Refilling Calor bottles at a petrol station... again!

Tim Good

Tim Good

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Ok I'm sorry for bringing this one up again. But... for all the threads and the numerous websites selling adaptors online, is there anyone that actually does refill their own bottles in a petrol station forecourt?

We had our bottles regularly refilled in Norway and more than once they gratefully used one of our adaptors. However, in France and Spain I think I'd have to resort to doing it in a petrol station. I'm curious who actually has done this?
 
Petrol station Autogas is essentially Propane. We have Bulk Propane tanks on site to refill cylinders, however as I understand the regs for petrol stations to permit refilling the tank must be fixed to the vehicle.

Even we tried when Calor forgot to deliver and we needed 30 tanks filling. After persuading Calor in no uncertain terms they did come out to do an out of hours delivery. I know of one place locally, a caravan and camping centre who will refill Gaslow type bottles i.e. those purpose made for refilling. So they may be worth a Google.
 
ballyabroad said:
Petrol station Autogas is essentially Propane.
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I got a tankful of propane the other day from a GPL station in Portugal, the guy said he had propane in the main tanks this week for some reason, usually he takes the bottle round the back to fill. He said GPL was a mixture and not as good.

The socal gas adapter kit can be handy, just borrow a local bottle and decant into your on.
 
Autogas is 100% propane in UK but not elsewhere. European mixtures can be seen at https://www.mylpg.eu/useful/lpg-mixture Not a problem in summer temperatures but in winter the propane will boil off leaving the butane, which will not. You are then left with a bottle half full of liquid that cannot be used. We found this out in Spain last winter. Gaslow's website has a warning about it.
 
GHA said:
I got a tankful of propane the other day from a GPL station in Portugal, the guy said he had propane in the main tanks this week for some reason, usually he takes the bottle round the back to fill. He said GPL was a mixture and not as good.

The socal gas adapter kit can be handy, just borrow a local bottle and decant into your on.
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Filling gas bottles in portugal is a bit hit or miss, It is apparently illegal to fill local bottles in this way but most privately owned stations will allow it, unless they have been getting attention from the authorities.
 
maxi77 said:
Filling gas bottles in portugal is a bit hit or miss, It is apparently illegal to fill local bottles in this way but most privately owned stations will allow it, unless they have been getting attention from the authorities.
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The UK situation is that it is not actually illegal to fill uninstalled bottles on forecourts but the practice is discouraged by the petroleum authorities because forecourt attendants have no training for it. Some filling stations will not allow it, assuming they notice in time. Fixed installations such as Gaslow are OK.
 
vyv_cox said:
I think most of us have been in the situation that the stove would not work despite a full bottle of Calor butane in winter. Even at +3 or 4 this is quite common.
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Strangely we were using calor bottles of Butane in Norway in March while there was ice around the boat. Gas locker is out on deck but still seemed to work. They were then filled with propane but a company in Norway after that.
 
northcave said:
Strangely we were using calor bottles of Butane in Norway in March while there was ice around the boat. Gas locker is out on deck but still seemed to work. They were then filled with propane but a company in Norway after that.
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We really struggled with autogas in Spain last winter. Over and over we were left with a bottle half full of non-flammable liquid. In the end we were filling a big plastic container with hot water and dunking the bottle in it (in the motorhome).
 
Finally got WiFi in St Malo. Here I am with a nearly empty 4.5 kg calor butane bottle and no clue. Those Gaslow adaptors are just what I need but where would I find one in France. I was told in Jersey that 4.5 bottles are discontinued by the way. So all I can think of is to buy a little camping stove and lash it to my gimballed stove. This problem must have been encountered endless times. Anyone found an effective solution generally available in France? Help is needed. Thanks
 
Carrefour charge a €5 deposit on a 13kg cylinder and around €27 for the gaz. But you might need an address. Regulators are a few €, if you don't have one.
There are some nice smaller cylinders in GRP, with a clear strip, so you can see the gaz level. Bit more expensive, but no rust probs.
Then there is Camping Gaz, if you have an arm and a leg spare...
 
ghostlymoron said:
I dont understand. Are you saying I can refill my calor bottles at a petrol filling station. Do they have to have a lpg pump? (I'm in the UK)
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No. Autogas stations can refill purpose built bottles such as Gaslow but a Calor bottle does not have the 80% fill limiter that Gaslow do. In theory you could do it if you had the right fittings but few would allow it. I have had UK bottles refilled in Portugal but it was a somewhat dodgy operation using home made fittings.
 
vyv_cox said:
No. Autogas stations can refill purpose built bottles such as Gaslow but a Calor bottle does not have the 80% fill limiter that Gaslow do. In theory you could do it if you had the right fittings but few would allow it. I have had UK bottles refilled in Portugal but it was a somewhat dodgy operation using home made fittings.
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In reality many autogas stations will not allow filling of any freestanding bottle even if it has the 80% cutoff. They clearly do not trust their employees to tell the difference. Some will not even allow motorhomes with built in gas bottles to refill as it is not for propulsion, even weirder. I agree that many autogas retailers in Portugal will allow refilling of non Portuguese bottles but most expect you to have your own adaptor. Mind you many of the small gas shops will make one up for you at a price.
 
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