentials 0.75m (30") POL x POL Standard Gas Pigtail

 

You can also get pipes with POL on one end and a screw thread (GAZ) on the other end.

 

Image 1 - 1 Pc Propane Refill Adapter 20LB Camping Flat Tank Gas Hose Gas Pipe for Camping

 

 

 

Only a 'few' £s which is more than saved on your 1st refill.

 

I also have one for refilling the small camping gas cartridges from a bigger cartridge / cylinder

 

 

Propane Refill Adapter Gas Cylinder Tank Coupler Heater For Camping Cooking BBQ

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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16 hours ago, David Mack said:

Orange is propane, blue is butane, green is patio gas, which is is just propane in a fancy bottle with a clip on connection instead of the screw in version of the standard orange propane cylinder.

That depends on when you last exchanged the cylinder!

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35 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You can always buy a 47kg cylinder and a pipe with POL attachments and fill your smaller cylinders from the 47Kg.

 

Connect the pipe at both ends, open the valve on the empty one, open the valve on the full one, when full close the valve on the 'full one' then close the valve on the 'empty one'.

Ideally you should stand the empty cylinder on a set of scales, note the empty weight, and fill until the weight reads 13kg (assuming you are filling a 13kg cylinder) more than it did. It is then 'full'. Gas cylinders should not be overfilled (more than 80% of capacity) to allow for expansion as in hot weather the gas will expand and could increase the pressures to danger point if the cylinder is 100% full.

 

The advantage of this is you can fill up your cylinder at any 'level' of gas remaining so you can ensure you have a full cylinder for your cruise.

 

Calor even supply the pipe to do it :

 

 

Calor Essentials 0.75m (30") POL x POL Standard Hose | Hoses and Pigtails | Calor Gas Appliances

 

Calor Essentials 0.75m (30") POL x POL Standard Gas Pigtail

 

The Q & A page says:

 

Will this coupling allow bottle a to bottle connection to fill a 15kg bottle from a 50kg.

Hi Jim, no all our pigtails are fitted with non-return valves as filling bottles this way is not allowed. Thank you for using Q&A.

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Tacet said:

 

The Q & A page says:

 

Will this coupling allow bottle a to bottle connection to fill a 15kg bottle from a 50kg.

Hi Jim, no all our pigtails are fitted with non-return valves as filling bottles this way is not allowed. Thank you for using Q&A.

 

 

 

 

Well spotted, they obviously don'r want anyone saving money, if the valve is not removable then ones are available, without the valve, (on ebay). I have one.

 

One example (looks better made than my Chinese one) :

 

Image 1 - REFILL LPG BOTTLE,TRANSFER GAS,PROPANE CYLINDER POL SWIVEL LPG 2METRE PIPE

 

 

DN Autogas parts
Nomedas Stundzia
unit 12,HASTINGWOOD IND. PARK
wood lane
BIRMINGHAM
West Midlands
B249QR
Edited by Alan de Enfield
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3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Well spotted, they obviously don'r want anyone saving money, if the valve is not removable then ones are available, without the valve, (on ebay). I have one.

 

One example (looks better made than my Chinese one) :

 

Image 1 - REFILL LPG BOTTLE,TRANSFER GAS,PROPANE CYLINDER POL SWIVEL LPG 2METRE PIPE

 

 

DN Autogas parts
Nomedas Stundzia
unit 12,HASTINGWOOD IND. PARK
wood lane
BIRMINGHAM
West Midlands
B249QR

A balloonist friend of mine does similar with his lightweight flight tanks…it’s better if you heat the full cylinder up….

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21 minutes ago, Tacet said:

 

The Q & A page says:

 

Will this coupling allow bottle a to bottle connection to fill a 15kg bottle from a 50kg.

Hi Jim, no all our pigtails are fitted with non-return valves as filling bottles this way is not allowed. Thank you for using Q&A.

 

I must say, I was surprised Calor would sell a product that could be used by a DIYer to refill their own gas bottles!

 

The thing that now puzzles me is what possible legitimate purpose can they be selling that pol-to-pol hose for?

 

There is a long, detailed and bad-tempered thread on here about re-filling your Calor gas bottles at petrol stations, from about five years ago.

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Just now, frangar said:

A balloonist friend of mine does similar with his lightweight flight tanks…it’s better if you heat the full cylinder up….

