LPG Adaptor/Filling Cylinders at Gas Station

pilchard wrote:The pain in the backside is I'll have to go out with just one Calor cylinder and when it runs out, I'll have to dump it and buy two full cylinders,

No you won't!   "Buy two full cylinders!!!!"  I thought you said you're tight! Back for a refresher course I think! 

You use the Intermarche one all the time, and keep the Calor one in reserve. With the little brass adaptor in place your standard pigtail fits both bottles, so swapping over is no problem at all.

You only need the Calor bottle when the Intermarche one runs out. You'll probably only use it for a day or two before you can exchange the Intermache bottle for a full one, so it will last for months.

Gromit wrote:

pilchard wrote:The pain in the backside is I'll have to go out with just one Calor cylinder and when it runs out, I'll have to dump it and buy two full cylinders,

No you won't!   "Buy two full cylinders!!!!"  I thought you said you're tight! Back for a refresher course I think! 

You use the Intermarche one all the time, and keep the Calor one in reserve. With the little brass adaptor in place your standard pigtail fits both bottles, so swapping over is no problem at all.

You only need the Calor bottle when the Intermarche one runs out. You'll probably only use it for a day or two before you can exchange the Intermache bottle for a full one, so it will last for months.

You sneaky little monkey Gromit. Perfect logic. That's what I'll do I think. Thanks.

pilchard wrote:I used to be CORGI registered, and no-one ever complained that I'd gassed or killed them.

Well not suprising if you had gassed or killed them?  

Worked perfectly for us for several years.

Best to go over with a full Calor bottle of course, but you use so little from it that it will last forever - assuming the Intermarche bottle is exchanged fairly promptly when it runs out.

Don't forget to take the adaptor off before you turn in the empty!!    Best to reconnect to the French bottle before leaving the supermarket. Then you certainly won't lose the adaptor, and you will be 100% certain the new bottle has the correct 21.8 LH thread.

AutoSleeper Don wrote:

pilchard wrote:I used to be CORGI registered, and no-one ever complained that I'd gassed or killed them.

Well not suprising if you had gassed or killed them?  

 was hoping someone would get that one Don.  I'm not casting pearls before swine then.

a country's motorhome brands tends to have gas lockers to reflect the most popular size of bottles being sold in that market....6kg Calor is by far the most popular here, hence the matching smaller lockers.
Alternatively, French and German vans almost exclusively have large, twin bottle lockers to reflect their ever popular 13kg sizes...
...hence the issue described by bikeralw above.

Yes, bikeralw & bolero boy... I should have thought that it couldn't have been as easy as a quick-fix £10 piece of brass. 
Now you guys have jolted my brain and memory banks back into action, I realise that in my years living in Italy I never used or ever saw a gas cylinder (other than the usuriously priced Camping Gaz)...any smaller than about 60 -70 high by maybe 40 diameter. My internal gas cupboard currently has two titchy 4.5 butane Calor bottles measuring 34 x 24 diameter... one in front of the other. The back one sits on a raised step with only a few inches clearance above it, while the front one, if swapped for a 6kg Propane @ 495 x 256 diameter, could be snuggly accomodated with 55mm to spare above it. But.... would that cupboard accommodate one of those Italian fat boys?.... would it hellers-like.

So I've emailed cousin Paolo in Milan and asked him if there are any bottled gas suppliers that do a bottle size similar to the 6 Kg Calor size... or maybe a tad bigger at a stretch. Paolo has a hotel on wheels with every possible modern and technical convenience... he traded up last year and I've not yet seen it (I'll pretend I like it) but he will deffo have onboard gas tanks, so might not have any current info relating to peasant camping. We'll see.

I do however remember finding, in Italy, gas bottle refilling depots where you just rock up, put your cylinder on a loading bay and the guy just pumps some gas into your cylinder. Really cheap too. They were proper distributors, with trucks full of cylinders coming and going, so they will have filled them safely. But the interesting thing is... they didn't care whose brand of cylinder they filled. I wonder if they have adaptors for Brit and Western Europe bottles?

