How many gas bottles do you carry?

[CRAIG_5077026]

I know this is down to personel preference but how many gas bottles do people carry on their van? 1 or 2 and why? The reason I'm asking is we are have just ordered the new Bailey Pageant Loire S7, we have a Sorento to pull it with so no probs there but I do want to keep the weight down on the van. I'm looking at having just one 4.5 or 6kg but not sure of the pro's and con's.

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

Craig.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Craig

We tow a Wyoming with our Sorento plus two propane 6kgs on board, no problem.

I've always carried a spare gas bottle as we use cls a lot. Never had a problem. With your outfit you have nothing to worry about. Also the extra bottle will help with the nose weight.

Sorentos can go to 112kgs noseweight.

Cheers

Alan

 

[Auvergne]

Personally we have one dumpy one and one of the next size up. We have two in case we run out on a site where we can't get a replacement easily, for example if we're on a CL.

Also the dumpy one is useful if we go on a rally with a communal bbq where everyone cooks together in the middle of the field instead of outside the van with the feed from the van bottle. It means gas is still available in the van.

Val.

 

[Legsmaniac_374344731]

"Sorentos can go to 112kgs noseweight."

That as may be, but the caravan can't.

 

[swpostie]

Hi Craig,

We carry 2 so we have a spare if one runs out at the worst moment!

We don't have a problem with nose weight - the ideal is 98kg, for our 'van (a 2000 Elddis Cyclone GTX), (based on the 7% rule) and the car can take 100kg and our nose weight tends to be too low rather thsn too high.

 

[Rick_5041348]

Hi Craig,

We carry 2 so we have a spare if one runs out at the worst moment!

We don't have a problem with nose weight - the ideal is 98kg, for our 'van (a 2000 Elddis Cyclone GTX), (based on the 7% rule) and the car can take 100kg and our nose weight tends to be too low rather thsn too high.

Hi Craig

We carry two of the BP light weights again just in cas one runs out while away, Our outfit Coachman Amara 530/4 Nissan Terrano (import)

 

[joeby]

hi craig if i have a new cylinder , i just carry the one ,when its half empty ,i put another full 6KG in ready ,thats when i tour in the UK ,when we go down to Spain at christmas for a month ,i take one full 10KG bp gaslite ,and a half empty 6 KG calor propane ,allthough its warm in spain , you can get some bad weather going through France ,we had snow and minus 7 temperatures last year ,we stayed in services overnight ,and had the gas fire on all night , the nose weight for your Bailey is 100 KG

 

[Hamer_5041128]

Hi Craig,

I had an automatic gas change over system (Gaslow) fitted to my Swift Conqueror 2007. Excellent system so always carry 2 6kg propane bottles.

Excellent system providing you remember to check whether or not the system has changed over---otherwise 2 empty bottles!!!

No interruptions to gas supply when cooking or heating, and you you can disconnect the empty bottle without affecting the gas supply.

Hamer

 

[Olly]

We carry a dumpy for a separate but very useful reason. By so doing, we are able to get the Wastemaster in the gas locker.

Olly.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi craig

we carry two 6kg ones, one with gas in one empty.

the reason for this is to save on noseweight when the one being used starts to get low the empty one can be replaced so when the gas runs out there is a full one ready to use the balance is then restored untill next time.

colin

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Hi Craig, we always carry two gas bottles, both 6kg and one will always be full, that way we never run out of gas.:O)

 

[RogerL]

Many caravanners only use hook-up sites these days and actually consume very little gas. I calculate we use 0.25kg per week so carrying a full 6kg as a reserve is overkill - that's nearly six months full time use!

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

I am amazed at your calculations, Roger!

We have just returned from four weeks touring, we actually used a whole 4.5kg bottle and an from a 6kg, we were on hookup the whole time!?!

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

I am amazed at your calculations, Roger!

We have just returned from four weeks touring, we actually used a whole 4.5kg bottle and an from a 6kg, we were on hookup the whole time!?!

....should read, an end of a 6kg bottle...

 

[RichL812]

We always used to carry 1 x 7Kg butane and a dumpy propane for the BBQ. We have now changed to Calor lite and carry 2 x 6kg bottles and they actually weigh less than the butane and dumpy!

 

[RogerL]

Wendy, perhaps you've got a major gas leak.