 

It is also beneficial if you can put the 'receiving' tank in the freezer for 10 minutes before transfer - not really practical with a 13kg cylinder but does make a difference with 'camping' sized (300g) cartridges.

 

It has always been a problem when hiking / camping that you have a part used cartridge, with a reduced content so you need to take a full one with you as well (extra weight), or leave the part-used at home, you then end up with 'loads' of part used cartridges, but using one of the adapters you can top-up a part used one. I have one of these adapters for filling a part used camping cartridge from another camping cartridge.

 

Image 1 - Outdoor Camping Gas Refill Adapter Valve Gas Stove Tank Canister Connector

 

 

Image 5 - Outdoor Camping Gas Refill Adapter Valve Gas Stove Tank Canister Connector

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On 18/08/2021 at 09:52, mrsmelly said:

It was probably concidence but as soon as decimilisation came in in feb 71, it was the start of rocketing prices in the UK on just about everything!! I personaly am too young to have been motoring in the sixties you old goat :D

 

I passed my driving text in 1971, and paid 29p per gallon (6.4p per litre)the first time I refuelled a car.

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5 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

I passed my driving text in 1971, and paid 29p per gallon (6.4p per litre)the first time I refuelled a car.

Taking inflation into account would make that 6.4p equal to 80p to £1 today depending on which website is to be believed.

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Coming back to the subject of gas cylinders, is anyone using the removable GasLow Direct Fill refillable cylinders (https://www.gaslowdirect.com/product/gaslow-direct-fill-11kg-refillable-cylinder-01-4011-67-d/) on their boat?

If yes, how much does a typical recharge from a petrol station cost?
Do you get by with a single cylinder, or have two, with one for switchover prurposes same as with Calor? (two GasLow cylinders at £400 are quite an investment)?

 

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2 minutes ago, Puffling said:

Coming back to the subject of gas cylinders, is anyone using the removable GasLow Direct Fill refillable cylinders (https://www.gaslowdirect.com/product/gaslow-direct-fill-11kg-refillable-cylinder-01-4011-67-d/) on their boat?

If yes, how much does a typical recharge from a petrol station cost?
Do you get by with a single cylinder, or have two, with one for switchover prurposes same as with Calor? (two GasLow cylinders at £400 are quite an investment)?

 

We have a pair of 11kg bottles in our van. We obviously take the van to the LPG station so no need to remove or change bottles.

 

It costs about £11 to refill a 11kg bottle with 22 litres of gas. Obviously the cost per litre of LPG varies between filling stations much like petrol and diesel does.

 

The most we have paid if 70ppl the least 47ppl. 

 

It depends how much gas you use as to how long it will take to repay the investment in the bottles. We don't reckon it will take us long given our heating, hot water, fridge and cooking are all gas.

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26 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

We have a pair of 11kg bottles in our van. We obviously take the van to the LPG station so no need to remove or change bottles.

 

It costs about £11 to refill a 11kg bottle with 22 litres of gas. Obviously the cost per litre of LPG varies between filling stations much like petrol and diesel does.

 

The most we have paid if 70ppl the least 47ppl. 

 

It depends how much gas you use as to how long it will take to repay the investment in the bottles. We don't reckon it will take us long given our heating, hot water, fridge and cooking are all gas.

Thanks for that, @Naughty Cal. I'm hoping to get on my boat later this year and am observing the Calor cylinder shortage and how it would affect me.
with a degree of horror.


I'll only be using gas for cooking, but even then it does seem to offer a decent saving in cost of refills over the exchange of a 13kg propane Calor cylinder. Let's assume @MoominPapa's quoted RRP of £35.50 is the mean price charged in marinas (perhaps fuel boats will be cheaper?) for a Calor swap, then about 8 refills of the GasLow would be the break-even point. that's assuming I could live with a single refillable bottle. But on the canals you are often not far from petrol stations anyway, I think.

 

As you say, with your consumption, the pay-off point was likely pretty soon. I'd imagine (from what I read and see of cooking-only gas users' consumption) that my use would need a couple of years to see the investment repaid. Still pretty reasonable - better than solar panels, in fact.

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18 minutes ago, Puffling said:

Thanks for that, @Naughty Cal. I'm hoping to get on my boat later this year and am observing the Calor cylinder shortage and how it would affect me.
with a degree of horror.


