Gas bottle convertion

[raccoon]

Hi everyone, I have just come back to the caravan scene after a few years away. How things change. One change that I want to do is to change my Blue heavy gas cylinders for the lightweight ones. I see that apart from the weight saving, the main difference is the connector. Mine at the moment is the threaded type with the regulator on it as part of the unit.

Getting the bottles and the fitting is no problem. I am capable of cutting the gas pipe and fitting the new clip on one. The thing is, being cabable is not nesiserelly the correct way. A couple of things that I want to ask about are

1..can I use a jubilee clip to fasten the pipe to regulator.

2..can I use my freind who is corgi regestered instead of a dealer.

3..Can I do it myself legally.

Any input will be gratefully recieved. Thanks to all who reply.

 

[marlot]

Yes you should use a jubilee clip

Legally I believe your friend can do it. Or you can.

But please don't just cut the gas pipe back - for the extra cost, you'd be better replacing the entire hose length as its probably been on there a while.

 

[marlot]

PS. If your friend is gas registered, why not pay him a couple of drinks to double check that the appliances are safe/clean out the jets etc.

 

[raccoon]

PS. If your friend is gas registered, why not pay him a couple of drinks to double check that the appliances are safe/clean out the jets etc.

Thanks for your replies. I will try to use my freind, but him having the job he does makes it difficult for me to get him when I want. I should be able to arrange for him in the near future though. My bottle is still about half full so hope to get easter weekend over then do it.

I could do it myself then and have him check it before I take it our again. at least I know that either way I do it I will be safe. Thanks agin everyone.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Raccoon,

The law requires that a competent person carries out all work on gas systems - even your caravan.

Corgi registers fitters for certain jobs, and LPG is a separate ticket. Your friend may be Corgi but he may not be LPG approved.

Competency does not require Corgi registration, but it is unlikely any person other than trained fitter will have the necessary proven competency.

It is not a DIY job.

 

[raccoon]

Hi again,

thanks John L. My freind says he is not a LPG sort of guy. I guess when its time to change over, most likely a couple weeks after easter, then I will be safe and go to a caravan dealership and find the cost to do. I know its paying out but whats better to do, have a great time out in the caravan or a sad time at home.

Thanks for all your advice greatfully recieved. Cheers

 

[Guest]

I am a little confused by your Post. You state you have the old screw type fittings with the regulator attached to the bottle, so I assume you are talking about the small 12 lb (5 kg) gas bottles that were common in the early days. You also state you want to use the new light weight bottles. However, firstly the lightweight bottles only contain propane so you will need a new regulator, hoses and fittings to the bottle. You do not mention if you have a bulkhead regulator, and by the comment on the cylinders I guess not. I assume also the caravan is older than 2005. Therefore you can look at the system in 2 parts.

You could exchange your small butane bottles for the common 7 kg size and fit the new cylinder clip on regulator. You can then easily use a jubilee clip to attach the hose both to the cylinder and to the nipple on the hard gas line to the van. Check with some soapy water for leaks and if ok, all is fine. This gives you a butane system at 28 mb of pressure and will work fine. You can do this yourself, if confident.

Alternatively, you attach a new bulkhead 30 mb regulator to the fixed gas supply line to the van and the new hoses and fittings to allow the use of the new propane lightweight cylinders. In this instance there are no jubilee clips anywhere in the system. You can also use this system with butane as long as you use the correct hoses and cylinder fittings. They are not interchangeable (deliberately) with propane. Again there are no jubilee clips in this system. It is best to get this done by a competent person, the important word being 'competent'. Professional gas fitters have been known to sometimes lack that facility.

The other thing to note is that the lightweight cylinders will save you about 5 kg each, so useful, but not the be all and end all to necessarily justify the fitting.

I suggest you have a think about what you actually want to do before embarking on a lot of work and of course shelling out some cash.

 

[raccoon]

Hi Scotch Lad,

The system I have is indead the small blue bottles. My caravan is a Compass Shadow 1991 model. Inside the locker there are two of these bottles and only one gas pipe which I can unscrew from one bottle and put on the other as they run out. This gas pipe goes off under the caravan and along to the gas fire also to the oven and fridge. just before it reaches the fire there is a gas turn off valve. I would not be altering anything other than what would be in the locker.

I did assume that I would basically be cutting the pipe at the old regulator and fitting on the new clip on type valve, then use the new lightweight bottles. I know that all I will save is weight. I also wanted the changing of the bottles to be as easy as the barbie one to do so my wife was able to do it when she was away on her own.

I am myself confident enough to do it as I was a fitter/machine setter before finnishing last year. I was really only concerned about the legalities of it all should things go pear shaped. You know what this world is like when it comes to blame.

Thanks for your input though.

 

[SBS]

It is not recommended to change to a fixed regulator system from a cylinder mounted one. You could change to a 6kg CalorLite cylinder which accepts a cylinder mounted propane regulator. You should, as already suggested, fit new flexible hose. Use the orange high pressure hose - it's only about