Gas leaking in front Locker

[Royston]

Good morning Folks,

Just come back from a four night trip to check that all the equipment is okay,Complete with a full 7.5 kg Gas Bottle.

Being a fairly new van we tried out the cooker , worked okay, Oven a top burners working a treat. I happened to go to the front locker to get something out , when i open the door I was hit by a very strong smell of gas.

As soon as the oven had cooked our meal I turn off the gas ,at the top of the bottle (Calour) the smell stopped.

Turned the gas on again the smell returned i could also hear a hissing noise which established a discharge some at the top or the housing.

I disconnected the bottle and arranged to visite my local dealer to establish the cause.

I phoned my dealer and he reckon that I may not be placing the connecter on top of the gas bottle correctly, but I told him that i thought you where unables to switch the gas on if the connection was not secure.

Has anybody else had faulty Calour Gas bottle, that could have caused this problem.

Glad this has come to light as we are away to Scotland Next month.

Royston

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Royston,

Whenever you smell or suspect a gas leak, you should turn off the supply and check the system out. If you cannot identify the fault then you should contact a gas fitter. You should not use the system until the gas leak has been repaired.

That is not an idle warning. As part of my job a few years ago, I had to report on some incidents that involved gas appliances.

Tents are very easily destroyed with just a leak form a camping gaz lamp bottle, and I have seen the side of a caravan that was blown out by a gas explosion. Fortunately no one was injured in either these cases.

I have found some butane bottles where a 'clip-on' regulator did not adequately seal. These were from a foreign supplier and they had not quality checked the dimensions of the machining and casting work, and in another case, one of the 'O'ring seals had been missed out by the manufacturer. These were suppliers samples and not available on the open market, and as far as I know this supplier has not been granted CE approval to sell in Europe.

In another case, I found the top of the brass bottle connector had been bruised during transit, which prevented the regulator from sitting down properly, but in this case the gas could not be turned on. Calor would exchange such a bottle without question (unless they suspected deliberate interference).

So It is possible for fittings to be faulty or damaged, but I stress that in general UK supplied parts and bottles are some of the safest in the world.

 

[Royston]

Thanks John L,for your prompt reply, We have a brand new clip on Adaptor, been used twice on a previous bottle no problem with any gas leaks, Bought the latest bottle from our dealer with the van first time we used it we had the problem.

Will let you know the outcome, booked the van in for gas checks this wednesday.

Royston