Elsan and Gas Bottles in France

[odet]

Hi everybody,

my better half wants us to take the trailboat to Brittany.

I got the relevant carts and all semms to be not much of a problem.

Only two questions would bother me:

What about emptying the elsan ?

Have they got the same gas bottles, and what to do if not ?

 

Thanks for your help

 

odet

[Biggles]

Gas bottles and connections are different but that's easily solved locally.

[Chop!]

What about emptying the elsan ?

 

While trailering it, there seem to be places to empty them, some motorway services have toilet drops as do camper parkings and campsites, haven't cruised in Brittany or France so not sure about the situation on the water.

P.S. 'Yer mad' = cheers in Breton

[Tam & Di]

Only two questions would bother me:

What about emptying the elsan ?

Have they got the same gas bottles, and what to do if not ?

 

 

You're lucky you only have two question!!

 

Gas bottles are different as Biggles says. It depends on the type/size of bottle, but UK caravan dealers mostly stock UK-France adapters.

 

Elsans you empty over the side .

 

Actually it may be different in Brittany, but in general there are no pump-out or other emptying facilities. They do commonly exist at hire bases, but these don't usually welcome visiting craft, and anyway hire bases are rare in much of the country. Elsans are the most unfriendly means of saving your waste matter, as people generally add sterilising agents such as elsanol which kill the bacteria which would otherwise break down the effluent very effectively. Bucket-and-chuck-it is better, if your conscience can live with that. It's certainly better to let it go in small natural doses than tip a whole wadge of sterile effluent in one dollop.

 

I suspect I've prompted more questions now

 

Tam

 

 

Tam

[Albion]

What Tam says ^

I have seen some pump out machines in the areas that I have cruised (Burgundy and central region) but only one has ever shown any signs of having been used and that one was on the River Saone. The few others have remained pristine, untouched and unloved and one, at Clamecy, had been removed and chucked behind an adjacent wall the last time we saw it.

There are lots of elsan dump places that motorhomers use supplied by local authorities but for boaters it still goes in the rivers and canals at the moment.

Roger

[ditchcrawler]

Hi everybody,

my better half wants us to take the trailboat to Brittany.

I got the relevant carts and all semms to be not much of a problem.

Only two questions would bother me:

What about emptying the elsan ?

Have they got the same gas bottles, and what to do if not ?

 

Thanks for your help

 

odet

Just had a couple of weeks in Brittany and it was lovely. Free electric and water, good moorings, much nicer than the Canal du Midi. I wasn't on a trail boat but did chat with a Sea Otter owner. What sort of trail boat have you got?

[Phoenix_V]

If you want to be nice you can take a shovel and bury it, like we used to do here before there were so many sani stations and may do again as they continue to disappear

[odet]

@ditchrawler: Its a Wilderness Beaver.

 

Just to get a bit more specific:

The Sanitairs shown on the maps have not Elsan Facilities ? Therefore i basiclly dump the Theford's contents over board every now and then, ideally without using chemicals.

 

The gasbottles are different, therefor I ned adaptors. So it seems to make sense to leave the UK bottles at home and get some new ones in France. Do the have 5 kg bottles ?

 

Thanks again

 

odet

[BEngo]

If you choose to get new bottles you will need a new connector or new regulator with the right connector as well. Easily purchased, but do you feel confident to change it without getting an expensive and possibly dangerous leak? If not an adaptor from good caravan shops is better. (And you won't have to mess about when you come back to UK).

 

N

[Chris Pink]

 

 

Do the have 5 kg bottles ?

 

 

13kg are everywhere. I've not seen 5 so I guess they'll be specialised (= difficult to find and expensive).

 

How long are you going for? Could you not bring your own bottle?

[odet]

The plan is to go for 3 weeks.

The beaver can carry 2 5kg bottles, which provide hot water (hopefully no heating, which is the main reason for going to France) and also run the fridge. So I doubt that a total of 10 Liter will do me.

 

So please can somebody clarify:

They have got different bottles in France. I can get bottles there, but need an adaptor + maybe different regulator etc.

UK bottles are useless once they are empty. Is that right so far ?

 

Thanks again

 

odet

 

[ditchcrawler]

@ditchrawler: Its a Wilderness Beaver.

 

Just to get a bit more specific:

The Sanitairs shown on the maps have not Elsan Facilities ? Therefore i basiclly dump the Theford's contents over board every now and then, ideally without using chemicals.

 

The gasbottles are different, therefor I ned adaptors. So it seems to make sense to leave the UK bottles at home and get some new ones in France. Do the have 5 kg bottles ?

 

Thanks again

 

odet

There are a lot of Wilderness owners who go to France each year, I take it you are a member of the wilderness club, if so just ask on their forum.

[Chris Pink]

The plan is to go for 3 weeks.

The beaver can carry 2 5kg bottles, which provide hot water (hopefully no heating, which is the main reason for going to France) and also run the fridge. So I doubt that a total of 10 Liter will do me.

