Why would you want to fill up when at home? We wait until bottle is about 1/4 full and then fill up when out and about. Invariably we have never had to travel far.
Don't see any point is us doing any measurements. The fridge may use a bit more energy than electric when on gas, but at .57p a litre it is not a concern to us as the fridge is colder and we are still quids in.
I have had another look at the map , and most of the areas we go to, ie, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, and our area Beds and Bucks have a massive lack of refill areas, I am not including Morrisons fuel stations though. . I am not spending out for a safefill bottle as I don't know how many more years we will be caravanning.Why would you want to fill up when at home? We wait until bottle is about 1/4 full and then fill up when out and about. Invariably we have never had to travel far.
If your will to say, how much was the empty bottle. ?Devon and Cornwall is easy. Taunton Deane Southbound. Top up on the way down
Black Country Caravans, Kenmore Caravans and Preston Caravans all have stock but its minimal.
I would be wary of used, with the auto shutoff valve. If you buy one, go new for the extra. I saw a used one last week sell for £225
I would be wary of used, with the auto shutoff valve. If you buy one, go new for the extra. I saw a used one last week sell for £225
My Safefill cylinders have just been delivered. My nearest refill point is 2 miles away, at 57pence per litre. Everyones a winner. £7.98 to fill each one and they hold more than Calor Lite.
Now, for those that have them, a bit of input needed. My caravan regulator should be OK for autogas/lpg, is that correct. And which is the best pigtail to use for the same. The one on is the OEM bog standard rubber one. Safefill recommend a handwheel fitting, not sure as I am keen on that, but I was thinking towards the braided steel ones. Which are the best make?
Now, for those that have them, a bit of input needed. My caravan regulator should be OK for autogas/lpg, is that correct. And which is the best pigtail to use for the same. The one on is the OEM bog standard rubber one. Safefill recommend a handwheel fitting, not sure as I am keen on that, but I was thinking towards the braided steel ones. Which are the best make?
The caravan regulator should be absolutely fine, "Autogas" is predominantly commercial Propane.
It's really down to personal choice about which pigtail to use, But the advantage of the handwheel type is it doesn't need a tool, one less thing to forget and reduces the weight you carry.
One note of caution, not all forecourts that sell LPG for cars, will allow you to fill portable containers. On some sites its actually against their site licence and others may just apply a company policy. Check with the staff on site before starting.
It's really down to personal choice about which pigtail to use, But the advantage of the handwheel type is it doesn't need a tool, one less thing to forget and reduces the weight you carry.
One note of caution, not all forecourts that sell LPG for cars, will allow you to fill portable containers. On some sites its actually against their site licence and others may just apply a company policy. Check with the staff on site before starting.
Thanks Prof. Have done. My nearest one isnt a forcourt, its an LPG conversion specialist. The one at 57pence per litre. With two cyclinders, I doubt I will ever need to refill whilst I am away. 5 miles away we also have Morrisons who are also a forecourt on the Morrisons Partner List (not all Morrisons are).
Some important information that may be of use to purchasers.
When my bottles arrived I read the instructions and saw that the instruction is, with a 7.5kg bottle to only fill it with 10 litres of gas from the nominal 14.5kg AT THE FIRST FILL.
I emailed Safefill and asked
1) why is this
2) What happens if you dont follow this instruction
3) At what level and when can you fill to 14.5L or 80%.
There is little to no information about this after the instruction. I have received a reply very quickly (kudos to them) with the following information:
Hello Ian,
Let me explain,
All opd and pumping equipment work on the principles of pressure differential The cylinders arrive to us pressurised, even though we de-gas them before they are distributed to our dealers NB Residual pressure in the cylinder can occasionally effect the opd when filling for the first time.
I personally wait till its almost empty before I fill so I know what the max fill level will be. But it's up to you, as you mentioned if your 7.5kg is half empty it should take approximately 7 litres to reach its max fill level. If it goes above this then stop the pump. As the filler you always need to be mindful when filling. A good tip to check before refilling is take the cylinder to a darkend area and shine an led light from one side and look from the other side and you can see the level. As I mentioned earlier Opd work on the principles of pressure differential, once the opd reaches its max, the pump should sence this differential increase and stop the pump, we have no way of checking the filling equipment so it's up to the filler to always be mindful every time you fill.
Regards
Neil
Hope this is of some use to prospects.
When my bottles arrived I read the instructions and saw that the instruction is, with a 7.5kg bottle to only fill it with 10 litres of gas from the nominal 14.5kg AT THE FIRST FILL.
I emailed Safefill and asked
1) why is this
2) What happens if you dont follow this instruction
3) At what level and when can you fill to 14.5L or 80%.
There is little to no information about this after the instruction. I have received a reply very quickly (kudos to them) with the following information:
Hello Ian,
Let me explain,
All opd and pumping equipment work on the principles of pressure differential The cylinders arrive to us pressurised, even though we de-gas them before they are distributed to our dealers NB Residual pressure in the cylinder can occasionally effect the opd when filling for the first time.
I personally wait till its almost empty before I fill so I know what the max fill level will be. But it's up to you, as you mentioned if your 7.5kg is half empty it should take approximately 7 litres to reach its max fill level. If it goes above this then stop the pump. As the filler you always need to be mindful when filling. A good tip to check before refilling is take the cylinder to a darkend area and shine an led light from one side and look from the other side and you can see the level. As I mentioned earlier Opd work on the principles of pressure differential, once the opd reaches its max, the pump should sence this differential increase and stop the pump, we have no way of checking the filling equipment so it's up to the filler to always be mindful every time you fill.
Regards
Neil
Hope this is of some use to prospects.
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The above is something very recent and I am not sure of the meaning of the acronym "OPD". Reading the above it seems that they are aware that on some bottles the auto cut off does not work hence the request to stop before the auto cut off kicks in.
Problem doing it their new way is that you may not realise your have a faulty cut off until you are passed the 6 month window under CRA 2015 and then you have an argument with the supplier proving that you are not at fault.
When we got our bottles we simply filled up until the cut off worked and have being doing the same ever since. Our bottle is now 5 years old.
My thoughts are this. Both cylinders are completely empty. I will fill each with 10 litres and run one until empty. At this point I willr efill the empty with exactly 14.5 litres of LPG and use a gaffer tape mark on the bottle for the level. Keeping that as a spare, I will then repeat the process with bottle number two. Easy enough and no panic with two bottles. But hey, 57 pence per litre at my nearerst (not sure about Morrisons price yet) equates to £8.26 per fill.
Goodbye and good riddance Calor.
I am selling my Calor lites and they will pay for roughly 1.5 Safefill bottles leaving me short by £80 which I will make back before the end of the year, then its all savings from there.
Goodbye and good riddance Calor.
I am selling my Calor lites and they will pay for roughly 1.5 Safefill bottles leaving me short by £80 which I will make back before the end of the year, then its all savings from there.
Aye, but seeing the level doesnt necessarily mean that you know the quantity of LPG inside. If you fill it from empty with 14.5 litres, the gaffer tape (sliver) would be its telltale marker.
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