Changing from Camping Gaz to Calor. Thoughts?

jac

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My Gas locker currently contains 2 nearly full Camping Gaz canisters but I think is big enough to take 2 4.5 Calor gas bottles. The regulators fit the same size tubing so all looks good to switch and means less running out of Gaz at awkward moments.

Any particular reasons to not switch?

Also to save throwing away perfectly good Gaz, I'm thinking of buying one Calor bottle when the first Gaz canister expires together with correct regulator and then swapping the hose from old regulator to new regulator when the second Gaz cannister expires. Doesn't look like it will be a long job.

Is this a simple as it looks? any pitfalls to doing this or am I better off just accepting that I'm going to lose some Gaz
 

VicMallows

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Yes. It is that simple. You may though be in for a bit of a shock when you discover the deposit that Calor dealers require if you don't have existing bottles (c. £40 each).......although the going rate for empty cylinders at recyling centres/ebay is around £5.
 

Boltrope

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I have just done exactly this.
Rigged a new hose with two push connectors and now have a choice between a 4.5 Calor bottle and a 907 Camping Gaz bottle.
The Calor bottle holds 10 pounds of gas and costs £18 to exchange for a full one when empty.
The Camping Gaz bottle holds 6 pounds of gas and costs £25 to exchange.
The advantage of Camping Gaz is the availability on the Continent.
A metre of 8mm hose, two push connectors and a regulator for the 4.5kg Calor came to about £12 (parts easily available on fleabay)
As VicMallows says though, the bottle deposit is expensive...
 

sailorman

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I have just done exactly this.
Rigged a new hose with two push connectors and now have a choice between a 4.5 Calor bottle and a 907 Camping Gaz bottle.
The Calor bottle holds 10 pounds of gas and costs £18 to exchange for a full one when empty.
The Camping Gaz bottle holds 6 pounds of gas and costs £25 to exchange.
The advantage of Camping Gaz is the availability on the Continent.
A metre of 8mm hose, two push connectors and a regulator for the 4.5kg Calor came to about £12 (parts easily available on fleabay)
As VicMallows says though, the bottle deposit is expensive...


I saw Calor this w/e for £15 ish
GC 907 is now £30
 
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jac

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Deposit is a pain but significant saving on the gas will make life easier. Just wish that I had decided to do it when I last bought a 907 bottle.

On the positive side, the hose in the locker was replaced when we bought the boat 2 years ago so no need to replace. I assume that removing the old regulator is unlikely to damage the hose?

Bolt rope - your solution of hose with 2 push connectors - having difficulty in working out how that would work. Why couldn't you use the existing hose and just change over?
 

ctva

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Depending on whether you use the boat in the winter, you should consider swapping to propane (red Calor 3.9kg) as this is better in lower temperatures. I did this about 10 years ago on our Jeanneau and it has saved us a fortune. However I only have the simple setup of one regulator, a really good one that is hand tightened and does not need a spanner. As with all systems on a boat, especially gas, KISS.
 

Boltrope

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I wanted to keep my options open.
Have both a 907 and a 4.5kg bottle in the locker, each fitted with a regulator and a short length of hose attached to it, ending with a push fit connector. The hose leading to the boat has a push fit on it, so I can hitch up either bottle in seconds, without unscrewing anything.
The 4.5 is for this year, as we are spending most of it in the UK.
Next year we're heading for the Med, where my understanding is that 4.5 is not in widespread use and hard to find, whereas the 907 is everywhere.
 

pagoda

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I have just done exactly this.
Rigged a new hose with two push connectors and now have a choice between a 4.5 Calor bottle and a 907 Camping Gaz bottle.
The Calor bottle holds 10 pounds of gas and costs £18 to exchange for a full one when empty.
The Camping Gaz bottle holds 6 pounds of gas and costs £25 to exchange.
The advantage of Camping Gaz is the availability on the Continent.
A metre of 8mm hose, two push connectors and a regulator for the 4.5kg Calor came to about £12 (parts easily available on fleabay)
As VicMallows says though, the bottle deposit is expensive...

If you visit your local recycling depot and speak to the supervisor (very nicely...mention caravans, NOT boats) you may well find he has an empty you can have for nothing. Just trade that one in for a refill at a garage or wherever. Job done. I did that from Gaz to 4.5Kg Butane , then to 3.9Kg Propane with no deposits involved whatsoever. We sail in Scotland and Norway, so Butane is not as useful as elsewhere, due to lower temps. It's hopeless in the winter. Propane is OK.
 

LadyInBed

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VicS

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My suggestions;

Don't chuckout the CG cylinders if you are likely to go where Calor is not available. Get a CG to Calor adapter valve so that a CG cylinder can always be fitted in place of Calor. ( as suggested above)

Fit a bulkhead mounted 30mb dual fuel regulator, not bottle mounted, then by just swapping high pressure hoses you have the option of also switching between butane and propane should you wish to do so. (assuming of course that you don't have ancient gas appliances that might not be suitable)

At the same time consider the merits / advisability of fitting a marine "Annexe M" regulator rather than the basic caravan type.


While you are revamping the system seriously consider adding an Alde bubble leak detector if you don't have one already.
 

VicS

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A single 19kg Calor propane would fill 6 Gaz 907's for £34 pounds, and work in winter... (don't try this at home, do not google it, do not pass go... etc..)

Do not do this ... anywhere ........except in arctic regions

On a warm summers day the pressure in a butane cylinder might reach 30 psi. The pressure of propane could exceed 150 psi. 5 times the pressure. There is no reason to suppose that camping gas cylinders have been designed to be operated at these pressures.
 

NickRobinson

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Do not do this ... anywhere ........except in arctic regions

On a warm summers day the pressure in a butane cylinder might reach 30 psi. The pressure of propane could exceed 150 psi. 5 times the pressure. There is no reason to suppose that camping gas cylinders have been designed to be operated at these pressures.

Except for the test result stamped on the bottle... (It's cold out there!) 30bar x3 your summer figure - and something I've not noticed before, they're also stamped with tares for butane and propane...
 

vyv_cox

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Next year we're heading for the Med, where my understanding is that 4.5 is not in widespread use and hard to find, whereas the 907 is everywhere.

That is an understatement. I doubt if you will find Calor anywhere outside UK, although we did see a chandlery in Holland that had them. They are unobtainable even in the Isle of Man without local knowledge. We changed to 907 bottles many years ago and are able to exchange them anywhere in Europe, sometimes at outrageous prices in e.g. France but surprisingly cheap in others, e.g. Greece.
 
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