Filling propane Gas Bottles?

Lucy52 said:
You would have to show competence, safe working, PPE etc., and bits of the HSAW regulations might apply
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Those apply to people working, not people decanting liquids in their garden. Gas regs apply to those installing gas installations, which this isn't. I can't think of any laws that would apply here, not saying there aren't any, there are certainly regs for how much fuel you can store and things like that.
 
You certainly have to use safe practice, which is effectively the same as would be required by HSAW regulations. You have a duty of care to others, subject to the law of Tort. It would apply if there was loss or injury to another, all on your own, well away from everyone else, it might not apply.

Do it safely, you want to avoid being on the end of a fatal accident enquiry, trying to say you did nothing wrong.
 
To be fair that applies to carving a Christmas turkey as well. I absolutely think that people who think this is scary shouldn't do it, but for anyone with the knowledge this isn't a difficult thing. I could have done way more damage with my dive kit over the years.
 
Would no doubt scare the pants off the overcautious and misinformed, but today we made our gas supply last a bit longer by cooking every meal on solar power, via the lithium battery and inverter. The future has arrived...
 
Filling bottles with Autogas on garage forecourts is not illegal but the Petroleum Retail Association has advised members not to allow it, as their staff are not trained to deal with any problems. Bottles installed in vehicles, for example Gaslow, are OK in UK but not in some other countries, notably Italy. You may get away with filling stand-alone bottles in UK but you may not.
 
I have 2 French 10 kg gas bottles, Butanes [Red] and Anta gas [blue], which I normally replace in Brittany.
Can they be filled with safe fill gas at Morrisons? Or at petrol stations with gas?
 
Kelpie said:
Would no doubt scare the pants off the overcautious and misinformed, but today we made our gas supply last a bit longer by cooking every meal on solar power, via the lithium battery and inverter. The future has arrived...
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Ah but cold porridge when it rains!

Ink
 
Mudisox said:
I have 2 French 10 kg gas bottles, Butanes [Red] and Anta gas [blue], which I normally replace in Brittany.
Can they be filled with safe fill gas at Morrisons? Or at petrol stations with gas?
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UK Autogas filling stations use a nozzle that has a female thread about 1.5 inch bore. You would need a suitable fitting kit like these LPG filler kit Archives but with an adaptor for your bottles.
See my earlier post. Many stations will not allow you to fill bottles, assuming they notice.
 
Having previously tried to give empty bottles to a local Calor supplier with no success and noted the only Scottish Calor place is in Ayr it is not surprising there is a bottle shortage. It seems impractical to return unwanted empties, no wonder there are quite a few in the recycling place!
Not sure about the comment they make their money selling gas, the refilling charge is pretty fierce!
 
We know quite a few cruising boats, ourselves included, that refill bottles from a larger donor tank with a different valve type. Just hang one upside down above the other (eg hanging from the boom) and let gravity fill your bottle. We put one bottle upside down on the aft deck and one on the bottom step of the sugar scoop, strapped into place. Takes a few hours. It's a liquid so any old hose will do, but leather gloves needed as it's damn cold. Don't do it if the barbie is on.

There are specialist kits like the GasBOAT 4018 adaptor kit, but in spite of this there are a couple of countries with unique valve types, and other countries that don't like filling strange bottles.
 
Totally off topic but it’s a good idea to carry an inverter and a small induction hob or even small electric hob for when you run out of gas. Not expensive. For one or two meals they’re really not that bad on the batteries.

We cook on ours all the time and have lots of solar but even without solar you could use in emergency.
 
northcave said:
Totally off topic but it’s a good idea to carry an inverter and a small induction hob or even small electric hob for when you run out of gas. Not expensive. For one or two meals they’re really not that bad on the batteries.

We cook on ours all the time and have lots of solar but even without solar you could use in emergency.
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An induction hob is a must, especially if using shore power when visiting marinas. We have saved a fortune in gas this season using our little hob.
 
Update:
This is the reply I got from Calor:
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irstly we do apologise for the service that you have received and for the inconvenience that this has caused, we aim to provide a seamless experience to all our customers and that we value each customer that purchases our gas so we are sorry to hear of your experience.

Due to unprecedented demand for our leisure cylinders, the past year has been exceptionally unusual and challenging in relation to maintaining a seamless cylinder supply operation for Calor. It has not always been possible to meet demand and we apologise for any inconvenience this may be causing you. We are currently working to increase the number of cylinders throughout the network and have invested heavily in the purchase of new cylinders as well as the refurbishment of existing. The import of our order for tens of thousands of new cylinders have started to arrive in recent weeks but they still need to be safety checked and filled before going into circulation.

Every empty cylinder that is returned to us for filling goes through rigorous checks to ensure it is safe for use and many require maintenance before filling can take place. Our teams are working on all cylinders types and sizes as priority so we can improve the circulation of cylinders throughout the network as we are operating additional shifts at several of our sites to accommodate this but like many businesses are challenged by staff absence for Covid related reasons.
We apologise that you have not received the level of service that both you and Calor would expect.

Kind regards
Andy.
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Not really any practical use, except to confirm my view that the mangaement have been asleep for the last year or more.

I contacted my local Caravan and Campervan dealer this morning, where I usually buy Calor gas.
They don't have re-filled 3.9kg calor cyclinders to swap for my empty one.
Calor have told them that they can't swap 3.9kg cylinders for larger ones, which they have in stock.
Calor have also told them that they can't sell me a larger cylinder, unless I can return one of the same size.
I view this as a complete failure by Calor Gas.
I've just ordered a small 2Kwatt induction hob for £49.99. Amazon, next day delivery.
I'm fortunate to have 5KVA generator, 5kW hrs of LiFePO4 batteries in the house bank and a 3kW inverter charger, so at least I'll be able to cook some hot food.
 
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