 

So please can somebody clarify:

They have got different bottles in France. I can get bottles there, but need an adaptor + maybe different regulator etc.

UK bottles are useless once they are empty. Is that right so far ?

 

Thanks again

 

odet

 

 

 

 

Perhaps your next thread will be about how to find France (it's that way --->

 

They do have internet there you know;

 

http://www.totalgaz.fr/ou-nous-trouver

http://www.totalgaz.fr/particuliers/produits/bouteilles/malice-butane-6kg

 

To answer your questions;

 

Total, the big supplier, sell 6Kg and 13Kg for which you will pay a deposit and need a different regulator.

No you can't get your British bottles exchanged in France.

 

..

Edited June 20, 2013 by Chris Pink

[Guest]

@ditchrawler: Its a Wilderness Beaver.

 

Just to get a bit more specific:

The Sanitairs shown on the maps have not Elsan Facilities ? Therefore i basiclly dump the Theford's contents over board every now and then, ideally without using chemicals.

 

The gasbottles are different, therefor I ned adaptors. So it seems to make sense to leave the UK bottles at home and get some new ones in France. Do the have 5 kg bottles ?

 

Thanks again

 

odet

 

When we used to caravan in France we always used to take our own UK LPG bottles and bring them back, ensuring we had sufficient gas in them to last. This saved the hassle and extra expense of getting one of their regulators and getting LPG over there.

 

I can't recall ever running out.

[Tam & Di]

The plan is to go for 3 weeks.

The beaver can carry 2 5kg bottles, which provide hot water (hopefully no heating, which is the main reason for going to France) and also run the fridge. So I doubt that a total of 10 Liter will do me.

 

 

I assume you mean that you can carry 4 x 2.5kg bottles = 10 (Liter??). I'm surprised that you don't think that would last 3 weeks. Drink wine (or cider in Brittany) instead of tea and cut down on washing (many official mooring sites will have showers) and that will save on hot water. I don't know how much the fridge uses, but by buying and eating fresh food (very easy to do in France) you can probably cut down on that too.

 

By the way, I think you should enter the boat name "na" on the boat name thread which is currently running - a two letter name with straight line letters would make signwriting easy and cheap.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Tam & Di

[ditchcrawler]

@ditchrawler: Its a Wilderness Beaver.

 

Just to get a bit more specific:

The Sanitairs shown on the maps have not Elsan Facilities ? Therefore i basiclly dump the Theford's contents over board every now and then, ideally without using chemicals.

 

The gasbottles are different, therefor I ned adaptors. So it seems to make sense to leave the UK bottles at home and get some new ones in France. Do the have 5 kg bottles ?

 

Thanks again

 

odet

Have a word with other Wilderness Owners, someone is bound to have an adaptor they no longer require, maybe even a cylinder http://www.wilderness.org.uk/ if you also look here you will see what I mean about information http://www.wilderness.org.uk/tag/france If you are not a member I suggest you join.

[XAlan W]

@ditchrawler: Its a Wilderness Beaver.

 

Just to get a bit more specific:

The Sanitairs shown on the maps have not Elsan Facilities ? Therefore i basiclly dump the Theford's contents over board every now and then, ideally without using chemicals.

 

The gasbottles are different, therefor I ned adaptors. So it seems to make sense to leave the UK bottles at home and get some new ones in France. Do the have 5 kg bottles ?

 

Thanks again

 

odet

You can puchase 6 kg bottles from most supermarkets they usually have a least 4/5 different brands I`m not sure about the 6kg fitting as I have never used them, but the 13kg bottles have a left hand thread that the regulator screws onto, you can also buy regulators & flexible gas pipes at the same stores They can also be obtained at bricolage[hardware] stores & also a good few filling stations athougth you may find supermarkets are cheaper. some of the 6kg bottles are glasfibre/plastic or whatever they are made of so you can see how much gas you have left/are lighter, the regulators if they are same as 13kg ones are between 10/20 euros,have a look at the differnt brands as mostly there are deals on for buying a bottle/gas rather than being only able to exchange like for like one other small point If asking ask for GPL as you might get a funny look if you ask about LPG I doubt if you will have a problem as most of rural France uses bottled gas

[XAlan W]

Re my post #17 I had a look at 6kg bottles when in the village they are not the same as 13kg bottles they have a short vertical fitting on top & no shut off valve as the 13kg do, so the regulator will be different. I don`t know when you plan to travel but at the moment in our area [ SW France] Antargas [red bottles] have a buy a bottle of gas & you get the bottle for free [just pay the refill price] have no idea as to what area`s this covers or for how long but usually 1 of the brands have some sort of deal going on.

[odet]

Thx Alan,

I am only planning to travel later this year. Problem is, that my French is rather nonexisting. So im just trying to get my head round how things work.

 

Greetings

 

odet