Gas bottle size

[MHS]

We are thinking of swapping our 13kg gas bottles to the smaller 7kg ones. It’s very tight getting them into our gas locker and it’s difficult to get to other items in there. 

We only use a bottle every 10 months or so, as while we are currently aboard around 100 days per year, they are only used for cooking. 

 

If we swap them, will they last pro-rata with the bigger ones? i.e. 7/13 as long which is around 5 months or do you get less gas out due to any pressure losses or similar?

[alan_fincher]

You will get 7/13 of the gas.  Theywill last 7/13 as long.

[Sea Dog]

56 minutes ago, MHS said:

.....into our gas locker and it’s difficult to get to other items in there. 

Sounds like a fine idea to me, if it's just loading and unloading gas bottles themselves is your issue. You'll pay more per volume of gas used, obviously, but you're not using that much so you'll get a lot more convenience for not a huge increase in your gas bill.  However, storing other stuff in your gas locker is a bit of a suspect practice and against the BSS iirc.

[Bee]

But cost 8/13 as much, we use the little 4.5 kg ones and they are dear.

[springy]

If they are calor bottles then they are a 6Kg fill on Propane versus 13Kg, or 7Kg Butane versus 15Kg, The gas is also proportionally more expensive.

In addition they seem to have changed their rules on exchanges between sizes slightly and to swap a 13 for a 6 you should have to cash in your 13

and take a new agreement (£40) for the 6Kg. 

On the other hand they will give you £7.50 each for unwanted bottles regardless of size.

 

springy

[alan_fincher]

19 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

You will get 7/13 of the gas.  Theywill last 7/13 as long.

I failed to spot the 7Kg thing.  Calor of course do a 6Kg, not a 7Kg in Propane, as someone hs rightly pinted out.

 

How are the bottles retained?  For BSSpurposes some mofification may be required.

 

Also as has been said strictly you can't exchange cylinder sizes at zero cost, but I think it will not be too hard to find a dealer who will.

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

 

Also as has been said strictly you can't exchange cylinder sizes at zero cost, but I think it will not be too hard to find a dealer who will.

 

Petrol stations that sell Calor gas are best for this. The counter staff are generally clueless about the restrictions on swapping between sizes and will accept any bottle in exchange for a refill of a different size, in my experience. 

[MHS]

56 minutes ago, springy said:

If they are calor bottles then they are a 6Kg fill on Propane versus 13Kg

Yes 6kg, I think I started this thread before I fully woke up this morning!

[MHS]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

storing other stuff in your gas locker is a bit of a suspect practice and against the BSS iirc.

The guidelines say that you mustn’t have anything in the locker that could obstruct the drains. I interpreted it as allowing a lockers use, as long as it’s tidy. 

Edited September 15, 2018 by MHS

[TheBiscuits]

5 minutes ago, MHS said:

The guidelines say that you mustn’t have anything in the locker that could obstruct the drains. I interpreted it as allowing a lockers use, as long as it’s tidy. 

Or create a spark.  That's quite important too - so no mooring pins or hammers!

[MHS]

Our gas bottles are in the bow locker. We have some bags of smokeless, at the very front. They’re carefully stacked on wooden racking to allow gas to pass under it if needed. The floor slopes to the drain holes nearer the stern. 

[BruceinSanity]

37 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Or create a spark.  That's quite important too - so no mooring pins or hammers!

Or spare anodes waiting for the next docking. Mike Carter to me at my first BSS: “It’s a good job you haven’t got any big lumps of magnesium in here, isn’t it, Bruce?”

[MtB]

50 minutes ago, MHS said:

The guidelines say that you mustn’t have anything in the locker that could obstruct the drains. I interpreted it as allowing a lockers use, as long as it’s tidy. 

 

Is that what the BSS says? I thought it said nothing in the gas locker except gas bottles. Something somewhere says that, maybe its the RCD.

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Is that what the BSS says? I thought it said nothing in the gas locker except gas bottles. Something somewhere says that, maybe its the RCD.

7.4.4   Is the cylinder locker clear of any items that could damage the LPG equipment or ignite leaked LPG?   R

Check the contents of all cylinder lockers.

Cylinder lockers must not contain loose sharp or heavy items such as anchors or mooring pins that could damage the cylinders or other LPG system components. Cylinder lockers must not contain any item that could ignite leaked LPG.

[MHS]

[johnmck]

When our boat was being built, I was awaiting a knee replacement so not that mobile. We elected to have the 6kg bottles, housed in a stern locker. ( semi trad) They are easier to handle, but are more expensive! That said, we have not regretted our choice. Gas is used purely for cooking and we are not heavy users especially over this summer when salads have dominated. Only replaced one bottle thus far since May.

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, johnmck said:

When our boat was being built, I was awaiting a knee replacement so not that mobile. We elected to have the 6kg bottles, housed in a stern locker. ( semi trad) They are easier to handle, but are more expensive! That said, we have not regretted our choice. Gas is used purely for cooking and we are not heavy users especially over this summer when salads have dominated. Only replaced one bottle thus far since May.

 

Curiously although the physics says otherwise, I find a 6kg bottle lasts twice as long as a 3.9kg. 

 

 

And yes FAR easier to handle.

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, MHS said:

The guidelines say that you mustn’t have anything in the locker that could obstruct the drains. I interpreted it as allowing a lockers use, as long as it’s tidy. 

 

2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Is that what the BSS says? I thought it said nothing in the gas locker except gas bottles. Something somewhere says that, maybe its the RCD.

 

Ah, I see.  I was thinking the same as Mike re BSS, but perhaps it's ok as you're content that you're safe and your BSS certificate isn't being breached.

 

3 hours ago, MHS said:

Our gas bottles are in the bow locker. We have some bags of smokeless, at the very front. They’re carefully stacked on wooden racking to allow gas to pass under it if needed. The floor slopes to the drain holes nearer the stern. 

 

However... 13kg gas bottles are too heavy to handle in the locker yet you also store bags of smokeless fuel (10kg or 20kg presumably) in there? 

 

And there's wooden racking?  This isn't a gas locker - it's a garden shed!   Some folk here have smaller boats!

 

 

[MHS]

18 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

 

Ah, I see.  I was thinking the same as Mike re BSS, but perhaps it's ok as you're content that you're safe and your BSS certificate isn't being breached.

 

 

However... 13kg gas bottles are too heavy to handle in the locker yet you also store bags of smokeless fuel (10kg or 20kg presumably) in there? 

 

And there's wooden racking?  This isn't a gas locker - it's a garden shed!   Some folk here have smaller boats!

 

 

It’s not the weight that is the issue, but the size. We are 57’, so not huge. 

[Sea Dog]

1 minute ago, MHS said:

It’s not the weight that is the issue, but the size. We are 57’, so not huge. 

It would probably all be really clear if we were looking at your boat! 

 

[alan_fincher]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

 

However... 13kg gas bottles are too heavy to handle in the locker yet you also store bags of smokeless fuel (10kg or 20kg presumably) in there? 

 

 

13Kg is the weight of the gas.  From memory the empty weight of a cylinder can be more than that, so a full cylinder wighs at least twice what the gas in it weighs, (say 26 Kg).

So more than any sack of pre-packed solid fuel.

[Alan de Enfield]

25 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

So more than any sack of pre-packed solid fuel.

 

Tare weight of a 13kg gas cylinder = 13.2kg, add 13kg propane, total weight 26.2kg.

 

A picture speaks a thousand words.

 

Edited September 15, 2018 by Alan de Enfield

[alan_fincher]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Tare weight of a 13kg gas cylinder = 13.2kg, add 13kg propane, total weight 26.2kg.

 

A picture speaks a thousand words.

 

Clearly I meant the type that you can buy from canalside locations or coal boats........

Never seen a 50Kg bag on anybody's roof yet, (on the canals).

[bizzard]

I'm old now but I can still hoist up 25Kg bags of coal onto my shoulder to carry them. A full 13Kg gas bottle I seem to struggle to these days and usually carry them horazontally in front of me with both hands.

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

 

13Kg is the weight of the gas.  From memory the empty weight of a cylinder can be more than that, so a full cylinder wighs at least twice what the gas in it weighs, (say 26 Kg).

So more than any sack of pre-packed solid fuel.

Ooh, you pedant!

I know the empty bottle also weighs a fair bit as most of us have shifted a few, but it's still known as a 13kg gas bottle whether full or empty innit - and a full 20kg bag of coal is still pretty heavy, even if it's 6.2kg lighter than a full 13kg gas bottle and 7kg heavier than an empty 13kg gas bottle.  At some point they'll be about the same, but we won't even moving the (still so-called) 13kg gas bottle very often when that's the case.