CampinGaz in Greece (Corfu)

Cardo

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www.yacht-tinkerbell.co.uk
Greetings from Tinkerbell! (We've mostly been away from the boat for the last three months, but we're now back on board. Yay!)

So, we need to get a refill for one of our 907 bottles (2.75kg). It's an "official" CampinGaz bottle that we last exchanged back in Sicily, I think. Maybe have been Menorca, though.

Anyhoo, I popped by the chandleries here in Gouvia and asked about refills. They said they have 3kg CampinGaz, and showed me an empty one (no branding on it). It appeared slightly bigger than the 907's we have, though they claimed it's the standard size.

What's the deal? Are they the same bottle, and I'm just not good at judging sizes? Or are these a Greek not-quite-copy? Seeing as we're planning to return to the UK via Italy/Spain/France in a year or so, I would like to keep hold of bottles that I can easily replace on the way back.

Can't complain about cost, though. €11 for a 3kg recharge is not a bad price.
 
I have had two like that, it seems they are Italian. One was pale blue and marked up as ItalGaz, or something similar. It was an exchange from Partheni, Leros. Slightly larger dimensions but the same regulator screw thread. I have not had a problem exchanging them in the Aegean.
 
They are 'standard' Greek ones. There are any number of minor variations on the theme, all about then same size as Camping Gaz, all with the same valve, all of them exchangeable within Greece. The trick is to make sure that as you approach the end of your stay in Greece to search out the genuine Camping Gaz ones that there are about the place and make sure you get them as you head back to Italy or elsewhere, where you will find it difficult to exchange the Greek ones.
 
Is there a car's gas station nearby? They can refill it at the current gas price (about 0,95 €/l). Mind you, it's forbidden but...
 
Can't get Camping Gas filled here in Turkey any more - but you can do it yourself!!!

The weight of an empty 907 is approximately 3.75 Kg, a FULL 907 bottle should be 6.5 Kgs - that's 2.7 Kg of liquid gas. But if you leave it filling - from an inverted Turkish bottle - then it can get to 7Kgs. This is dangerous as they must only be filled to 80% to allow for expansion in the heat. So if you don't want yet another bottle to go with your Greek, Italian, etc., collection then with extreme care and a "borrowed" local bottle you can do-it-yourself.
 
Glyka, when last in Gouvia Marina a couple of years ago you could get bottles filled at the local gas plant. If you go out onto the main road and turn right the plant was about 2 clicks on the left. Cant miss it, you will smell it first.
 
Camping Gaz 907s as such are not available in Greece. However, there are a lot of them in circulation which are being re-filled by several local suppliers. The leading Greek LPG supplier "Petrogas" used to be one of these. However, now they have introduced their own brand new cylinders and local outlets will not exchange them for Camping Gaz (C.G.I.) cylinders, even the ones they have oversprayed with their colour scheme and logo previously. If, as I read it, you want a C.G.I. cylinder to take back to Italy for exchange, it should not be too difficult to get one out of the spuriously re-filled stock at the longer established chandlers which will clearly have the "C.G.I." initials embossed around the cap (& probably have the CG plastic handle too!) Some have gone full Petrogas, some stayed with their local re-fill depot, some gone for the bright green newcomer (name escapes me) and others have adopted two of the pervious options. You will also see some of the orange Balcan States bottles in some corners of Greece.
 
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