Gas bottle levels

[alamo16584]

Off for 7 days at end of March, but because of my OCD in going through checklists bout 5 times, checked gas bottles yesterday, see pics, would this be enough gas ? Or could I leave the one on low at home to cut weight OR get it refilled ? 2nd question is the 1 that says full really full or nearly low, hope this all makes sense (it does to me ) lol

 

[birdman101]

I don’t rely on gauges but weighing is more accurate. Weigh before trip and through the years I know how much I use per day. If multiplied by number of days being away there is not enough, I change the bottle for a full one and use the one I take off use on my BBQ at home. This saves carrying unnecessary weight .I have 3 bottles so I always have a full one stored in garden shed for when needed

 

[borderbilly]

Depends on how you use it 🤔

 

[otherclive]

Never had any gauges until Calor fitted one to the Calorlite propane cylinders. No use whatsoever. In the early days I weighed the cylinder but as Birdman says you quickly get used to knowing your usage and it’s quite easy to gauge contents by just lifting and gently moving the cylinder side to side.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I suspect you do not understand how Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders work, and that has an important effect on what a pressure gauge will show.

This is a simplified explanation:

Pressure in a cylinder of LPG will go up if the cylinder temperature rises and fall if the temp falls The pressure is determined by the vapour pressure of the gas.

Normally there will be both vapour and liquefied gas in the cylinder. The liquefied gas will boil off to create the vapour and maintain the cylinder pressure. A pressure gauge cannot tell if the cylinder is full or part empty. Only when all the liquefied gas has boiled off leaving just gas vapour in the cylinder The pressure will drop more dramatically as the final gas vapour is drawn off.

For more complex reasons the faster you use gas from a cylinder the cylinder will actually cool down, and that can cause external water vapour to condense on the cylinder which can reveal the level of the remaining liquified gas. In extreme cases for Propane the cylinder will cool down enough to cause frost to form on the out side of the cylinder.

The most accurate way of determining how full a cylinder of LPG is to weigh it and subtract the TARE weight (which is usually stamped on the collar around the gas valve) to reveal weight of the remaining content.

 

[RogerL]

Never had any gauges until Calor fitted one to the Calorlite propane cylinders. No use whatsoever. In the early days I weighed the cylinder but as Birdman says you quickly get used to knowing your usage and it’s quite easy to gauge contents by just lifting and gently moving the cylinder side to side.

Before our present caravan which has a bulkhead regulator, I used a Gaslow regulator with a gauge built in - useless for measuring the contents because the pressure varies with temperature but brilliant for doing a leak test on the whole system - just turn off the regulator and see how much the pressure drops during a long tow home - little or no pressure drop indicates all's well.

 

[alamo16584]

I don’t rely on gauges but weighing is more accurate. Weigh before trip and through the years I know how much I use per day. If multiplied by number of days being away there is not enough, I change the bottle for a full one and use the one I take off use on my BBQ at home. This saves carrying unnecessary weight .I have 3 bottles so I always have a full one stored in garden shed for when needed

Looks like i will be taking my luggage scales next time lol.

 

[birdman101]

Don’t forget the weight of Bottle on tag is in lbs and gas weight of full Propane is in kg ,so you will have to convert bottle weight to kg

 

[Hutch]

I just give the gas bottle a shake, if it feels like less than 1/3 bottle then I will take a second bottle. But as always it depends on your usage, water heating caravan heating, cooking etc, one family might use a lot of gas another family will use next to none.