oldgit
Well-known member
Rumours that MDL were refusing to send back empty 4.5K butane bottles ......until any full ones were likely to come back in return .
Gas rage!
- Thread starter lustyd
- Start date
lustyd
Well-known member
Yes, the reason for this is that MDL own those cylinders, and Calor had been taking and not returning (aka stealing) cylinders. With FloGas you can still turn up at their distribution centre and get cylinders filled or swapped in person. Calor closed all of theirs so have become something of a non-option for anyone wanting reliable supply.
Beneteau381
Well-known member
Gone up a bit in Faro, about €18. That was at the back of Maccie Ds
hisw
Member
We have installed an inverter and some solar. Using an electric kettle has transformed the speed of tea making and we don’t seem to use much gas at all now.
Perhaps we drink too much tea!
Perhaps we drink too much tea!
oldgit
Well-known member
My first French Le Cube butane which came with the boat has just run out, going to fit the full second one.
Might actually now be forced to go UK Propane, or sort out DIY filling of Le Cube.
Boating can be a pain !
Might actually now be forced to go UK Propane, or sort out DIY filling of Le Cube.
Boating can be a pain !
Fimacca
Active member
Hens teeth.
I was told whilst searching all of plymouth for a 4.5kg calor last week, that calor had cut out the secondary suppliers and were just focused on their main dealers to supply. I guess many are secondary suppliers. They didn't know why calor were doing this at the garages and stores I tried. Only mayflower marina had some, and they would only supply berth holders due to shortages ( I used to be, so pulled out that card to achieve an exchange)
I changed from 907 (as they were costing £45 refill swop), to calor butane and bought some of those second hand from gumtree with existing gas ! (campervanners giving up their rides)
I carry empty 907 aboard for the continent. My 4.5 calor cost 26£ to swop out.
I was told whilst searching all of plymouth for a 4.5kg calor last week, that calor had cut out the secondary suppliers and were just focused on their main dealers to supply. I guess many are secondary suppliers. They didn't know why calor were doing this at the garages and stores I tried. Only mayflower marina had some, and they would only supply berth holders due to shortages ( I used to be, so pulled out that card to achieve an exchange)
I changed from 907 (as they were costing £45 refill swop), to calor butane and bought some of those second hand from gumtree with existing gas ! (campervanners giving up their rides)
I carry empty 907 aboard for the continent. My 4.5 calor cost 26£ to swop out.
ithet
Well-known member
Managed to get 4.5kg Butane from Shell garage Cribbs Causeway last week and they had another. Others have been spotted around. Maybe supplies getting back.
Dunx
Active member
Changed out a 4.5kg at Royal Quays today. The message there was look for alternatives as their supplier told them Calor are discontinuing both the propane and butane 4.5kg cylinders.
lustyd
Well-known member
Surely as your supplier it's them who should find a new supplier? I suggested FloGas to my marina as theirs are almost identical in size to the Calor ones
oldgit
Well-known member
Popped in to large supplier on the Isle of Sheppey today......... more out of perverse interest than expectation.............
"Not seen a 4.5 K Butane for over 6 months came the reply"
"Not seen a 4.5 K Butane for over 6 months came the reply"
Whaup367
Active member
Someone is lying, wonder why.
Calor are not discontinuing them (why would they?); they have a supply problem which they could arguably be managing better. It's apparently particularly bad in the South East of England, which would explain why there's so much chat about it from boaters.
This article seems to be a pretty rational summary of the situation: Why is there a Calor Gas shortage? - Yachting Monthly (it's from last month,).
Birdseye
Well-known member
Its easy enough to refill a cylinder and safe if you are sensible about it.
ProDave
Well-known member
I h
I have said before if Calor were not so stupid over their size swapping, I would gladly give them two empty 4.5kg butane and one empty 3.9kg propane in exchange for a 6kg propane (paying for the gas of course) but although that is a size swap they used to do, they won't at the moment. They say I have to pay the rental for the 6kg and would get nothing back on the others. Dream on,.
From my refilling experience it is very hard and very slow to even get to the maximum allowed capacity when DIY refilling. I would be surprised if any DIY refill has managed to over fill. But DO weigh the full cylinder to check for certain it is not over filled.
