Calor 4.5 Butane discontinued

[wingcommander]

Just yesterday exchanged empty 4.5 butane for 7kg butane, paying only for gas £30.00 ish. I did ring prior to confirm they would do the exchange. Told me Calor have an agreement in place to exchange smaller bottles for the next size up, and only charge for gas.
Unfortunately my wee boat locker only fits two 907's , so like before i am home filling, now from a bigger bottle so bonus even better value.

 

[riverliver]

there's an article in PBO this month on this and it states that refilling bottles is unlawful. Link to the reference back to BSS

Boats with gas | Boat Safety Scheme | Go Boating - Stay Safe

 

[wingcommander]

there's an article in PBO this month on this and it states that refilling bottles is unlawful. Link to the reference back to BSS
Yea well ,until I start sailing on our rivers and canal waterways ile take my chances.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

river liver said: there's an article in PBO this month on this and it states that refilling bottles is unlawful. Link to the reference back to BSS

wing commander said: Yea well ,until I start sailing on our rivers and canal waterways ile take my chances.

The implication that it is only illegal on inland waterways, may be flawed. The article suggests that it is illegal in the UK.

Boats with gas | Boat Safety Scheme | Go Boating - Stay Safe

... Liquid Gas UK, the national trade association for liquified gas supply states this: 'Most LPG cylinders are owned by and remain the property of the gas supplier whose name is printed/ marked on the cylinder. These cylinders are filled by weight and must ONLY be filled in a dedicated filling plant by the gas supplier or their authorised filling contractor. It is unlawful for anyone else (either a company or private persons) to fill these cylinders."

DIY re-filling of standard LPG cylinders such as Calor, Flogas and BP Gas that are intended for factory replenishment ... as well as unlawful. ...

Personally, if folks fill their own bottles, do it away from others, so that if anything goes wrong they don't include others into potential consequences should a mistake happen.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Personally, if folks fill their own bottles, do it away from others, so that if anything goes wrong they don't include others into potential consequences should a mistake happen.

The danger isn't the actual filling procedure.

The problem is that an overfilled bottle can potentially allow liquid to get to the appliance burners. If this happens obviously the liquid rapidly turns to gas in significant amounts and if ignited could cause a major boat fire.

I believe this is what the safety concern is.

I once bought a 3.9 Propane from a boatyard and I had liquid out of the cooker burner. Luckily I didn't light it.

At the time I assumed it was a failed regulator but it is plausible that I was sold a 3.9 which had been DIY refilled and had too much put into it. I did change the regulator and it was alright after that.

Given the high prices from the Calor "cartel" it would be worthwhile doing this and some unscrupulous suppliers may fancy taking some of the profit.

I don't do DIY refilling but if I did I think I would just put 50% in to stay well away from the danger zone.
.

 

[wingcommander]

Also more importantly is don't overfill . Your bottle has a tarre wgt. Stamped onto it , this is the empty weight of the cylinder. Eg. My 7kg butane bottle is 9kg empty , so add my 7kg of lpg = 16kg total max... It will accept more , however then I will be manufacturing a potential bomb.
Its all about potential expansion due to temperature fluctuations and back to the old addage gas can compress but a full bottle of liquid can't.....BOOM!!!!

 

[Boathook]

Also more importantly is don't overfill . Your bottle has a tarre wgt. Stamped onto it , this is the empty weight of the cylinder. Eg. My 7kg butane bottle is 9kg empty , so add my 7kg of lpg = 16kg total max... It will accept more , however then I will be manufacturing a potential bomb.
Its all about potential expansion due to temperature fluctuations and back to the old addage gas can compress but a full bottle of liquid can't.....BOOM!!!!

I've found that the stamped empty weight on my bottles is unreadable due to layers of paint. I prefer to weigh them empty and then add 4.5kg of gas for the butane.

 

[Boathook]

there's an article in PBO this month on this and it states that refilling bottles is unlawful. Link to the reference back to BSS

Everyone keeps saying that it is against the law to refill, but no one has yet said which law when you are filling bottles for your own use and quoting some bit from bss isn't law as far as I'm aware.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Everyone keeps saying that it is against the law to refill, but no one has yet said which law when you are filling bottles for your own use and quoting some bit from bss isn't law as far as I'm aware.

HSE: LPG - Legal framework Many of these laws require a recognised technical authority or competent person to address, amongst other things. Perhaps that is the issue with legality. Where a consumer fits into all of this in an amateur environment, I have no idea.

 

[Whaup367]

Everyone keeps saying that it is against the law to refill, but no one has yet said which law when you are filling bottles for your own use and quoting some bit from bss isn't law as far as I'm aware.

The article states that it's unlawful, not that it's illegal, hence no law is cited.

However, IANAL.

 

[snowbird30ds]

I've found that the stamped empty weight on my bottles is unreadable due to layers of paint. I prefer to weigh them empty and then add 4.5kg of gas for the butane.

There are a pair of 2 digit numbers on the aluminium collar, it is lbs and oz of the empty bottle, just convert to kg.
I got an old spring balance "luggage scale" which checked out to be surprisingly accurate, electronic scales tend to time out part way through filling.
Small bottle in the freezer first speeds filling no end, I aim for just over bottle + 4kg to avoid over filling.
I recon it's safer than pouring petrol into a lawnmower as it's a closed circuit, if you over fill you can swap bottles top to bottom and run some back into big bottle then recheck weight.

 

[oldgit]

And the 7K fits in my gas locker with about 5mm to spare.
Result or what

 

[plumbob]

And the 7K fits in my gas locker with about 5mm to spare.
Result or what

I told you it might . We're lucky with our Broom too.

 

[joejo]

Thanks for the various heads ups on exchanging and just swapped a 4.5 kg for a 7kg at King's DIY Sandhurst.

They also stock 907's which I found increasingly hard to source. An expensive way to purchase just under 3kg of gas though.