How to thrive on a non EHU site .

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  • Unknown
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    edited August 2017 #32
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  • Unknown
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    edited August 2017 #33
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  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited August 2017 #34

    What I need to make the Safefill and similar cost effective is a way to get a refund of the Caravaning Clubs' pitch fees for non use of the EHU.

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
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    edited August 2017 #35

    good sound post, Boff.....and as folk get a little more comfortable and experienced away from EHU.....find a bit more of use in this informative threadsmile

  • trellis
    trellis Forum Participant Posts: 1,102
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    edited August 2017 #36

    Merve, On a personal level due to work commitments we don't get out anywhere near as much as I'd like ,so I do use ehu and calor. Saying that I find this and your previous discussion absolutely fascinating,and look forward to the time I can join the dark arts society .😁😁

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #37

    Thanks trellis- good one- you'll be most welcome. I understand absolutely where you are coming from. Work is something that I used to do and it got in the way of caravanning - time passes far too fast!

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #38

    Hi Dave, it's a 'Transcool'

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #39

    What can I say Nav- you'll find the person responsible for that hiding under an office desk somewhere in EG Towers!

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #40

    Boff, I assure you that I know where you are coming from re gas. I remember going to Edinburgh about 6 years ago to see my daughter for Christmas. It was absolutely freezing! We arrived in 6" of snow I kid you not and every drop of water on the van was frozen solid. I had taken with me 2 x 19kg bottles at £15 each I believe if my memory serves me right. And boy, did we need it! We got through 1 1/2 cylinders but we kept so warm in temperatures that didn't rise below freezing and dropped to -15 & -16 at night! But the gas was great and reasonably cheap- just think of I had been on 6kg bottles - I'd have taken a mortgage out!!! ( As a foot note, I would have ordered a 47kg to be delivered there but then I was told about the regulator must be above the cylinder outlet , not the other way around)

    Yes, I agree, fear has something to do with it. It's something new, something different, - will it work? Can I do it? All these questions went through my head before I ripped the horns off the bull! I must have bored the crap out of the experts at the companies I rang but now, I know it was worth it.

  • Unknown
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    edited August 2017 #41
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  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #42

    You are most welcome Dave. Lovely when you can put tea tree oil, olbas oil etc in it - van smells lovely 

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #43

    Addendum: If you can wait until Oct David, Transcool could well be at the show - I would take bets that they will be at the Feb one, You could see it working for yourself. Just a thought..

  • Pippah45
    Pippah45 Forum Participant Posts: 2,452
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    edited August 2017 #44

    Yes I was going to wait and see the cooler at a show.

    i agree that some people seem to be scared to go off grid some seem just plain scared of using gas. I know some of them.  I nearly got to the point of being scared when the local dealer/workshop made those two big mistakes but I found me a real qualified LPG plumber who checked everything  properly.   Peace of mind.  I find it strange that tourers only require a "competent person" but a static needs a qualified technician to do anything with gas.  

  • Unknown
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    edited August 2017 #45
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  • Unknown
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    edited August 2017 #46
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  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #47

    That's a shame Pippah. Using gas is something that is second nature to me. Never had a problem with it to be fair. I have a CO alarm on the floor at the end of the bed box as CO is heavier than air. Never once even peeped- and yes, it is working! 

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #48

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw0j5nqbS6C-bmtJa3VPbGNlODRJWENZcmxIcC1vRmRjWVpj/view?usp=drive_web

    Will continue to post this here and there so you can all find a copy. 

  • black caviar
    black caviar Forum Participant Posts: 242
    edited August 2017 #49

    Is safefill paley green with a whitey holey plastic type of surround? Cos if it is there was one at wetherby carboot this morning i think it had a pale orange top :it was just different to any gas bottle ive ever seen ....or was it a calorlite ?cheers mrs bc :)

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #50

    No, it's sounds like an old BP light to me or even a foreigner!! . Safefill are red. There was a time when they couldn't get stock and had a blue one ( 20lt) made as a temporary measure. I have one but all Safefill are now red. - love the description by the way!! 😂😂😂

  • Pippah45
    Pippah45 Forum Participant Posts: 2,452
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    edited August 2017 #51

    DD there is no way I would suggest you can't do your own thing - BUT if I am paying someone to do my servicing I expect them to do it properly and safely?  Not rely on my good sense of smell to spot a howling mistake? 

