We Swap from Gaslight Bottles to Safefill Bottles 

I used to be a fuel engineer, we used to test recommissioned and repressurised gas pipework for leaks on a regular basis. There is no need to buy proprietory leak detection fluid, we always used to use fairy liquid, mixed with a little water. It is just as good as detection fluid but much much cheaper. We had the problem of only having one 6kg cylinder in our caravan and hence would be stuck if it ever run out in the middle of nowhere. We got around the problem by buying a pig tail and cylinder top valve for a spare 907 camping gaz butane cylinder from Amazon, sold as a set for £20, so that just for the short time the 6kg propane cylinder run out, we could swap to the 907 butane cylinder until the 6kg calor gas cylinder was exchanged. A pig tail to fit the 907 cylinder was much cheaper and lighter than a spare 6kg calor gas cylinder. We tow with our camper van, so we always have a spare 917 cylinder available. A caravan regulator caters for either propane or butane gas but be aware that the calorific value of butane is about a fifth higher and hence will cook faster. By the way, bottles are for milk and things like that, propane, butane and other gasses are contained in ' cylinders '.

Hi James, just a heads up for you and other subscribers. We’re seasonal pitch users, our previous site was a 12 month season where electricity was charged by a meter. As we used the van all year and didn’t want to incur large electricity bills we bought 2 of the 7.5kg bottles. We used gas for heating and cooking for 2 years. Over the winter one 7.5kg bottle would last 2 weekends. So I’ve refilled the bottles many times over the last 3 years without any issues, using the same Morrisons forecourt every time. This week when I filled a bottle, I pressed the button to dispense the gas and waited for the cut off to occur. I noticed the cost was higher than expected and stopped. Good job I did as 17.04 litres had been dispensed. The maximum fill quantity is 14.5 litres, so I had exceed the safe limit. The actual maximum fill of the bottle is 19 litres, so there was very little room left for expansion. I checked the Safefill website to see what to do, it referred me to the bottle retailer. I contacted them, they advised to fit a pigtail and run off gas till the correct level was achieved, which I’ve done. They asked me to document my issue, send it to them by email, and they would contact Safefill. I’ve now written on the bottle the maximum fill quantity of 14.5Ltr which I will now use rather than just rely on the shut off valve in the bottle. I may also now run off any remaining gas prior to a refill so I’m sure I’m not exceed the safety limit. I’m still in favour of the system, but now think the shut off valve should not be the primary method of ensuring an accurate fill. I contacted Safefill direct regarding the issue, and they got back to me today. Safefill suspect an issue with the dispensing equipment with contamination within the valving system causing the issue, apparently it’s a known issue. They confirmed it’s best practice to only fill empty bottles, and watch the metering on the pump to ensure no over filling. No problem in you using my experience as some future content should you wish to.

Well done you got a bargain. I bought a safefill last year and really found it useful when we went to the continent. One one problem that I came across was that the LPG will not burn well if you plan to caravan in the winter it just fizzels out. so I recommend that you have a propane cylinder fir the winter Have a great summer. .

Got a bit of a bargain there. TBH we don't use enough gas to justify the cost. I think 2 10kg bottles last us a few years...

I bought one 7.5kg safefill bottle a couple of years ago, it was on an eBay sale , brand new it was £120. I don’t use much gas , the main reason for buying the safefill was weight. I’ve a Bailey Cadiz & the payload is rubbish. I used to use 2 x 3.9kg calor bottles. The safefill gives me more gas & less weight. Just a heads up on refill charges, I just filled mine up 2 weeks ago, there was about a 1/3 of a bottle left .. it cost around about £5 to fill it at Morrisons.

I was at the NR event with you yesterday !

Hi we bought our two safefill gas bottles when they first came on the market and have never looked back. However we were upset to learn that our petrol station no longer supplies LPG it is a Morrisons petrol station and apparently all Morrisons petrol stations are to stop the supply of LPG by 2024 , they are to be replaced with EV charging points. We were devastated as it was the only place we could get LPG 😢 .

SAFEFILL UNCERTAINTY: I'm going to pass on the Safefill LPG route. Great idea, but when you enter into something where there is a reasonably high initial investment, you need to be certain that it will not be short lived. DUE DILIGENCE: What I’ve learnt so far... Fill up points are few and far between, our closest Morrisons Ipswich a 50 mile round trip. Best to call ahead nice lady in Morrisons filling station can tell you how much LPG they have in the tank. HOWEVER... Ask if Morrisons will be continuing to supply self fill LPG the answer is... Who knows? Not very reassuring! But the clincher for me was the impossibility of trying to find someone at Safefill HQ to talk to. Also Email sent with no reply as yet. Looks like Safefill as a company is fast becoming an endangered species. So I’m out as I’ve decided that I don’t want to own this problem. Back to 4 x 6kg lpg bottles on board. Based on our Irish road trip and just as a side note beware the ROI (Southern Ireland) Their LPG bottles are threaded externally, unlike ours internally.

What year of manufacture are these bottles,they reccommend they should be replaced after 10 years. They are the old type safefill gas bottle.

It's common sense on how much gas you use..if all you do is go on sites with electric hook up then you'll run everything in your van on electric..but I go of grid most of the time so I use a lot of gas ..so refillable bottles saves me a lot.

I like cool new stuff as much as the next person but we run a pair of standard calor 6kg bottles. Our local place charges 24 quid to fill them up. We rarely have to refill both in a season. Hard to justify the spend.

everyone uses the excuse there is no gas locally as an excuse. but we refill ours on the way out or back, or we refll them when we go out and about durring the weeks inbetween breaks

Hi mate will the gas stop valve work on these bottles

You better swap your gaslighr bottles in France or Belgium, its just 30€ over here...

why didnt you simply buy an adaptor to put propane in the bottle s ? nothing wrong with it ..and yes its legal as the bottle are exactly the same pressure tested. like a propane calor v blue calor, same bottles just different valves.. if you have a fitting on the caravan like a few do just drive in the forecourt as usual to fill up..

I understand the Motor Fuels Group (MFG) will be phasing out refillable autogas from petrol station forecourts by 2024 so unless you can obtain refillable gas direct from a gas company it might be worth you hanging on to your gaslight bottles.

James have a safe and happy holiday in France.Pigtales have a renew date, what happens to the tubes installed in the caravan ?

A Jolly Good Show Sir thanks 👍

Safe fill need to be retested every 10 years . I'm not sure but maybe by someone who tests diving bottles, Lpg works perfectly all year, I use it in winter no probs specially for heating. I'm sorry to say I think you paid to much for the bottles with them being 5 years old with the lpg In them being worth about £20 but you will definitely recoup your money with lpg and save in the long term.