I have said before if Calor were not so stupid over their size swapping, I would gladly give them two empty 4.5kg butane and one empty 3.9kg propane in exchange for a 6kg propane (paying for the gas of course) but although that is a size swap they used to do, they won't at the moment. They say I have to pay the rental for the 6kg and would get nothing back on the others. Dream on,.
SaltyC
Well-known member
It is also bad in the NW, Marina have had no bottles all year. However, for locals with a car, the Calor dealer 4 miles away has stock.
lustyd
Well-known member
That article was a poorly researched PR exercise and reads like a Calor appologist. The simple fact is it's been three whole years since there was a reasonable supply in these cylinders and Calor have given various BS stories to cover their incompetence. There is demonstrably NOT a shortage of cylinders, they're all over the place as discussed at length on this thread. The issue is the way they manage and fill them.
Calor have stated that they intend to remove the 4.5kg bottles on several occasions. Sometimes the story ends with a new design, and sometimes they're replacing with Camping gaz and patio gas cylinders.
Realistically, they're just a bad supplier and can't be trusted at this stage. There are alternatives, we need to switch to those and get on with it. Even if I could get a cylinder today, I wouldn't have confidence I could get another before or during a trip, and that impacts cruising.
lustyd
Well-known member
If they won't take empties from their supplier network, what makes you think they would want yours? My marina has 40 empty 4.5kg cylinders, Calor refuse to fill them.
ProDave
Well-known member
Which blows a hole in the cylinder shortage BS and it is clearly incompetence.
Whaup367
Active member
Be careful what you wish for.
IMHO, the likely outcome would be a fragmented distribution network where you would have to seek out a supplier that would exchange the particular bottle that you have, since many would continue to stick with Calor and a few would use a local supplier that wouldn't exchange an out-of-area one. I have a couple of Italian (I think) cylinders that came with my boat that are useless here because they are not compatible with "our" setup. Maybe they'll be useful for refilling overseas someday, though presumably anyone that would refill those would be happy to refill a Calor, if the right adapter was made available.
I get that you, and many others, are hacked off with Calor and I'm not defending them. However, there are maybe half-a-dozen Calor agents within ten miles of my house (including one within walking distance that currently has two full bottles that I could exchange if I needed a refill). Both the marina I was using over the summer and the harbour I'm wintering in are also Calor dealers. The network is unmatched (even if supply is patchy) and it's probably safe to assume that they'll resolve their problems before long.
The nearest independent supplier to me (Flogas, in my case) is 20 miles away, along a route I rarely use and doesn't seem to supply any marine setting I've visited.
I'd be very surprised if my situation is unique, though I recognise that there's been a lot of supply disruption in some areas and a national shortage of refills has resulted, in all probability made worse by some poor decisions from Calor as you, um, highlight.
I'd be interested to see a cite for the intention to discontinue the 4.5s that you mention. I could see them trying to migrate to a more user-friendly system (clip-on regulator, lighter bottle, content indicator) over time but it seems unlikely that they would choose to drop them without a size-compatible alternative.
lustyd
Well-known member
As has been common in this and other threads, you're ignoring that the current situation is dire and it's been three years since anyone could reliably get a replacement. It's irrelevant that there are lots of Calor outlets if none of them can get gas, so as far as I'm concerned we're starting from scratch, not fragmenting a market.
Maybe you've been lucky to find a cylinder this time, but the evidence clearly shows that's blind luck and unlikely to happen again.
Maybe you've been lucky to find a cylinder this time, but the evidence clearly shows that's blind luck and unlikely to happen again.
Whaup367
Active member
No, I'm not. I swapped an empty 3.9 propane for a 6 about this time last year. Just a few posts up there's a comment that 4.5s are in stock within a few miles of the poster's location and I haven't been "lucky to find a cylinder", I just had a look at the bottle cages in the nearest stockist last night, because I happened to be there, and saw that they had two full butane bottles in stock. I'll have a check at the harbour this weekend out of interest, too, but I'm pretty sure they'll have some stock as well. They generally do, albeit not always since supply is, as discussed, a bit patchy.
The harbour is a hundred miles away, so this isn't just a local supply hotspot, and the report above appears to be from Yorkshire, again some distance from here.
Your experience is painful, for which you have my sympathy, but not universal; and I fear your proposed solution would make it worse for many.