I fitted 2 x 6kg Gaslow cylinders into the gas locker of my swift sundance and put the refill point into the locker door. Pretty straightforward. But there seem to be fewer and fewer places to fill up at the major service stations. I live in Felixstowe and the nearest place to me is Ipswich. I fitted them primarily for ‘wild’ camping in southern Spain during the winter when I knew I would need to run the gas heater
Yes not too many around but find that Shell is a good bet on the Motorways Services in the Midlands. If you go onto the Gaslow site it does also have a map with all the filling stations available in the UK which looks like it’s going to be handy 👍🚐 We managed to get through about 9Kg of gas in 3 days running the heater and hot water, I think we need to be more economical! 🤔🥴😉
Extreme Motorhoming Adventures yes, I got through a 6kg bottle in four nights on the way back from Spain 2 years ago. It was well below freezing at night on the central plateau. I had never used the gas heater before at night. But not realising how much everything consumed I left the hot water and fridge running on gas. Will look at the Gaslow website. Our local BP at martelsham has recently stopped lpg.
Very useful, I guess it could also be used on caravans. My heart was in my mouth when it didn’t fit first time 😱Oooo he does like a chart 🥳 Thanks for sharing Graham
Thanks Graham, I had a sleepless night the night before! But it was straightforward thankfully. Yes gotta love a chart...see those breakeven points! Cheers Andy
Interesting Vlog. Old sparkey Trev was telling you what to do and you did it exactly as he said. We carry a 13kg and a 6kg Calor propane bottles. It’s great that the swift has a big gas locker and sufficient payload. On the continent it may cause an issue but we don’t intend to be away that long so we opted to stick with Calor for now. Thanks for the excellent guidance Andy. 👍🏻😄 Trev
Thanks Trev, i'm sure 18kg sees you through many nights away. Not like us, after the fitting we managed to burn through a whole cylinder in 3 nights, more than we had used in the past year!
Good informative video but i think Id have provided some padding / guarding where the pipe sits where it enters the cavity for the gas bottles. Vibration and rubbing could well chafe that gas pipe.
Thats a very good point and one I did think about when doing the job, its been fitted about 8 months now and no sign of chafing but I do inspect it every month to make sure its ok. Thanks for your comment...Andy
Damm I saw your hideo 24houts too late....that wood hack is a good idea. I slipped around a lot and the hole is a bit too big now. Great video thanks for sharing
Due to the recent drastic shortage of 6kg calor gas bottles, I've just done the same to my motorhome. For me the convenience far outweighs the initial expense. I go to France for 3 months each year and use the aires so my fridge is on gas for most of the time, but with the right adapter it's easy to refill instead of worrying about running out.
Yes agree, the convenience definitely outweighs the expense. Just being able to top up at half full rather than running low and risk running out is big help. We'll get a second bottle fitted next year so we can use it in the Alps in winter 😀
Wow Andy when you made the brass to brass connection you should have used gas PTFE tape to seal the joint? all joints should be sealed this way except the one to the bottle as they are normally tapered hence do not need it? this avoids vibration loosening joints? other than that Andy a very nice job ......I hope Michelle kept you in tea and coffee oop's best wishes Ken and Christine
Hi Ken, I did use the Yellow Gas PTFE tape on the connection between the fill point and the elbow, good point though I should have mentioned in the video, I'll add that to the description just incase anyone follows it. Interestingly the extensive instructions that came with it didn't say anything about the PTFE tape, maybe they think its a give that anyone doing this should know.
Excellent I have the gaslow fitting on my gas door but someone must have removed and sold the bottles prior to me buy the Motorhome maybe time to find some second hand bottles 👍
Extreme Motorhoming Adventures think you probably right on hookup mostly and one gas bottle has lasted over 12 months now mainly cooking and odd times the fridge. So just have two calor works for me. 👍
Gaslow "encourage you" to take your bottles with you to a new vehicle, and even sell a "Transfer Kit", which is a new filling point (colour matched and new) for your new vehicle, and a blanking plug to fit on the back of the old filler so that there are no nasty accidents if someone tries to fill without the pipe/bottle being there!
It was extreme by my DIY experience but I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who wouldn't think twice about this type of job, it was actually quite simple in the end, just scary drilling such a big hole :)
Hi. Great video. I see you only fitted 1 bottle. Do you carry a uk style propane bottle as well as back up or have you now fitted 2 gaslow bottles? Also have you ever had issues with cold temperatures and LPG Many thanks in advance
Hi, we've since fitted a 2nd bottle with an automatic switchover, haven't really noticed issues with the cold but do always make sure we are filling with 100% Propane. A tip I was told from the Owner of Gaslow, put a £1 foot warmer pad on the bottle, even a small amount of heat is enough to vaporise the gas, Cheers..Andy
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to screw the back plate through the front with machine bolts and nuts rather than from the back with the hassle of cutting them down ?
Interesting question, it was a couple of years ago I did this so I've just gone back to check the fitting instruction. The design means they need to be put in from the back so nothing can protrude into the filling box as this can stop the refilling hose from connecting correctly. Thanks...Andy
Thanks for the helpful video I am about to add this on my camper after realising how expensive camping gaz bottles are to replace. How necessary was that right angle joint immediately behind the fill point? My refill pipe will be doing a few turns as well but I did not order any angle joints, do I need them?