I had an Intermarche 9kg propane (identical bottle may also contain 10kg butane - see the collar to check).

It is exactly the same height as a 6kg Calor propane = 48.5cm

The diameter of the 6kg Calor = 24.6cm.

The diameter of the 9kg Intermarche = 30.5cm. (Less than a 13kg Calor.)


Hope this helps. I've seen a website with lots of sizes for various countries, but can't find it!. It's out there somewhere. 

Justus2 wrote:These bottles are legal to use  and are designed to be refilled but are quite expensive....

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And this one by Safefill.

Gromit... interesting info. Thanks.
The 24cm diameter bottles fit easily but snuggly in my locker (the van came with two 4.5Kg Butane bottles), and for UK use I'll swop the empty one for a 9kg/24cm diameter Propane bottle and, the one at the back of the locker that sits on an approx 10cm step will have to remain 4.5kg as there's insufficent height for a 9kg job. 
But I'm thinking that for a matter of an 6cm extra diameter, I must be able to do some jiggery-pokery and just about squeeze it in. Maybe if the French do that size you found at Intermarche, then maybe the Italians too. But whether or not an empty-for-full bottle swap could be done in Italy using different branded bottles... never mind different nationality, I don't know.

Biffobear... yes, I know. Can't afford it. Maybe next year if this gas thing pans out to be a real pain.

bikeralw... no harm trying though. My locker is a weird shape... it just might be possible, but would need a bottle to test if I could get it to fit.

pilchard wrote:bikeralw... no harm trying though. My locker is a weird shape... it just might be possible, but would need a bottle to test if I could get it to fit.

The helpful little French chap at the Intermarche where I bought the bottle initially, not only let me try it for size in the locker, but he insisted on carrying it for me. Vive l'entente cordiale eh! 

Trying on the adaptor was no problem of course, as I had it in my pocket.

When I bought my 11kg Gaslow for the Bolero (tight locker opening) I took the bottle to the van to test fitting prior to purchase....
Why, oh why do converters hide a 20 X 20 locker behind a 10 X 10 door....? You see it over and over again, just makes life so much more difficult/interesting (delete as applicable....)...

Why can't AS provide a locker like this.

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Peter, a bit like mine, but with extra safety string...
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The string is to keep the toiletries in place.

I guessed that, lol...

Nice to see an example of substance over style for a change when the MH world 'generally' seems to be in favour of the opposite:rolleyes:

I've been enjoying this topic and have learned a bit, been given useful info, and generally had the crack. But I wonder if anyone, especially the earlier posters, would be interested in (as a purely academic exercise of course) revisiting the original premise? I.e... are these LPG cylinder fill adaptors OK?

Death and mayhem seemed to be the opinion that had it's passionate adherents immediately leaping about in cautionary alarm. Although these responses did stop me half-way into filling a rusty and dented old cylinder down at my local petrol station (the one next door to the primary school) while sucking on a ciggy and taking a mobile call... I wasn't !00% convinced 'till I read the Calor Gas Ltd "Highly Dangerous" warning from 2013. It's here.....
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That put the kybosh on it for me. Perilous and stupid I could handle... but illegal? Me? Never?

But I've just done a little further furtling around and found this.

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It has a lot of pretty impossible quasi-legalese linguistics but, this line (below) near the top of the first page is quite telling

"Introduction UKLPG advises that freestanding LPG cylinders should not be filled at public LPG refuelling facilities by customers or untrained personnel."

Is there anyone on this forum with the intellectual capacity to be able to read, understand, and draw a bomb-proof conclusion from this document?

Anyway... my need was for gas in Italy... and I really do fancy (but can't afford) one of these Gaslow or Gasit systems, but look here......
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Sounds like a lot of Italian gas station attendents don't like self-fill gas systems, and French stations are usually out of gas anyway.

