Auto changeover head

[Sproket]

Does anyone use a Auto changeover head for the gas in the van ?

Over the last three wet & cold days / nights i purposely ran our heating on gas only just to see / feel the difference in heat output in the van, the van was showing 4c on Friday afternoon when we arrived & within a few hours it was thawing out nicely, the temperature was kept at a nice 20c over a period of 70 hours B) , on the way home this afternoon i called in and topped up my Safefill bottle as i had made sure that it would be full prior to this weekend, well it cost £5.49 ( or about 5kg ) for the gas used over the weekend but as everyone knows there's nothing worse than the gas running out, so i am thinking about fitting one of these oh ! and another refillable bottle

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Sprocket

I can't tell you about the latest caravan change over bulkhead regulators, but We did use a large domestic version for propane where we worked, and it worked very well. we were getting through a 47kg a day for product testing. The only down side is you had go outside to see if it had indeed changed over.

I am more familiar with older Truma duomatic which used two bottle top regulators set with a small pressure differential. These did work very well , and with the Butane version if the weather was on the cool side, then if the ambient temperature was reducing the liquified gas boil off rate, then the second bottle would come on line to assist with the load.

I believe there are several more modern versions from various manufacturers that can be purchased with a remote indicator that can be installed inside the caravan which means you don't have to go outside to see if they have changed over.

 

[chrisbee1]

I have 2 BP gaslite bottles, both connected to an auto-change valve, although not a Gaslow version, and both switched on. If one bottle runs out the indicator on the valve clearly shows the change to the new bottle. I then replace the empty bottle at Homebase on a 15% off day and reconnect it. It means I never ever have to check the gas level because I know when the bottle runs out it will change to the new one. I'm usually at the front locker every couple of days or so and can easily see if the bottles have swopped. In general I tend to only use gas for cooking so it seems to last for ever.

 

[Sproket]

Prof, Crisbee
Thanks to both for your advice, I have ordered one of these and two new pigtails with hand wheels and fitted with rubber POL's for less than the price of just the Gaslow auto switch regulator
Just a small job to do over the xmas holidays ....

 

[MichaelE]

I have this set up Sproket, i used to have the gaslow version which bolted onto the existing regulator but did look a bit heath robinson so changed the regulator to one you have just bought.
I think they are an excellent idea the bottle always completely empties and you can clearly see if the arrow pointing to the bottle is full or empty as it changes from from green to red , when your turn the dial to the new full bottle then the dial will go green again.
Stories about that people dont check and run out still but i always keep an eye on it and change the bottle straight away.
You might get the odd person saying you must be corgi registered to change?

 

[Hutch]

Sproket, and others, a question, looking at the safefill website, they appear to be getting awareness about filling at LPG points at garages, Do you know of anyone filling them at garages.
I have a Safefill agency near to me in Bedford, so thinking about changing over from the calor lites although still have two full ones,
Hutch.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Hutch

You cannot rely on the lists of stations posted on some of bottle suppliers web sites.

Many LPG for motive power stations in the UK do not permit the filling of portable cylinders. You have to check with each station as in some cases its:-

Their not licenced for portable cylinders
Their not insured
Company policy.
Site managers/operators prerogative

 

[Sproket]

Sproket, and others, a question, looking at the safefill website, they appear to be getting awareness about filling at LPG points at garages, Do you know of anyone filling them at garages.
I have a Safefill agency near to me in Bedford, so thinking about changing over from the calor lites although still have two full ones,
Hutch.

Why not just get one 10kg bottle to re-fill and use and use the two Calor lites as standby's in case you encounter a problem trying to re-fill it, I have not had that problem but we managed to run out of gas the other weekend and that's the main reason for fitting the auto changeover valve and purchasing another bottle.

 

[Hutch]

Thats crossed my mind, the next thing is, probably doing a 3 month tour of France this year, rather than just monthly tours and as Safefill advertise a French adaptor, and they are normaly a bit slacker on regs are the safefill bottles easily filled over there. I also carry a Camping Gaz bottle for the BBQ, maybe I am just being over cautious not wanting to run low on Gas, could always buy a local French bottle and pigtale. Even in the middle of winter on 10 amp sites I have never used more than one lite bottle.