Autogas, a concern?
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as you've insisted on raising this 'issue' yet again.....yawn....surely it would have cost the club about the same (possibly even less) to have designed their waste points with a better, single, across the way grid rather than the multiple, heavy, iron trapdoors they decided on.
theyve obviously realised their error as they're redoing them all, properly
nothing to do with poor MH design in the least.
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Poor waste outlet design on motor caravans it seems ,even with the new type club waste points, is still quite a topic when speaking to owners ,but do not let that get in the way of your "blinkered out look"
but back on track not even a bit of "blue sky thinking" could come up with a realistic reason for LPG pumps connected club site bulk tanks
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But then your "thousands?"are probably as incorrect as a lot of your posts , have not noticed the ccc sites in the UK or numerous commercial sites any better and as for your Great Bingham Grange how poor is/was that before cc was that one of your "got it right"
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Looking at the number of sellers on Ebay for adaptors to fill calor bottles and recent reviews I assume that somebody is buying them DD and I have certainly seen videos by various UK wild campers showing how to fill. It certainly would be a consideration for any site manager doing a risk assessment DD
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Yes BB I know you have but I meant on this particular thread. As DD says, it can be hit and miss. I had to report the one closed at Alby in Norfolk twice before it was taken off. Really important that people using LPG pumps wherever, makes sure that the info is passed on to mylpg.eu or in my case, where you find one gone, report it. It seems to me that refillables are growing in use exponentially- could it be the catalyst to prevent more closing? It would be nice to think so!
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The one issue I would have on a club site filling LPG refillables is that it would need an extra staff member to man the pump throughout the day or whenever needed and be fully trained in safety..
Having witnessed refilling abroad, the pump operator usually opens the release valve to ensure that the tank is empty. Then, on closing it when the cylinder is vented he /she knows how much can be pumped in be it Litres as against KG capacity. This gassing off of the residual liquid does form a somewhat explosive cloud of gas in the immediate area That is the danger - should someone be passing by on the outside of the LPG station. Yes - I have seen a pump operator scream at a pedestrian on the pavement whilst they passed by smoking a cigarette.
A difficult risk to manage and perhaps that is why the big operators are withdrawing the service
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We have only just bought a MH with gaslow refillables. It came with full tanks, so I have yet to fill them. However, all the videos I have watched show the pump cutting off automatically, at I think 80% full. Also the cylinders do not need to be empty before topping up. There were certainly no gas clouds in evidence.
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I have to agree with DD redface. Gassing off??? ‘A properly constructed cylinder ‘ has the 80% cutoff and therefore should not need any gassing off! The only gas that escapes is from the takeoff pipe on the release from the cylinder. The resultant puff of vapour is very quickly dispersed to a point where it is a gas / air mixture that is not inflammable or explosive. Refillables are inherently safe or should I say ‘properly constructed cylinders made for refilling are inherently safe. I echo DDs comment about refilling rental cylinders- an absolute No No!
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The post above from red face bears no resemblance to the legal filling of LPG tanks that I have experienced in the UK. You simply connect the gas connection from the pump to your vehicle filler, press the button on the pump and the gas flows until your gas tank is 80% full. A small amount of gas is released when you disconnect. If it were dangerous or required trained staff it wouldn't be available on the garage forecourts that sell LPG. I can only assume that what has been witnessed is an unsafe practice probably contrary to the local regulations and should not be assumed to be the norm.
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not quite sure what 'process' it is that you have witnessed but it is certainly not that of refilling a pukka refillable bottle/tank.
no operators involved, other than the customer, connect pump to inlet, secure fitting, back to pump and press and hold button....wait until tank is full and then disconnect filler...
ok, as others have said, this is the point when any gas under pressure in the pipe will dissipate, but it's only a one second hiss and the pressure is released...
normal 'rules' about folk walking by with lighted cigarettes apply to the rest of the filling station too, whichever fuel is being dispensed...
no doubt Steve will have fun the first time he fills....connecting the bayonet can be a bit tricky as specific pumps can vary in how they are secured, but it soon becomes straight forward.
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Having witnessed refilling abroad, the pump operator usually opens the release valve to ensure that the tank is empty. Then, on closing it when the cylinder is vented he /she knows how much can be pumped in be it Litres as against KG capacity.
That is a procedure used by some that use illegal refill procedures in UK whereby they only refill an empty bottle and ensure that it is truly empty. I doubt such 'gassing off' is done at the fill station though.
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Like so much that is suspect, illegal adaptors are currently for sale on the Internet as are several info. videos showing how to fill rental cylinders.
Calor have a whole page designated to this illegal practice on their own website which highlights the dangers.
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I'm surprised no-one has yet mentioned that the gas in the tanks on Caravan Club sites is free of road duty, and the law probably does not allow for the filling of road vehicles with such gas. Certainly the huge increase in duty on LPG has led to the reduction in availability of supplies, and if it continues to rise the duty free pre-filled rental cylinder may actually become cheaper.
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The intention would be.. .
Indeed, but there are unscrupulous characters about on caravan sites these days who would try to fill the tank supplying the engine.
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with Auto Sleepers and AutoTrail (common sights at the CC) now fitting underslung LPG tanks, along with the many who use Gaslow or similar, I'll wager that there will be far more vans using LPG solely for cooking/heating as mentioned above than there would be LPG (motive) powered vehicles...
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Indeed DD.. We all pay I think about 15p per ltr on our LPG bought from garages as garages sell it expecting it to be used for propulsion on public roads rather than our domestic use. I don't mind though as even then it is still considerably less than Calor at around 70p per Ltr or £1.40 per Kg.
As to LPG powered, vehicles, I can't remember the last time I saw a MH which wasn't diesel powered,though there may be the odd one or two and there may be a few big petrol 4x4s etc with LPG conversions but imagine both are rare compared to domestic use on sites these days.
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I’m surprised that there aren’t more dual fuelled cars around to be honest. But I think it is a bit like the issue with electric cars at the moment. Not enough widely known about them, worry about provision of refuel stops, and the government (any government) cannot be trusted not to put up the fuel tax, and offers little back in the way of incentives.
I found this reasonably recent view offered by RAC, which sums up most things.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emissions/what-is-lpg/
We have been running dual fuelled vehicles for some 15 years so far, and have benefitted tremendously in terms of fuel savings, despite both cars we converted being 4.0 litre petrol models. We got back the £2000 cost of having our Jeep Cherokee done at a recommended garage within months. Found no loss of power, didn’t have any issues at all running it. Towed like a dream. We were fools to part with it to be honest, it was a superb car all round, but someone asked us if it was for sale, we fancied a change, so it went. The other conversion, we still have, and use it on a daily basis, as our work horse and off road toy. Because this was done on a semi computerised car, my OH was able to fit a kit, tank etc...... himself, then had it checked over and certified with a recommended garage. To date, no problems at all with system. We lost no boot space in either of our cars, opting to have smaller tanks for petrol in both.
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