  • Pippah45
    Pippah45 Forum Participant Posts: 2,452
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    edited August 2017 #52

    Older Safefill might be blue - but definitely not paley green!  I would doubt the Safefill name could have faded either. 

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #53

    Can't say fairer than that Pippah. I'm not sure I would do any repairs to my gas system either - like DD, it would all depend on what it was and if I felt that I was confident and competent. Sometimes you don't get a second chance with gas. 

  • Boff
    Boff Forum Participant Posts: 1,742
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    edited August 2017 #54

    No that sounds like a gaslight originally sold by BP

    safefill were originally Red, then blue, now red top with a white base.  The type of bottle is unimportant.  The cleaver bit is the valve which has an overfill cutoff built in. 

  • Unknown
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    edited August 2017 #55
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  • Pippah45
    Pippah45 Forum Participant Posts: 2,452
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    edited August 2017 #56

    I fixed one of the "leaks" myself - with a spanner - why didn't they think of that?  DD if I were younger I would educate myself and fix it.  I trust me!  At least I have found a mobile servicer and a local gas man to put my trust in.

  • David2115
    David2115 Forum Participant Posts: 547
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    edited August 2017 #57

    Had my first experience of off grid last week at Thirsk race course, as some members may know when the races are on  all units are moved to the rally field which have no electric or toilets. 

    I really enjoyed the experience of using the van , a Bailey Unicorn Vigo series 3 , to its full potential. The fridge and hot water worked a treat off gas and the solar panel appeared to look after everything else. It was the first time the toilet had been used for anything other than liquids , we always use site facilities.. it was nice not to have to go out in all weathers to the toilet block.

    i will definately be using more sites without EHU in future and am now seriously considering the safefill route as I suspect we used a lot of gas in a 24 hr period so eventually safefill would pay for itself. 

    France for us next week so I have had to purchase a full gas bottle and exhanged the old one with 1kg of gas left in it so that's a waste but nothing we can do. 

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
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    edited August 2017 #58

    change your hose (or add an adaptor) and just use a french bottle....even french gas can be used here when you come home....smile

    i have one refillable (gaslow 11kg) and a second 'slot' with a 'butane' hose that fits a french bottle and a Spanish 'jumbo' adaptor should we ever need a spanish bottle.

    the second bottle 'slot' is for emergencies as we can usually manage with the Gaslow.

    so glad you had a great time off gridding.....have a look at the C&CC temporary holiday sites (THS) program.....no booking, pay on departure, £8-12 a night in some lovley town and countryside settings.

  • Hedgehurst
    Hedgehurst Forum Participant Posts: 576
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    edited August 2017 #59

    Heretical question coming up.... Lots of talk here of the terrible and expensive waste incurred by returning unused gas to the dealer.
    We've only just had a trial EHU-free w/e so far but plan longer sessions to come, and we haven't yet bought Safefill, but it's definitely on the cards. Meanwhile we have two LPG cylinders, a larger and a smaller. When one runs out, we switch to the the other and replace the dead one. OK, we're still on the expensive gas, and that is, as I said, on course to change, but meanwhile it means we don't waste that last bit of gas - it's surprising how long we've cooked on an apparently empty cylinder!

    I sort of assumed this was what you all did when you didn't have Safefill. Or are there deep philosophical reasons why we shouldn't work this way? We're new to caravans but have played the same game with the old blue gaz bottles with our tent camping for years.

    I've been thinking that when we do get a Safefill I'll still keep on the smaller Calor cylinder, just as an emergency spare.

    Meanwhile I'm looking forward to learning more on this thread. I'd really like the CMC to have a whole new section on this forum devoted to off-grid, rather than generalised "ways to save money" but that's probably hoping too much!

     

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
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    edited August 2017 #60

    possibly nose weight might cause some caravanners to ne able to carry one cylinder only?

    also, one large one is much cheaper to buy and refill tha. two small ones...

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited August 2017 #61

    Well done David- you see, we are not that weird on here are we?😂😂. With a Safefill you'll never give gas back - you just top up and if you are thinking of more non EHU experience then a Safefill will be an excellent investment. I'm sure the others will let me express this-  We all wish you happy non EHUing in the future.