Refilling Calor gas bottles

[KellysEye]

I guess you won't need to refill until at least you reach Portugal which does sell propane, but refill there anyway.

The further you go east in the Med the more problems you will have, most boats switch to butane.

Once you pass Portugal going the other way it's propane all the way - the Canaries have it and in the Caribbean butane is rare.

 

[Manuel]

Many thanks to all of you above who provided advice about LPG. I'm now minded to leave my Calor bottles at home and set off with a couple of Camping Gaz bottles. Then buy a Spanish cyclinder after the Biscay crossing, topping up as necessary eastbound + westbound in the Med. Does anyone know if these Spanish cyclinders are the same type that you meet in the Canaries?

Yes Repsol are the same in the Canaries. Sounds like a good plan. Keep a couple of Camping Gaz bottles so when you leave Spain to the Eastern Med once Repsol has run out you can run on Gaz but keep Repsol bottle and exchange when back in Spanish territory, Melilla, Ceuta, mainland Spain or Canaries. Filling gas bottles is doable but not always easy without transport and cylinders can be heavy. Definitely get rid of the Calor bottles. Useless. Refill of Camping Gaz France €20+ refill Spain €12 but a Repsol with four times the quantity is around €15 ish. It depends on what you do with the gas. If you heat hot water with it as well, it could be significant.

 

[electrosys]

You might find the following link of interest:

http://www.yachtvalhalla.net/projects/lpg/lpg.htm

 

[VO5]

I guess you won't need to refill until at least you reach Portugal which does sell propane, but refill there anyway.

The further you go east in the Med the more problems you will have, most boats switch to butane.

Once you pass Portugal going the other way it's propane all the way - the Canaries have it and in the Caribbean butane is rare.

Do you know, or, does anyone on this site know with certainty where in the Med is Propane available?

Is it available in Morocco, Spain, France, Italy, Geeece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Cyprus, Malta, Corsica, Sardinia, Minorca, Mallorca ?

A full and accurate list would be immensely appreciated, Thank You.

 

[TQA]

We're planning a long cruise from the UK , into the Med as far east as Greece, then across the Atlantic to the Caribbean via the Canaries and finally a return via Bermuda and the Azores.
Can anyone offer advice on the possibility of refilling Calor gas butane cyclinders anywhere en route. I do have camping Gaz equipment on board but would also like to use the larger Calor cyclinders if possible.

I don't know about the Med but I had no problems getting Blue Calor bottles filled on the Atlantic circuit. The exception was France where I got a Gallic NON. Just ask on the local cruisers net and for who can do it for you.

Venuzueala was scary though. The guy did not have the right fitting so he deep froze my bottle, removed the top fitting, poured in liquid fuming gas from another full frozen bottle and screwed the top back in. It cost me less than $5. OK OK it was a few years ago.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Bottles dont have to cost you anything. Because you have to have original paperwork to get money back from Calor et al. peeps just chuck them out, usually when clearing their garages. So go down to your council dump (oops sorry "recycling depot") and lo, billions of old bottles put aside. I guess so the council flog em back when they'v collected enough.

For the med Gaz is essential. price varies, best go to local hardware store/garage rather than swindlery.

In spain they sometimes wont exchange for dark blue Croatian Gaz bottles. Guy I met had to spray them light blue!

Not so easy to get now from dumps - our local - near Guildford, sell them back to a recyling company, and won't sell to jo public.

I need to aquire 3 cylindrs or more of Camping Gaz, I refuse to pay the £60 quid being asked for each bottle. France was only €35 so not as bad as UK.

 

[Manuel]

Not so easy to get now from dumps - our local - near Guildford, sell them back to a recyling company, and won't sell to jo public.

I need to aquire 3 cylindrs or more of Camping Gaz, I refuse to pay the £60 quid being asked for each bottle. France was only €35 so not as bad as UK.

£60 is obscene.

There are loads on Ebay at a fraction of that price. Search on camping gaz bottle.

 

[KellysEye]

>Is it available in Morocco, Spain, France, Italy, Geeece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Cyprus, Malta, Corsica, Sardinia, Minorca, Mallorca ?

Wow, haven't been to all of those and some we didn't fill bottles in anyway- we carry 21 kilos of propane which lasts over six months. However, if you are going to visit them all you will need the pilot books and they normally say what gas is available. This is an extract from the pilot book for the east coast of Spain (things do change):

As of 2002 REPSOL/CAMPSOL depots will no longer fill any UK (or any other countries') Calor Gas bottles even with a current test certificate. It is therefore essential to carry the appropriate regulator and fittingsto permit the use of Camping Gas bottles. Yachts fitted with propane systems should consult the Calor Gas Customer service agent (
0800 626 626).

It might be worth calling Calor and asking them.

 

[Manuel]

Yachts fitted with propane systems should consult the Calor Gas Customer service agent (
0800 626 626).

It might be worth calling Calor and asking them.

When I needed to buy a local large cylinder in Italy last year all I could get was propane. Man in gas shop said it was not necessary to change anything, just use the regulator he supplied (only a few Euros). I phoned Calor Gas Centre in Southampton who confirmed this and we had no trouble at all except I left a rubber washer out of the regulator and lost 12kg of gas over a week through the gas locker drain (=anchor locker) which shows the importance of testing with washing up liquid first and having clear drains in your gas locker. Butane and propane are interchangeable if you use the appropriate regulator. Regulators are cheap. Just cut off the old one and fix the new one on with a screw clip. When the pipe gets manky, change it, pipe is cheap.