Hi, for the way my pipe ran it was useful to get the pipe heading in the right direction towards the cylinder, if you have space to take a bend with the pipe then it should be ok, only other thing to consider is ensuring it is secured so it doesn't slip down during transit to the road. Good luck 😀
Very useful video, thanks! I'm just doing this job right now and very helpful. How did you ensure that your fitting was tight enough before you bit the bullet and did your first fill? I don't want to be spraying gas around at the filling station.
Thanks Geoff, I used a bit of Gas PTFE tape (the yellow tape) and I gave it a hard as I could hand tighten with a regular length spanner. Good luck with the job...Andy
We did the same, and had the same issues with the fixing screws, can't understand the design, and why they are not fixed from the outside, we cut the screws like you have to be sure they did not foul the filling gun
You’re braver than me I got the dealer to drill the hole. I have found the myLPG.eu app useful to locate the nearest filling station but not tested it out in Europe yet.
Hi, yes it will automatically cut off, its actually important not to release the fill button half way because the pump will not restart, just keep going until it stops 👍
Hi - Enjoy your videos very much, can I ask you about the Gaslow kit that you fitted? Is one bottle sufficient? I am thinking of going with just one 11kg bottle because of the weight? So just checking that you manage ok on just one bottle?
Hi Jim, we've now upgraded to 2 x 11kg bottles but only because we knew we'd burn through it while skiing. It depends on how much off grid you plan on doing, how much in cold conditions and how much access to lpg you have. The fridge and hot water will last a few weeks but as soon as you start using it for heating your MH you're going to burn through a lot quicker. We use hookup more often than not in the UK so no issues at all with one bottle, hope that helps...Cheers
@@ExtremeMotorhomingAdventures brilliant thanks for the reply - I will give it some thought - mainly UK and Spain planned so might risk the one with a calor Lite as back up - Cheers and thanks again
If you haven't already, you'll need the gas fill adapter for Spain, we didn't carry a backup, we just kept it topped up as and when we came across LPG, seems much easier in France / Spain than the UK :)
@@ExtremeMotorhomingAdventuresheating is the main killer, i opted for a small wood burning stove for that reason, that and the fact the dry heat of a wood stove keeps the van nice and dry all year round and is great for drying clothes and making a stew or something on top as well saving even more gas while the stoves burning. Also something really nice about having a fire on a cold night in the van lol i'm upgrading from calor swap outs soon for cost and convenience, wasn't sure which brand of refillable to go with but these gaslows seem to be the best as far as i can tell.
Just to get clear in my head you have to turn the bottles valve off before you fill ? Or is there another valve on off on the gas flow head you turn off ?
Hi Ian, you need to turn the bottle/s off before you fill. To be 100% clear, I turn the back knob on the bottle to off. I'm not sure what would happen if you didn't and i guess it would likely be ok as there must have been occasions where someone has forgotton but for safety measure I always do it. Andy
@@ExtremeMotorhomingAdventures thanks Andy I have a twin bottle system new to me. I have watched other videos snd they just show going direct to the inlet. On my first attempt the bottles took ages to fill not 6 minutes more like 30 minutes I must have done something wrong. If they are off at the bottle tops how does the gas get in ? Via a non return valve? Pardon my ignorance I have got all the instructions it’s just that turn off instruction that puzzles me. Off at the inside manifold or off at the bottles? I’m going to fill up tomorrow so I’ll find out one way or another 😀
Hi Ian, I see your point, I'm not sure as I only have one gas bottle but the key thing is to cut off the gas to the van, if you have two bottles you should be able to fill them as one, something definitely isn't right if its taking 30 minutes, I would estimate a full fill for one 11kg is about a minute maximum. What make are the gas bottles? If they are Gasflow you could try calling the supplier (Loughborough) I have found them very helpful , its not something you want to take any chances with is it! Hope you get sorted...Andy
@@ExtremeMotorhomingAdventures thanks, it would appear that all of the suppliers of these items fail when it comes to a good and informative application method hence your video, thanks for sharing it with us, and for the reply much appreciated.
Just be careful if going to Italy. It is illegal to fill-up with LPG there. A tax issue I think. Motorway services definitely will not allow you to fill up at their pumps.
Thanks, we didn't know that. I've just been onto the forums and it seems yes a tax issue, they were saying if you need gas try rural and they are usually ok. Cheers for the info 👍
That seems odd.. if they sell autogas why would it be illegal to fill your lpg tank in your vehicle? Honestly how do they know the van doesn't run dual fuel like mine? 2.3 petrol and lpg from the factory, why would they have an autogas pump and not allow you to use it?
You sure you can fit that to that low panel. I thought regs dictated it should be within the body of van not on the skirting? No offence mate but what a shocker.
Hi, The manufacturers instructions show two options panel or skirt and recommend fitting as low as possible and preferably in the skirt so that any potential leaks drain away and have no chance of entering the living area. The Skirt was actually a lot more sturdy than I thought, I was expecting hard plastic but it was aluminium :)
