Refillable LPG Tanks, Bottles & Systems
within 50km radius of 16390 St Severin, Southern Charente
The Leisure Vehicle Artisan is a Gaslow Installer and a Gas It trained and approved dealer/Installer, having completed additional training to install, test and commission refillable LPG systems in Caravans, Motorhomes and other Leisure Vehicles
Other brands of refillable equipment can be supplied and fitted/commissioned upon request.
What Is A Refillable LPG System?
So for those of you that don’t know, The Leisure Vehicle Artisan’s definition is: "Refillable bottles replace ordinary gas bottles but instead of exchanging for a full one you simply pull into a garage and top up with 'Autogas' (A seasonally adjusted blend of Propane and Butane) anytime to suit yourself - just as you would with your petrol or diesel." Simple, and very convenient….!
Why Are They So Good?
Probably the main reason is because they are so much more convenient than standard bottles and especially so for European travellers. This convenience comes in several ways, first you no longer have to lift heavy bottles in and out of your motorhome because they are installed complete with a remote filler, second you no longer have to search for the right brand and size of bottle, third you no longer have to worry about the best moment to change because you can top them up any time you like, and fourth because widespread European availability makes continental travel so much easier. And lastly, cost of LPG/Autogas (GPL in France). It is far cheaper than buying a refill of any of the recognised brands, here or abroad.
So What?
Why struggle connecting, lifting and carrying heavy gas bottles and then pay a good deal more for the gas than you have to? And why experience the European travel nightmare where you run out of gas and cannot exchange your empty cylinder for a full one? Well, no reason at all if you go refillable! Indeed The Leisure Vehicle Artisan has had a refillable system in each of the three Motorhomes owned to date; the present LVA Auto-Trail Savannah has a twin 11Kg bottle system with an auto-changeover valve.
The OPD - Overfill Prevention Device
Refillable bottles and tanks are specially designed to have an 80% cut off valve (the OPD - Overfill Prevention Device) within the pressure vessel. This means when filling it is impossible to overfill, the liquid occupying a maximum 80% of available capacity, the vapour gassing off from the liquid in the remaining 20% capacity void. It is important to note that we Leisure Vehicle owners want LPG Vapour to power our gas appliances, unlike owners of LPG powered vehicles, whose adapted engines require the liquid delivered under pressure. It is this Overfill Prevention Device that is the single, most important difference that allows Users to self-fill their bottles and tanks. Please see amendments "Red-Book&auot; Guidance.
Can any Leisure Vehicle have a refillable LPG system fitted?
Any Camper, Motorhome, Race-Truck or Horsebox can usually have a refillable LPG system installed and with no modifications required to the leisure vehicle internal pipework or appliances. A refillable system can range from a Gaslow R67 2.7Kg bottle replacing the very expensive Camping Gaz 907 bottle to a twin 11Kg bottle system with automatic changeover valve fitted to the regulator. Users can specify, single bottle, 2 bottles of different capacities (to make the most of available space within the gas locker), a ‘twin’ system of equal sizes or indeed a single refillable with a branded pre-filled bottle of either Butane or Propane. A Manual or automatic changeover valve would be required for any two-bottle system.
Where none of the bottle sizes will fit or indeed there is no gas bottle locker, then an underslung tank is a very viable option. Indeed for home-conversion of panel vans for instance, the design of the LPG system utilising an underslung tank actually makes it easier for an installation to meet regulatory standard, and equally make the interior furniture design much easier. It of course also frees up additional storage space (subject to available payload). See below under “Services”.
Both standard-fill and fast-fill points are available and depending on the vehicle can be fitted under the vehicle sill, rear bumper or within the gas locker. It is however recommended that a filler point is either in the vehicles side-skirt or other exterior position. It is widely reported that some European Autogas stations will refuse service where side locker doors and flaps are opened, so external fill points are certainly worth considering! Within the UK, this issue should now have been addressed by the “Red-Guide” amendments.
LPG System Oil Contamination
Gas pressure regulators can oil up. With ultimately the complete failure of the LPG system to supply on-board LPG appliances with gas. This is often caused by a contaminated gas fill, be it from pre-filled or refillable bottles and tanks. The contamination is in the form of aerosols. These oily substances, such as olefins, paraffins and other hydrocarbon compounds get into the LPG via the logistics chain. When you buy the gas, you see no difference between clean and contaminated gas.
