This is how we refill our gas bottle in Europe. It has been a massive help for us and is one of our best vanlife tips. It may not be the recommended way but it works for us.
Gotta specify that in many European countries this is a great way to get arrested since is not legal to refill your gas tank at the gas station. It has to be refilled by a professional company that takes care of the whole process, and it takes around 1/2 weeks to have your gas tank back. Otherwise you simply exchange your gas tank for a pre-filled one. Before to do what Kevin does in the video, do your research and check if is ok to do it in the country where you are travelling.
Oh gosh something we should be aware of when not acquainted with travelling long distance and locally. Thank you for sharing we will be following you on your travels and will be looking forward to other tips you can recommend...
We have just fitted our own refillable Gaslow system, as we have researched, that this is the best way for travelling, especially in Europe. Great video, really informative 👍
I understand why you want to do this, I have Gaslow bottles on my van, btw I live in France which may have different rules to the UK, What I will say for France is doing this could in the end cause problems for all of us, many pumps in France state that filling these bottles is banned, Total stations have put a total ban on all motorhome because of people doing as you describe, I think Auchan supermarket have also banned all motorhomes. Sadly this practice of filling bottles without a shut off system is a accident waiting to happen. Help us all by fitting refillable bottles and fitted on the van properly thanks.
Thank you Steve. The reason why it isn’t common knowledge in the uk is because the gas companies want to charge you a fortune for an exchange. We can refill a 3.9kg bottle in Spain for less than £4.50
Yes we have mixed responses. Some don’t like it, some don’t care and some even fill it for us. It’s not the ideal way but has got us out of trouble many times
Hi Paul, although you can order them from amazon and eBay we ordered ours from www.lpgadapter.com/pol-uk-gas-bottle-filling-travel-autogas-propane-lpg-adapter
Yes one of these sets would be perfect. You won’t need the first adapter that I attach to the bottle but you will need the European adapters. You can buy just the European gas adapters on Amazon or eBay
Thank you, it’s helped us in pretty much every country we have been to so far. We got ours from lpgadaptor.com but I think you can also get them on Amazon www.lpgadapter.com/pol-uk-gas-bottle-filling-travel-autogas-propane-lpg-adapter
in the usa our bottles have a liquid-level bleeder valve that can be opened with a screwdriver while filling so you can visually see when the bottle is 80% full. is that something european and uk bottles don't have?
I do this too. But I just learned you need to be aware of what the autogas propane / butane mix is. Basically the meter shows you liters, but what you want to know is kg. Your bottle is rated for so many kg of gas. And then the next wrinkle is that the bottle is rated for so many kg of butane or so many kg of propane. For a propane 11kg or butane 13kg bottle it can hold 27 liters. look for pages that show what propane / butane ratio the autogas mix is.
Hi! Very helpful video. Can you please explain how you make your math for 6,5lts for a 3,9kg bottle? Aren’t you over the limit? Shouldn’t it be 6,1lt max?
Hi. I’m about to embark on my first European trip and gas is my biggest problem. I’ve got a 4.5kgbutane bottle . Can you tell me where you purchased these adapters and is my calor gas butane bottle ok. It looks about the same size as your bottle. Thanks for you help. Need these adapters thanks
Hi Toni, sorry for the late reply. The link is in the comments for the adapters, I’m not sure if you can use these exact ones on butane bottles but if you give the guys a ring, I’m sure they will halo you order the right ones
