Converting a Continental LPG regulator to Calor,can it be done?

My neighbour (who is a great camping enthusiast-camper van) has said that some garages will fill up a gas bottle.As he has seen this foreign gas bottle that I have got anybody else able to corroborate this? (If so my problems could be solved by being able to fill it with both Butane & Propane) not at the same time obviously :)

PS: Actually just Propane would do for the winter as I am able to adapt my regulator for the Calor Butane bottles I have got.It's not perfect but very little in life is & I am very curious to try & find out what my cooker & heater run on best :cool:
 
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Nicholas123 said:
My neighbour (who is a great camping enthusiast-camper van) has said that some garages will fill up a gas bottle.As he has seen this foreign gas bottle that I have got anybody else able to corroborate this? (If so my problems could be solved by being able to fill it with both Butane & Propane) not at the same time obviously :)

PS: Actually just Propane would do for the winter as I am able to adapt my regulator for the Calor Butane bottles I have got.It's not perfect but very little in life is & I am very curious to try & find out what my cooker & heater run on best :cool:
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The pressure in a propane bottle is much greater than in a butane bottle, something like 5 times as high. If your bottle is a butane bottle it may not be suitable for propane.

Your problems may only just beginning rather than being solved if you fill a butane bottle with propane .... or about to come to a very abrupt end!

A garage caught filling a portable cylinder would be in deep trouble I think you will find.
 
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Dave100456 said:
Having lost the will to live after page 1 of this thread I have only skimmed the posts.

However, since a 21.8 LH to RH converter was mentioned I thought I'd share this supplier where I recently obtained such an item.

I don't know (or care) if this will satisfy the original poster's needs but it solved my bottle issue and others may find the product source useful.

https://www.propanegaswaterheaters....uct/107-safefill-adapter-left-to-righ-thread/
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I cant see that a regulator with POL connector will fit into that

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but it may nevertheless be a useful adapter
 
VicS said:
The pressure in a propane bottle is much greater than in a butane bottle, something like 5 times as high. If your bottle is a butane bottle it may not be suitable for propane.

Your problems may only just beginning rather than being solved if you fill a butane bottle with propane .... or about to come to a very abrupt end!

A garage caught filling a portable cylinder would be in deep trouble I think you will find.
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I looked into this recently in another thread. I thought it was illegal to fill a gas bottle on a forecourt but in fact it is not. However, the authority who controls petroleum based fuel supply strongly opposes it on the basis that staff in garages are neither trained nor insured to fill bottles or cope with any problems that might arise. They only approve the filling of professionally installed vessels in vehicles, either as the motor fuel or Gaslow type containers in motorhomes. I am aware that people do fill them via adaptors that can be bought but only if the staff are either unaware or turn a blind eye.
 
VicS said:
The pressure in a propane bottle is much greater than in a butane bottle, something like 5 times as high. If your bottle is a butane bottle it may not be suitable for propane.

Your problems may only just beginning rather than being solved if you fill a butane bottle with propane .... or about to come to a very abrupt end!

A garage caught filling a portable cylinder would be in deep trouble I think you will find.
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Vic, bit puzzled by your comment.
I believe the pressure for a butane cylinder is around 2 bar and propane its 12 bar. I do not think manufacturers of cylinders will make butane cylinders to a lower spec and I've seen some repainted blue to red. 12 bar is not a high pressure approx just over what racers inflate bike tyres to!
My understanding is that camping gaz is a butane/propane mix. Are you saying mixing is dangerous?
 
vyv_cox said:
I looked into this recently in another thread. I thought it was illegal to fill a gas bottle on a forecourt but in fact it is not. However, the authority who controls petroleum based fuel supply strongly opposes it on the basis that staff in garages are neither trained nor insured to fill bottles or cope with any problems that might arise. They only approve the filling of professionally installed vessels in vehicles, either as the motor fuel or Gaslow type containers in motorhomes. I am aware that people do fill them via adaptors that can be bought but only if the staff are either unaware or turn a blind eye.
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Vyv I think you have it.

My understanding is that the filling of portable cylinders at garage forecourts is discouraged. However, if said cylinder is fitted to a motorhome/caravan or as in a LPG vehicle installation then it can be filled.
PS I do not think putting a seatbelt around a bottle on the back seat counts as fitting!!
 