It is also widely believed that the possibility of oily plasticiser residue leeching from the rubber hose pig-tail(s) may contribute to any contamination.
Whatever the source(s), if the oily particles are drawn into the gas flow, they can accumulate in the gas pressure regulator, the hoses, pipes and valves and cause blockages. If a gas pressure regulator is damaged and no longer works due to oiling up, it has to be completely replaced. Gas pressure regulators fulfil various DIN standards for caravans and, for safety reasons, must be constructed in such a way that they cannot be opened. This is why gas pressure regulators cannot be cleaned or repaired. It is often said “..that prevention is better than cure” and so the fitment of an in-line vapour filter will go a long way in preventing the problem from (re-) occurring. Please see below for more information on vapour filters.
Refillable LPG System Services
Normal gas let-by and tightness (leak) checks as carried out for any LPG system check (including those as part of habitation services) test from the LPG take-off point of any bottle/cylinder or tank. With refillable systems there is in addition the filling circuit and often the change-over valve with twin bottle pigtails. These can be additionally checked for leaks, or if a leak is suspected, these traced and sealed.
Conversion of Pre-owned Vehicles
Many people choose to have a pre-owned vehicle converted to a camper, motorhome horsebox or race-truck. They may entrust the work to a converter of choice or embark upon their own conversion. Either way, The Leisure Vehicle Artisan can design, supply, fit and commission refillable LPG systems for your particular vehicle and requirements, selecting the most appropriate equipment to provide a cost-effective service for you, the customer.
The supply, fit and commissioning of underslung LPG tanks
With any pre-converted leisure vehicle, user preference and installation space requirements may require an under-slung tank to be fitted under the floor of the vehicle. These can be supplied, fitted and commissioned. Both bottles and tanks bring the same advantages. No manual handling of heavy bottles in and out of awkward gas lockers, cheaper gas, pan-European availability without changing bottles or regulators for the local variety (negating the risks of gas leakage etc.) and of course sheer convenience! Tanks however may (subject to sufficient payload) free up additional storage space (using the original gas locker as a ‘wet’ locker or storage area for a small generator). Self-conversions on panel vans are popular underslung tank recipients, and horse lorry converters are beginning to see the advantages. It becomes easier to meet the requirements of the gas regulations, particularly in respect of having no bottle storage within the habitation space.
Easyfit refillable underslung tanks come with Gas It’s unique, quick and easy to install mounting feet, which allows simple fixing of the tank to the vehicle, they make sure the gas tank is installed in the right orientation and at the right angle, plus they fully comply with mounting regulation requirements. They come fully fitted with the gas valves and an aluminium airbox before shipment to any customer, and also come certified with relevant certificate(s) at no extra cost.
Easyfit tanks require GAS IT's Feeted tank Mounting System, as used by many OEM's in the UK as its fully compliant to BS EN 12979 & ECE R67.01 - which is legally needed when fitting a R67 LPG tank to a road going vehicle. As as an alternative on pre-installed insulated floors, Gas It supply OEM Chassis and Al-Ko brackets for a large range of vehicles. If you want to see the gas level in this gas tank, Gas It supply a remote 9 LED internal display with 0-95 ohm tank sender or a simple to install manual gauge directly on the tank.
Gaslow or Gas It?
Being an Independent Leisure Vehicle engineer, The Leisure Vehicle Artisan can select equipment from either brand (or indeed any other) to provide a quality, cost-effective solution. However, most underslung gas tanks will be Gas It brand (Given they have greater choice of sizes and are OEM supplier to many motorhome converters), Camping Gaz 907 refillable replacement bottles are only available from Gaslow. For the standard size of refillable bottle, customers may have a preference, be it colour (red or yellow!) or in adding a second bottle, preferring the same brand as that already fitted. There may be other factors as described below that determines which new bottle(s) are selected for installation.
The Devil Is In The Detail
There are slight differences between the bottles, these being to the main isolation valve, filling and take-off hose connections and contents gauge. See here the Gaslow bottle arrangement, particularly the later named “R67” specification bottles. Depending on the vehicle, these tanks may fit where available height in the gas locker is more restricted.
By comparison, see here the Gas It bottle arrangement, very similar to the earlier Gas It bottles. Both are perfectly safe and comply with relevant regulation, but the differences are notable. For instance, the gas isolation valve of the R67 Gaslow bottle may be difficult to operate by someone of limited grip for instance, the Gas It item being larger and easier to access.
