bottle filling adaptor

[joeby]

i saw on another forum about a propane gas filling adaptor ,that you can use to fill propane cylinders for about £7.00
its listed on ebay as a , LPG propane Autogas bottle filling adaptor , has any body on this forum ever bought one

 

[ProfJohnL]

Quite possibly illegal to use in on UK forecourts.

 

[MichaelE]

It is illegal to fill a calor bottle on a forecourt not sure about the others, i think the issue is safety ie the proper refillable bottles have anti over fill devices so you cant over fill the bottle.
Safefill have a bottle with the fill adapter built in it if you can justify spending £150 in the first place,ie you you use a few bottles a year then maybe and to fill its about £10 to fill compared to £26 to buy,this you can fill on the forecourt.

 

[Surfer]

It is illegal to fill a calor bottle on a forecourt not sure about the others, i think the issue is safety ie the proper refillable bottles have anti over fill devices so you cant over fill the bottle.
Safefill have a bottle with the fill adapter built in it if you can justify spending £150 in the first place,ie you you use a few bottles a year then maybe and to fill its about £10 to fill compared to £26 to buy,this you can fill on the forecourt.

Where does it state that ti is illegal to fill a Calor bottle on a forecourt or anywhere?

 

[MichaelE]

Illegal is probably the wrong word,on your agreement and on the bottle it says only to be filled by Calor.
So technically you filling a cylinder is breaking this agreement? What they can do i dont know prosocute?

 

[ProfJohnL]

When you take out a a Calor Gas bottle of LPG you sign a lease agreement. That is a contract, and its terms are that you do not try to refill a calor owned bottle If you breach the terms of the lease the lease holder can sue. Calor bottles are designed to be filled by weight under controlled conditions. LPG Forecourts sell gas by volume, so it easily is possible to over fill a calor bottle at a forecourte and that posses a realy serious safety risk. That is contary to the LPG regulations and is a criminal health and safety offence.

The vast majority of UK LPG forecourts are only licenced to fill fixed tanks such as those fixed in cars. Portable tanks are not fixed and thus filling them may contrtary to the opetrators licence conditions.

You would need to check with forecortes operator to see what their filling licence and policy is.

 

[graham_somersham]

It would make an interesting feature in PC if the companies operating the major forecourts such as the big supermarkets and main retailers were contacted and asked to state their policy on filling bottles such as the Gaslow etc. That way caravaners would be able to make an educated decision as the the availability of filling points and also have something to show the staff when challenged by a jobsworth. It would certainly be better than the regurgitated tourist information drivel that often appears in the mags.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

For the amount of gas used in one season is this worth the time and agro.
I would rather play safe and use gas as supplied by calor then I wont have it on my concience should any thing go wong with a bottle I had just filled at a filling station.
I feel this Idea would put my van and my family in danger .

 

[graham_somersham]

I partially agree Sir R but it depends on if you are a seasonal caravanner or use it all year round on non EHU pitches. I probably spend about 150 days a year in my 'van and much of that time is weather where heating is required. In cold weather I can empty a 6kg bottle in a couple of days. I guess I probably use about 15 - 20 bottles a year so if I could cut the cost of gas by 50% the installation would soon pay for itself but like you say I too am concerned about filling up at a service station not only for safety reasons but also the unsubstantiated feeling I have that autogas is not as 'clean' as Calor etc and it may contain contaminates.

 

[MichaelE]

"unsubstantiated feeling I have that autogas is not as 'clean' as Calor etc and it may contain contaminates."
Autogas is a joint venture between Calor and Shell and it all comes from the same tank so if your lpg is for heating ,car or bottle is all the same.
Does make you wonder how Calor can charge £20 for 6kg when it costs £9 to fill.
When the bottles go back to the Calor depot they are visually checked then filled and a leak test carried out.They only remove the valve and clean after x amount of years.Also a bit of transport thrown in.
Ahh that where the xtra £11 goes!

 

[graham_somersham]

I remember now where I got the idea about Autogas. The Dometic fridge manuals used to say do not use Autogas but I can't remember why and I now have a Thetford fridge so don't have the Dometic manual to check back on. I do seem to recall that Autogas is a Propane/Butane mix and while that should have no effect on its use I don't think it is a mix that goes into Calor bottles.

Does anyone know if it would be possible the claim back the additional tax that is on Autogas if it is just being used for heating and cooking which normally only attracts the lower rate of VAT?

 

[Gafferbill]

.....Calor work on the principle that the more gas you buy the cheaper the gas!
6kg costs around £20 whilst the 13kg costs around £25.50 (both will fit my caravan).
They charge around £56 for the 47kg size they sell for static caravans.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Graham,
All the normal caravan (and motor home) appliances utilise vapour take of bottles. This means the valve in the bottle is onel exposed to the vapour above the liquid. The regulators are only designd for vapour. Where as most LPG motive power installatoins use theLiquid take off tanks. You must never use a fridge or any other normal applince with a liquid take off system as the pressure will rise far too high, and you may get liquid gas to the burners rather than the vapour.resulting seroius over gassing and the possibilit of a fireball.

Withe regards teh VAT, In theroy yes you could, but I think the practicalities of proving to the satisfaction of the VAT man the sole use of the fuel is non motive domestic heating may be difficult. They are more likely to say its your choice where to buy the fuel and you chose the high price option.

 

[lpgadapter]

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