We've used just 4.5kg propane during 116 nights over the last 18 months - it's only used for cooking. Fridge, hot water and room heating are run off the electric.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi,

I think Roger is about right - if it's Summer and you are on EHU - then the only gas you'll be using is that for cooking.

A SMEV hob (others will be similar) will use around 300 grams of gas a day for an hours cooking... That'll be just over 2 kg a week.

However, if you're using a gas BBQ - then usage rates will be around five or ten times that of hob cooking...

Robert

Propane bull-nose cylinder connectors (brass on brass seal) can be very difficult to get gas tight - a small speck of grit will score the seal - and then you'll have a small, continuous leak.

At an EribaFest in May, one guy got through a small Propane cylinder in just a few days - and looking at his Calor connector - you could see the score line on the seal surface - and no matter how much force you used on the join - it still leaked.

The temporary solution was to smear a thin layer of Silicone grease (Thetford toilet lubricant) over the mating surfaces - Silicone doesn't dissolve in hydrocarbons - and that made the seal leak tight - until he could get a replacement pig-tail (from Gaslow with the rubber bull-nose)

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

No major gas leaks, Roger!

Rob-jax, using your calculations, cooking on a hob for one hour a day uses approx. 2kg of gas per week, presumably you are not including anything used with the oven! We do use a gas BBQ, and as we do not use site facilites, there is the occasional need to boost the water heating using gas, when showering!!

We expect a small bottle of gas to last about 18 days!!

 

[RogerL]

Glad you're not leaking Wendy!

We use the grill for breakfast and the hob/oven in the evening at least 5 nights a week.

We don't bbq and don't top-up hot water on gas so maybe that's the difference.

I've rechecked my figures and I was right - 4.5kg in 116 nights

 

[Rioja]

Staying on non electric sites I could go through 6kg in 4-5 days, mainly by leaving the hot water on full time. Now I rarely stop anywhere without I must admit it's time I stopped carrying 2x 6kg around all the time. Just don't need them. A month in France last year and we barely used any gas at all but I took 2 full ones "just in case".

 

[catherine2]

We only carry 1X6kg bottle which will last ages if you are using EHU. However, i often think we would be better off with 2 as we never know if its going to run out just when we're cooking and there's no warden about to provide us with a replacement.

 

[MrsMothy]

We carry 2 x 3.9kg Propane cylinders. We use lots of cls but usually have a hookup. As there are only two of us and we only do 55 - 60 nights a year, the two cylinders do just over a year...we eat in a lot as I love cooking but this seems to be enough. We don't see the point in carrying bigger cylinders as when one runs out, we have the other and all things considered, its not that much of an extravagance. However, its all down to personal preference.

Denise

 

[Essexeddie]

We always used to carry two cylinders, but they seem to last for ever as we always have a hook up.

Cant remember the last time I bought a replacement.

Now decided to only take one but make sure its well topped up.

If its low I will remove it and use it for the BBQ at home.

As we BBQ all year at home.

Edd

 

[Rich]

We always used to carry two cylinders, but they seem to last for ever as we always have a hook up.

Cant remember the last time I bought a replacement.

Now decided to only take one but make sure its well topped up.

If its low I will remove it and use it for the BBQ at home.

As we BBQ all year at home.

Edd

We carry one large BP gaslight bottle. We have had the new van 15 months and even went away for new year and we are still on the same bottle. Luckily we can see how much we have and if we get low we can use a small BBQ/Patio gas bottle just to see us through but so far we have not had to think about it. We think we will see the rest of this year out. We only really stop on CL's and seem to barely use any gas even though we have a Gas BBQ and use it every time we go away. The reason is possibly the electric heating is very good and the van has good insulation when it is cold New Year was OK and we barely used gas for heating.

 

[Rich]

We carry one large BP gaslight bottle. We have had the new van 15 months and even went away for new year and we are still on the same bottle. Luckily we can see how much we have and if we get low we can use a small BBQ/Patio gas bottle just to see us through but so far we have not had to think about it. We think we will see the rest of this year out. We only really stop on CL's and seem to barely use any gas even though we have a Gas BBQ and use it every time we go away. The reason is possibly the electric heating is very good and the van has good insulation when it is cold New Year was OK and we barely used gas for heating.