Gas Cylinders
Hi All,
My family used to have a caravan and it seems they stored the gas cylinders in the garage when they got rid off their van a few years back.
Now they want to give to us. May I ask a couple of questions:
- Where is it best to store the cylinders over winter? Inside the caravan front storage, shed or just leave it outside?
- We leave near Dartmoor so can get cold. Can the cylinder getting affected by frost or such like?
- If it has not been used for a few years will it still be safe to use, etc?
Many thanks and sorry for the questions I've never used gas cylinders before.
Phil.
Comments
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We normally left our cylinders in the van's gas locker but have had them in the garage and in a fenced compound in the garden.
Butane (blue cylinder) will freeze but propane (red cylinder) won’t. For this reason most people swap their butane cylinders for propane.
If the cylinders look in good nick they should be OK. You can always get them checked (and swapped) at a Calor retailer.
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Outside would be fine, all stockists I have encountered store their stock in locked cages which are open to the elements.
Regarding butane it has a much higher evaporation point than propane and and will remain a liquid at cold winter temperatures. Hence not good for us winter 'campers'.
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LPG cylinders are stored outside at suppliers because the HSE Guidance note stipulates this as the right way. Adequate ventilation in case of leakage being one of the reasons.
Another consideration is to store cylinders away from any source of ignition or flammable material.
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Outside is definitely the preferred and safest way to store cylinders. If they are inside a garage, shed or outhouse it is a good idea to indicate on the outside of the building there are cylinders stored so that the emergency services are aware of their presence if they have to deal with an adjacent incident.
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Thanks all. They are Butane (blue cylinders). All seem to be in good condition.
Just quickly put them in the shed, but I will move them to the open log store. Open air, but protected from rain.
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If you have good reasons for concern over the condition and durability of the cylinders, then why not empty them? An empty cylinder still has worth, and even if you don’t empty them now, I think that many of us would exchange then for fresh ones prior to usein thr longrt future. You don’t say how full they are, but the cost of gas wasted might prove cheaper than an unplanned leak and fire.
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interesting - how do you empty them? Just open the valve? A fuel dump as we used to say? Is that a good method?
From what I've read that's not really a safe thing to do?
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I’m not even sure it’s legal to dump inflammable gas, Corners. 😟
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DD, industry shares your concerns, employing this solution. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_flare
As the OP tells us that he has a caravan “gas locker” then he could use a gas ring to perform a similar function to a flare stack. Burnt gas is less harmful to the atmosphere than gas in its natural state. We acquired an old gas bottle, as a spare for our BBQ and did exactly as you say, exchanged it for a full one, which is stored in the dry in our shed waiting to be used. But the OP doesn’t want to use theirs.
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Corners, you are confused because you don’t check your facts before posting. I posted the advice to “empty them” which you have translated as “vent them to the atmosphere” and then got yourself all worked up about something which is a creation of your own imagination.
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I wonder what the OP, who admitted knowing nothing about bottled gas, made of "…why not empty them?…" as to the unwary it created the impression of simply opening the valve.
The poor chap only wanted to know the best way of storing the cylinders through winter.
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I always understood that there is no such thing as an empty gas cylinders. They're described in safety circles as " nominally empty ".
It's also the generally held view that a nominally empty cylinder if damaged can be more dangerous than a full or partially full cylinder possibly because the remaining gas is there in gaseous form and not liquified although I guess any liquified gas would soon turn gaseous.
Anyhoo this was all twenty years ago and I may have misremembered 🤓
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Hi Phil,
Thanks for your post and I hope you have found the replies helpful.
To add to this:
- If the original cylinder paperwork can be found, the cylinders can be returned to official Calor retailers for refund of part of the original cylinder deposit (or ‘Refill Agreement Charge’ as Calor call or). The amount paid depends on the age of the cylinder. If you don’t have the paperwork, they will still pay you £7.50. See here for details and terms
- If anyone has non-Calor cylinders to dispose of, there’s a handy list of contact details from which cylinder recovery arrangements can be found out here
- If the cylinders are full (or reasonably so), they could be used for a variety of purposes – e.g. in a portable heater, or possibly with a gas barbeque (but check the compatibility of the barbeque for use with butane, as most tend to be set up for use with propane and will at least have a different regulator with a different attachment fitting)
- As suggested elsewhere, unwanted cylinders can often be taken to recycling centres, from which the gas companies recover them for reuse, through an agreement with the industry trade associations UKLPG and BCGA
Note that Calor cylinders belong to Calor. You can’t legally sell them on eBay or turn them into pieces of sculpture or wood burning stoves, etc. A huge proportion of refillable cylinders are never returned to the company that owns them after their first issuing, which contributes significantly to the cost of refillable gas.
With regards to some of the comments on this discussion, please note everyone, it is very easy to misinterpret a posts meaning and as such it is much better to get clarification from the poster rather than turning the topic into a debate or arguments. Please can we keep this conversation on topic and free from arguments. I will be removing some of the posts on here. Many thanks.
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Hi All,
Ha Ha, I was wondering why I saw a lot "Content has been removed" posts. Currently they are in the wooden shed, which has basic ventilation. I might move them to the open log store.
Regarding just "venting" them - thankfully I do have a small amount of common sense not to do that
.Other question's I'm not 100% sure on are caravan's set-up to use butane or propane. For that I need to check the regulator, etc.?
Thanks
Phil.
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Other question's I'm not 100% sure on are caravan's set-up to use butane or propane. For that I need to check the regulator, etc.?
Phil, I think you said your caravan is a 2008 Bailey, anything built after 2004 should have a regulator which can be used with either Butane or Propane. It is best to use Propane for all year round use.
peedee
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A 2008 caravan will come with a bulkhead regulator. The gas bottles are connected to this by means of a length of high pressure tubing aka pigtail. These are available in different end fittings dependant on the gas bottle connection. Whether it is worth the cost of buying a pigtail to use up the gas. Is a personal decision. Peedee is correct Propane is the best bet for all year round use. Butane will struggle in colder weather like today.
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I'm glad I don't use propane I gave it up it was to expenseve so I went all electric and had lots of good luck I allways stay at sites with full hoockups with cable TV I just gave my propane to a friend
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So you never considered getting a refillable bottle for much cheaper gas?
Your missing out on loads of beautiful sites, rallies etc.
Also missing out on a far more efficient form of heating & quicker cooling of the fridge.
Plus what do you do in a power cut?
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A bit of information for current and future readers of this thread.
The reason gas cylinders, etc should be stored in the open is that these gasses are heavier than air. When they escape they collect in low lying places, such as underneath the hut, down drains, etc. Hence the large number of holes in the floor of a modern caravan.
In the open air (away from drains) they should dissipate with the natural movement of the air.
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How do you cook? Our oven is gas only and three of the four hob rings are gas. I’d miss my cooking capability - but then again, I bake bread, pies and pizzas, cook fried breakfasts in two pans and other meals which require multiple saucepans.
We spent a month off grid this summer, so I have to agree with posts which encourage a choice of on or off grid based on location. I guess that there will always be people who favour fully supported sites, while others, like ourselves find a more back to nature life preferable.
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