Calor 4.5 Butane and 3.5 Propane to be discontinued

[dunedin]

Man this is bad news. I used to have an alcohol stove, Origo. It was fine, just a couple of burners, a bit of a faff to fill. But fine. Limited. But fine.

Sold that boat 18 months ago and now starting to look for an AWB in my dotage and I was thinking ah it will be nice, to have a gas cooker, oven and grill and all to make good dinners on board. My old boat was old school we didn’t even have a table. Boiling the kettle was heroic. I was looking forward to some proper on board domestic amenities - and now this!

Looks like refillable bottles aren’t going to be viable for long. So should I just get a big MF motorsailer and strap a 47 kg Flogas red to the mast? Classy look. I gave away 5 of those big cylinders when I moved house…..

I’m annoyed. I missed the golden age of on board cooking.

What’s the alternative? A coal fired Sardine? Back to the (now unavailable ) Origo? Salad? Diesel cooker ? Golf? Sheesh

Haven’t even bought a boat yet and already problems.

Millions of boats worldwide using gas cookers successfully, and tens of thousands in the UK. Doesn’t seem to be an issue with Camping Gas, other than price - and even that is not a material cost factor in most boating budgets. So I would suggest relaxing and letting others fret over this.

 

[lustyd]

Millions of boats worldwide using gas cookers successfully, and tens of thousands in the UK. Doesn’t seem to be an issue with Camping Gas, other than price - and even that is not a material cost factor in most boating budgets. So I would suggest relaxing and letting others fret over this.

Sorry, you may have missed the massive multi year availability issue with Campingaz which is also supplied by Calor who are the least competent but most anticonsumer company in the game. But yes, aside from that we should all chill out and just drink cold tea

 

[DoubleEnder]

Yeah but CampinGaz is also unavailable according to loads of previous posts. Oh wow, woe and thrice woe

 

[chrisD]

why not convert to Flogas? Similar size bottles available, just needs a new regulator.

 

[Andrew_Trayfoot]

why not convert to Flogas? Similar size bottles available, just needs a new regulator.

Chris, probably worth reading the rest if the thread...
I simple terms FlowGas bottles vary in size and may be too tall or too fat or both to fit in a gas locker...

 

[Martin_J]

And I don't know what Flogas supply is like near you, but our two nearest stockists would both be huge B&M stores and they don't do the smaller 4.5kg size... 7kg and larger is all they can do.



I would be concerned that other stockists could go the same way as happened with Calor.

 

[oldgit]

Litres per £ of Butane in a 907 makes printer ink and Chanel No 5 a bargain ? plus makes diesel an absolute steal........................... ?

 

[AngusMcDoon]

And I don't know what Flogas supply is like near you, but our two nearest stockists would both be huge B&M stores and they don't do the smaller 4.5kg size... 7kg and larger is all they can do.

I would be concerned that other stockists could go the same way as happened with Calor.

Gas in a 907 refill costing an average £40 is nearly £15 per kg. If you buy disposable cartridges in boxes of 56 it's £6.30 per kg, for example...

Butane Gas Bottles Canisters Camping Portable Stove Cookers Chef BBQ Heater | eBay

For those who cannot get 907 refills (or don't want to give money to a crap company) and don't have a Flogas stockist within range with the right cylinders it might help if there was an adapter for these cartridges to connect to a 28 mBar regulator, but I haven't been able to find anything. Anyone seen such a connection? It wouldn't be a long term solution, but you could probably stuff a week's worth of gas cartridges in the gas locker space where a 4.5 used to fit.

 

[lustyd]

And I don't know what Flogas supply is like near you

They deliver, so it's irrelevant what's stocked locally. They also open their depots to the public for refills so there isn't a supid "sorry no full bottles" issue like with Calor.

 

[chrisD]

Hopefully Flogas is a normal company that likes money and won’t behave like some old nationalised business that exists mainly for the benefit of its employees

 

[Graham_Wright]

This is known as liquid offtake and is why the bottles are horizontal in forklift trucks

No - see above - special bottles. They are marked 'this way up".

 

[VicS]

No - see above - special bottles. They are marked 'this way up".

I thought , like Bodach na mara, that they are marked for liquid take off

 

[lustyd]

I thought , like Bodach na mara, that they are marked for liquid take off

Yes, a quick Google search confirms this.

 

[Whaup367]

Hopefully Flogas is a normal company that likes money and won’t behave like some old nationalised business that exists mainly for the benefit of its employees

Yes, though interestingly if I try to set up an order for delivery at the moment they won't let a 4.5 be added for return (the empty shows as "no stock" ) & highlight that 6s are like-for like.

I hope they actually make money on these (rather than carrying them as a loss-leader or for customer convenience) or they'll likely phase them out, too.

Presumably they can't accept Calor's ones in exchange because the users don't own them... and Calor are likely to push for as many people as they can to exchange them for their own bigger (profitable) cylinders.

 

[lustyd]

Yes, though interestingly if I try to set up an order for delivery at the moment they won't let a 4.5 be added for return

Try calling them.

 

[libertyman]

They deliver, so it's irrelevant what's stocked locally. They also open their depots to the public for refills so there isn't a supid "sorry no full bottles" issue like with Calor.

Actually the point is not "irrelevant". Flogas will take the order centrally but fulfilment is through their local distributor and if the distributor has no stock then you don't get a delivery. I speak from personal experience.

 

[lustyd]

Actually the point is not "irrelevant". Flogas will take the order centrally but fulfilment is through their local distributor and if the distributor has no stock then you don't get a delivery. I speak from personal experience.

distributor is not the same as shop. Their depots seem to be very well stocked and they do seem to be able to locate cylinders within their network down to the shop level. In any case, they do have some full cylinders so are orders of magnitude better than Calor.

 

[libertyman]

distributor is not the same as shop. Their depots seem to be very well stocked and they do seem to be able to locate cylinders within their network down to the shop level. In any case, they do have some full cylinders so are orders of magnitude better than Calor.

I am well aware of the difference between a retailer and a distributor. My personal experience has been that twice I have placed orders through the Flogas website. On both occasions they have accepted the order, charged my credit card and promised delivery about a week later. When the deliveries failed to arrive I contacted their head office to be told “I need to check with the distributor “. I was subsequently told the distributor had no stocks for months despite repeadly ordering them. If your assertion about their ability to locate cylinders is valid then I have to ask why they accepted orders for product they couldn’t supply and why their head office had to contact the distributor to find out they had no stock.
I realise you are a great enthusiast for Flogas but from where I sit they don’t seem to be much better than Calor who at least had the sense to stop taking internet orders for product they couldn’t supply.

 

[lustyd]

I realise you are a great enthusiast for Flogas

Oh believe me I'm not as enthusiastic as I look. I'm an enthusiast for things that are not Calor, and right now that's pretty much FloGas. They certainly have room to improve, but their service is head and shoulders above Calor. The enthusiasm comes from wanting to convince other boaters to switch so that marinas start stocking something other than Calor (and by extension Campingaz).

 

[riverliver]

I was in the neighbourhood so called into the Flogas depot at Chobham - opposite Fairoaks Airport entrance. Nice helpful guy (NB go to the little window in his shed not blunder into the yard like I did). Said I was about 10th person enquiring. Pulled out 2 of the small bottles they do. Unfortunately neither work for me. 3.9 slim enough but has a high collar making is about 380 + mm rather than the 340 of Calor and other similar size was small enough but too fat! So it looks like camping gas if I can find it.