Dave100456 said:
Vic, bit puzzled by your comment.
I believe the pressure for a butane cylinder is around 2 bar and propane its 12 bar. I do not think manufacturers of cylinders will make butane cylinders to a lower spec and I've seen some repainted blue to red. 12 bar is not a high pressure approx just over what racers inflate bike tyres to!
My understanding is that camping gaz is a butane/propane mix. Are you saying mixing is dangerous?
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I dont know if butane and propane bottles are made to the same spec and tested at the same pressure or not and I doubt if Nicholas 123 knows either, but It is something I would want to check out before using a butane bottle for propane. If you have seen them repainted by the suppliers then i guess they are interchangeable.

No I am not saying it is dangerous to mix butane and propane. I beleive commercial propane contains some undeclared % of butane and some of the cartridges contain a mixture but AFAIK Calor butane and the Camping gas in the refillable cylinders is 100% butane
 
Nicholas123 said:
There was an American President I believe who said something like if you stop letting people make their own mistakes you end up with a nation of idiots.We seem to have arrived at that point!
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Indeed we do seem to have arrived at that point, somewhat. The really worrying thing about it though is that at least one of those idiots has a boat and won't maintain his gas systems safely :(
 
Nicholas123 said:
My neighbour (who is a great camping enthusiast-camper van) has said that some garages will fill up a gas bottle.As he has seen this foreign gas bottle that I have got anybody else able to corroborate this? (If so my problems could be solved by being able to fill it with both Butane & Propane) not at the same time obviously :)

PS: Actually just Propane would do for the winter as I am able to adapt my regulator for the Calor Butane bottles I have got.It's not perfect but very little in life is & I am very curious to try & find out what my cooker & heater run on best :cool:
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If you were as smart as you claim to be, you'd be able to fill your own bottles with whichever gas you want.
 
Nicholas123 said:
& you think I hav'nt done that? Clearly arrogance is the order of the day.

Do you also replace your rigging wire automatically every 10 years? (that is another recommendation I have seen) & your keel bolts every 20
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But isn't that the point? In safety critical situations unless you have a reliable method of testing, preventative or precautionary maintenance is better than reactive. Do you have some reliable method of testing your hose and regulator?
 
VicS said:
The pressure in a propane bottle is much greater than in a butane bottle, something like 5 times as high. If your bottle is a butane bottle it may not be suitable for propane.

Your problems may only just beginning rather than being solved if you fill a butane bottle with propane .... or about to come to a very abrupt end!

A garage caught filling a portable cylinder would be in deep trouble I think you will find.
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It's a Propane bottle Vic & if it's illegal then I shall have nothing to do with it.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Indeed we do seem to have arrived at that point, somewhat. The really worrying thing about it though is that at least one of those idiots has a boat and won't maintain his gas systems safely :(
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I think we have arrived at the point where an idiot with probably very little real practical ability of his own or confidence in his own judgement makes assumed guesses about other peoples systems & abilities but nevertheless considers himself an expert.:rolleyes: It's called arrogance pure & simple.
 
Keith-i said:
But isn't that the point? In safety critical situations unless you have a reliable method of testing, preventative or precautionary maintenance is better than reactive. Do you have some reliable method of testing your hose and regulator?
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Yes I use practical common sense & for that reason I would not own a boat with a keel like that boat cheeki refeeki had.Each to his own.What I will not do is go around telling everyone else how to run their lives.
 
VicS said:
You cannot test a regulator, or a hose, with "conmmon sense" even if you had any.

That is why people with any common sense change them at the recommended intervals
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The recommended intervals are not somebody's guess as to how long they might last, they are based on statistical analysis. When insurance companies recommend that standing rigging be changed after ten years it is not because they are using 'common sense' or even metallurgical knowledge. They are looking at curves showing the frequency of failure of hundreds ,maybe thousands, of rig failures plotted against life. Presumably the curve rises significantly after ten or twelve years, so that is the advised life.

I'm not sure that insurance companies possess the data to do the same for hose and regulator failures but I assume their manufacturers do, and pass it on. I think the only 'arrogance' occurs when a user presumes to know more about a subject than the people who manufacture, test and insure the equipment.
 
Nicholas123 said:
I think we have arrived at the point where an idiot with probably very little real practical ability of his own or confidence in his own judgement makes assumed guesses about other peoples systems & abilities but nevertheless considers himself an expert.:rolleyes: It's called arrogance pure & simple.
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My "assumed guesses" are based on your stupid attitude throughout this thread, so have some basis in fact. You, however, are making assumed guesses as to my practical abilities without even an inkling as to what they are.

That, and your attitude throughout this silly thread, is real arrogance.
 
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