The supply, fit and commissioning of refillable LPG bottles/cylinders:
Gas It refillable bottles are available in 6Kg and 11Kg sizes (approximately 12.5 and 21 litres at 80% full respectively). Whilst also suppliers of quality LPG equipment to the after-sales market, Gas It are perhaps better known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”) to many converters, both large and small.
Gaslow refillable bottles are easily recognised by their bright yellow colour. Available in 2.7kg (replacing Camping Gaz 907 bottles), 6kg or 11kg sizes, Gaslow products are targeted at the after-sales market and are therefore perhaps better known by Motorhome owners in particular.
Both manufacturers bottles are really convenient to use once properly installed, simple to fill up and come with a mechanical gas contents gauge to show you what gas is left in the bottle. The bottles and valve system are manufactured in Europe and are fitted with an automatic 80% shut off fill system (The OFD – above), meaning you simply attach the Autogas pump to your vehicle mounted LPG fill point, and when the gas bottle is 80% full, it stops filling. For twin refillable bottles, when connected to the filler pump, both tanks are refilled to the 80% maximum level irrespective of their pre-fill individual levels.
The Recessed body mount fill point box is available in white or black and is designed to take a fixed Brass UK Bayonet gas fill point. It allows your gas systems fill point to be body mounted and allows simple filling by just removing the lid and inserting the gas fill gun directly on the fill point inside. Installation is simple; a 70mm hole is cut normally in the vehicle side-skirt at a convenient position. The fill box separates and sandwiches the side-skirt between the 2 parts. The black version can be painted using the right plastic paints in any body colour if required. For vehicles where this type of filler point is not suitable or as a matter of owner preference, an external filler point can be sited under the vehicle side sill, rear bumper or on a towbar.
The Auto-changeover valve unit comes with W20 fittings on both gas inlets and the gas outlet (to the regulator) and this high quality Italian made change over valve allows you to have 2 bottles connected and when 1 runs empty it then automatically changes over the supply to the next full bottle. It changes from the green to red colour as seen in the picture when it changes to the second bottle to indicate the change. It is also able to be used in manual mode and you change from bottle 1 to 2. Made by the quality proven manufacturers, Cavagna and supplied by Gas It, Gaslow and others under their own brand names, this is a great product that allows you to enjoy gas without having to go out in the wet and cold to change the bottles over!
As an alternative to the normal rubber gas bottle/regulator pigtails and filling point to bottle fill hoses, Gaslow supply a range of stainless steel hoses. These rubber-free hoses remove the possibility of oily plasticiser residue from the rubber contaminating your regulator. These hoses are built to standard EN10380 and have a 20-year life, twice that of rubber versions.
Recommended by the Leisure Vehicle Artisan for any LPG system be it bottle or tank based, Gas It’s market leading vapour filters for LPG vapour applications are well worth considering. Unlike some products, these actually work! The latest vapour filter development features a new higher capacity filter body which offers even better filtration via the unique glass fibre filter element. These Filters fit between your pigtail and your bulkhead mounted gas regulator or with a twin-bottle system, two are required to protect the changeover valve, one fitted to each bottle pigtail input. A vapour filter brings these advantages:
- Filters the dirty, oily gas vapour before it hits your regulator and internal appliances.
- Works with your normal brand of exchange gas bottles or your own self refillable gas bottles and gas tanks.
- Works with any brand of bulkhead regulator - Truma, Clesse, Cavagna and more.
- Easily serviced with cost effective replacement filters available from Gas It ( Part number GI-ACCS-172)
- High flow rate filter with reinforced metal provides secure filtering in all conditions.
- Large, Pleated Surface area filter captures more contaminates with low risk of blockage.
The Leisure Vehicle Artisan recommends that the filter(s) are checked for oily contamination and the internal filter element replaced every 12 months as a minimum periodicity.
For those leisure vehicle owners travelling outside of the UK, be aware that there are currently four different LPG pump nozzle connections in use across Europe. By simply screwing on one of the three foreign filling adapters you can adapt the UK connection to enable you to fill anywhere in Europe and even further afield.
UK Bayonet
This fitting is standard on all Gas It and Gaslow Filler Kits, and is found in the UK and Holland.French/Italian Adapter
Required for France, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
Euro/Spanish Adapter
Required for Spain and Germany.
Euro Adapter
Required for Germany, Ireland, USA, Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand.