6Kg Propane (Light) gas bottle.

[Grahamh]

Fitted this when we started out caravanning in spring 2009. About to go on our trip round Europe for 6 weeks and wondering whether to fit a second bottle. We don't use it often beyond boiling a kettle en route and the odd pasta dish on the hob. Thing is the bottle guage still shows full (green). We thought about it last year when we did the same length trip but left it as it was (is). Is the guage accurate? How can I tell? If I get a second bottle to take as spare where should I get it from? I read the threads about prices in caravan shops etc but where else could I get one? At the same time as I bought this one I bought a second regulator but never got round to getting the second bottle. My Avondale Dart has a the storage locker over the nearside wheel and I use the spare space to store charcoal etc.
TIA.

 

[Delt1c]

I never go anywhere without 2 bottles, even in summer when 1 bottle can last me from April till september I carry a spare.

 

[graham_somersham]

I've found the bottle gauges a total waste of space. They so full one minute and then suddenly the bottle is empty. The best way to find how much gas is in the bottle is either to weigh it or to pick it up and give a shake and experience will tell you how much gas is still in it.

I'm not sure about the current availability of Calor Lite but a few weeks back there was a bit of a shortage.

try to get a normal empty 6kg bottle from the local recycling centre and swap it for a full Lite bottle to save the horrendous 'rental' fee.

 

[JohnGriffiths]

We only use about 4 kg of Butane during our summer trips to France of approx 7 weeks. We don't use gas for the fire or water heater but we do cook a main meal virtually every day so the oven and hob are used a lot. As has been mentioned, just use bathroom scales to weigh it. Weigh it (in Kilograms) when purchased, write it in pencil on the bottle and get ready to change it when the weight is 6kg less than what you wrote. If you haven't weighed it to start with you can use the tare weight on the silver collar to find what the empty bottle weighs, unfortunately this is in Pounds and Ounces (wonderful isn't it how we have embraced metrification) so you need to do a few conversions.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Get 'em on bathroom scales or luggage scales, 11kg full, 5kg empty, checked 2 of mine this am.

 

[ProfJohnL]

There are two types of gauges fitted to some LPG bottles. The least common is a float gauge which is fitted through the wall of the tank and responds to the level of the liquid in the bottle, just like in a cars petrol tank. These more accurately display the content of the bottle - when they work. However I have seen many bottles with none functioning liquid level gauges, so these are unreliable in some makes of bottle - when I come across them I do not assume them to be accurate.

The alternative and common type of gauge responds to the presure inside the bottle. This is almost certainly the type refered to by the OP.

Without going into long and detailed explanations, the pressure inside the bottle is determined by the temperature of the liquefied gas remaining. If the temperature of the bottle remains the same then the pressure inside will remain the same regardless of how full or near empty of the liquefied content.

The pressure will only drop significantly when the liquefied content has all been converted to vapour(Gas)and the vapour is drawn off.

The only reliable way of determining how full/empty an LPG bottle is by weighing it and subtracting the bottles tare weight to give you the weight of the remaining gas.

 

[Grahamh]

Thanks for all your help and advice. I have now taken out the bottle and weighed it as you suggested. Tare weight 4.42Kg; bottle weight 7.9Kg so it is still over half full. I have had it since 2009 so prob won't get another one for this trip. As I said we don't use the cooker(too hot in the van) much except for a cuppa en-route. We carry BBQ(coal), table top electric grill and a spare single burner camping stove. Can't see the point of carrying another 10Kg all round Europe.
Thanks again.