Maybe cousin Paolo will know something.

Can't remember all the posts but you could use a Gaslow 'butane' regulator-to-bottle hose, which terminates in a 21.8mm LH threaded nut.....(the continemtal Butane fitting, hence the name)...
Gaslow also has a Greek/Italian adaptor that screws onto this hose and then connects nicely onto a local bottle....
You can even bring the excess gas home as the gas will still work here..
Also, the hose will allow other adaptors shpuld you decide to visit other countries....
Good luck..

bolero boy wrote:Can't remember all the posts but you could use a Gaslow 'butane' regulator-to-bottle hose, which terminates in a 21.8mm LH threaded nut.....(the continemtal Butane fitting, hence the name)...
Gaslow also has a Greek/Italian adaptor that screws onto this hose and then connects nicely onto a local bottle....
You can even bring the excess gas home as the gas will still work here..
Also, the hose will allow other adaptors shpuld you decide to visit other countries....
Good luck..

You'll have to run that past me again Bolero boy. You lost me. 
I've underlined the only bit I did understand. A useful bit of info I can't but thoroughly agree with.   

Ok, ill try again and go slowly....
to use gas bottles 'elsewhere' usually means a different bottle fitting.....this is achieved either by changing the whole pigtai to a local one, or fitting an adaptor of some sort....
now, the adaptor range supplied by Gaslow (and other companies) are designed to fit to a specific hose fitting...
this fitting is a 21.8mm Left Hand threaded nut...commonly known as a 'Butane fitting' as this is the connection used on many butane cylinders throughput europe (germany and france come to mind).
so, when looking to use Italian gas bottles, youll need to fit an Italian adaptor....but this only fits onto a Butane hose....
so, you can ditch your Propane hose (which ends in a bullet shaped POL fitting) and get a butane hose instead...and then fit the Italian adaptor and screw it into an Italian bottle...
or you can convert your propane hose to a butane one by fitting the adaptor that Gromit mentioned upthread.....and then fit the Italan adaptor and screw it into an Italian bottle......
so, change to butane hose (either by adaptor or by changing hose) and then add Italan adaptor....
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Propane hose....
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Butane hose...
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Italian adaptor
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adaptor to convert Propane hose to butane one...as mentioned by Gromit...
the Italian adaptor fits into this or the butane hose.

hopefully this is a little clearer....and that you'll be able to make use of cheap Italian bottles....

it all seems so confusing when written down but one you realise that ALL continental bottles are either fitted directly to a butane hose (France, Germany) or that an adaptor is needed and THIS ADAPTOR has to fitted to the butane hose, I'm sure it's a little clearer....

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biffobear wrote:

Justus2 wrote:These bottles are legal to use  and are designed to be refilled but are quite expensive....

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And this one by Safefill.

Trying to do that on a small phone 3 this time, none last time and 7 a few weeks ago  must get the lap top fixed. sorry

FFS you've spent circa £30000 on a mobile bungalow and you're trying to save 10p!!!!

Either live with Calor or similar or spend a few pounds and get something LEGALLY fillable. Now how hard was that??


A guy was flying along in his aeroplane when the engine stopped. He jumped out and pulled the parachute ripcord.

Disappointingly nothing happened. As he was plummeting earthwards, much to his surprise he saw another guy going the other way, straight up!

He shouted across to him "do you know anything about parachutes?" The other guy said NO! Do YOU know anything about gas cylinders..............................!!

OK an old one.

I have the Gasit kit which covers all of Europe, about £30 I recall, to fill my underslung tank.

It is one of the biggest no-no's there is to even consider filling returnable cylinders. The re-fillable ones all have a float valve stopping them being filled over 80% capacity.

If you only ever go to UK, then the cheapest option is Calor propane in exchangable tanks. if you go abroad, then, realistically you need a refillable option, such as Gasit or Gaslow etc
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