I'll only be using gas for cooking, but even then it does seem to offer a decent saving in cost of refills over the exchange of a 13kg propane Calor cylinder. Let's assume @MoominPapa's quoted RRP of £35.50 is the mean price charged in marinas (perhaps fuel boats will be cheaper?) for a Calor swap, then about 8 refills of the GasLow would be the break-even point. that's assuming I could live with a single refillable bottle. But on the canals you are often not far from petrol stations anyway, I think.

 

As you say, with your consumption, the pay-off point was likely pretty soon. I'd imagine (from what I read and see of cooking-only gas users' consumption) that my use would need a couple of years to see the investment repaid. Still pretty reasonable - better than solar panels, in fact.

 

You need to have a fuel station near a canal that sells LPG, not just any old fuel station. Not exactly very common.

 

I would be wary of committing to a refillable system for a boat.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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8 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

You need to have a fuel station near a canal that sells LPG, not just any old fuel station. Not exactly very common.

 

I would be wary of committing to a refillable system for a boat.

 

 

Had we known that GasLow did the little 2.7kg bottles we would probably have bought a pair for NC.

 

We could have refilled a bottle from our local petrol station as soon as it was empty for a couple of quid rather then swapping them at £37-38 a time.

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9 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Had we known that GasLow did the little 2.7kg bottles we would probably have bought a pair for NC.

 

We could have refilled a bottle from our local petrol station as soon as it was empty for a couple of quid rather then swapping them at £37-38 a time.

 

Yes I can see how it can work for a leisure boater who has the ability to fill up on the way to their boat. 

 

I just raised it as mention was made of lpg being available close to the canals which I would suggest is not a very common scenario. 

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44 minutes ago, Puffling said:

Thanks for that, @Naughty Cal. I'm hoping to get on my boat later this year and am observing the Calor cylinder shortage and how it would affect me.
with a degree of horror.


I'll only be using gas for cooking, but even then it does seem to offer a decent saving in cost of refills over the exchange of a 13kg propane Calor cylinder. Let's assume @MoominPapa's quoted RRP of £35.50 is the mean price charged in marinas (perhaps fuel boats will be cheaper?) for a Calor swap, then about 8 refills of the GasLow would be the break-even point. that's assuming I could live with a single refillable bottle. But on the canals you are often not far from petrol stations anyway, I think.

 

As you say, with your consumption, the pay-off point was likely pretty soon. I'd imagine (from what I read and see of cooking-only gas users' consumption) that my use would need a couple of years to see the investment repaid. Still pretty reasonable - better than solar panels, in fact.

We have a safe fill bottle and 2x 6kg calor gas bottles in reserve. The best thing about the safefill bottles are the weight, as the bottles are made from some form of polycarbonate I believe. Also the filling point is built into the gas valve so no protruding bits and pieces. 

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8 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

So petrol/diesel is relatively cheap today 🤔

It's been rising in price again. At the start of lockdown 1, back in April 2020, unleaded round here fell to only coppers over a pound per litre. Now, it's up in the 130p+ range, but that's still less than the peak I remember paying in 2013? of 140p+ per litre for petrol/diesel. At that point a 250 mile round trip to the Lakes took nearly a hundred pounds worth of diesel in an old Landy. Ouch! iirc prices were in the 40p+ per litre range in the very early nineties. It wasn't unusual to see a young lad on a moped putting precisely 50p worth of fuel in the tank. Nowadays, the pumps seem pretty fast and the price obviously higher so it's become near impossible to hit a nice round amount. Hence, my receipts tend to be for sums like £20.02 or £30.01

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Calor Gas proudly claim they will collect any surplus cylinders from your home to alleviate the shortage.

I am in the process of downsizing and had two 15kg butane bottles.

Rang the local depot ........   " oo,  err,  no mate, we can't do it for at least a month, we're so busy "

Local hardware store had no problem.

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1 hour ago, Murflynn said:

Calor Gas proudly claim they will collect any surplus cylinders from your home to alleviate the shortage.

I am in the process of downsizing and had two 15kg butane bottles.

Rang the local depot ........   " oo,  err,  no mate, we can't do it for at least a month, we're so busy "

Local hardware store had no problem.

You can get paid for returning bottles you no longer need, to the depot or I am told Go Outdoors Stores.    Found this      https://www.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/advice/returns  

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