Safefill - Refillable Gas Cylinders

The future is refillable bottles - 300,000,000 people in North America can't be wrong - and we're 20 years behind them.

Thank you WK. Refills are the future and it petrifies the big boys. It’s bound to! When you have had a revenue stream as bountiful as rental charges on every cylinder that goes out ( and we are talking hundreds of thousands here- possibly millions) then anything and I mean anything that threatens that will be targeted. Safefill have not only had the audacity to produce a cylinder that is perfectly safe for the owner to refill, but they- SAFEFILL- have faced down opposition from the likes of UKLPG who incidentally are staffed by companies like Calor and Flo, by seeking out PELG, showing them the product and how it works and by that tenacity and hard work. we now have a revised RED GUIDE which now includes the filling of ‘properly constructed user owner cylinders ‘ and incidentally it forced UKLPG to amend their St 26. By not doing so would have made a mockery of the various authorities involved with the regulations surrounding LPG. Had Neil from Safefill not had the foresight and energy to keep on until a result was forthcoming, we would now be 30 yrs behind. We owe a very great debt to Safefill- for bringing us into the 21st century and giving us a choice. That is what it is in the end- a choice between rental cylinders, and there’s are many that prefer to use rental cylinders due to the amount of gas they use, or refillables which , for me and people like me who are offgrid and use more gas than most, have become indispensable for the way we caravan- saving us many ££££s in rental charges. Anything that try’s to stop that freedom of choice should be opposed most strongly and I would like to think that the club would get involved and do some investigation regarding the denial of fill facilities. I won’t hold my breath on that one! 

To those of you that are ‘looking forward ‘ to the article in the September issue of the Club Mag in offgrid caravanning, I rang to find out when they were planning to see me for photo shoots, interview etc. Surprise surprise, a staff member went off grid for 6 days- ( SIX days) and has submitted the article. Wow, that should be full of useful info eh? I would be most surprised if refillables get a look in or are even discussed!! My Holiday was 6 WEEKS and in cloudy weather for the most part and still we were able to live on board a small though we had an EHU! I am disappointed obviously due to the fact that the club has reneged on a promise made - but I ain’t surprised!! 

The post was excellent👍🏻. Merve could you reduce it to a list of bullet points for the hard of concentrating👍🏻😂

It’s a 4.0 litre Jeep Wrangler. We bought it in 2002, primarily to tow our caravan, and do a bit of off roading. As you can imagine, that four litre engine was rather thirsty. We bought a 4.0 litre Jeep Cherokee not long after, and had this dual fuelled to run on LPG, because it is so cheap compared with other fuels. More than doubled the mileage per gallon instantly, and there are plenty of garages with LPG around us. OH decided to fit LPG system to the Wrangler as well, having it checked out and Certificated as required. The Cherokee is long gone, sold immediately. We have hung onto the Wrangler until now, it owes us nothing and is very reliable as well as fun to drive. But we have reached the point of downsizing our vehicle collection. The other Jeep Wrangler, bought to replace the Cherokee went yesterday......in part ex for.......another Jeep Wrangler. But I think we shall part with the dual fuelled one now, prices are good at the moment. We have had it 17 years, it’s really only a two seater, plus dog room at the rear, and isn’t getting used enough.😀

LPG cars are on the decline I think? Safefill cylinders are a poor substitute for the amount of cars that were converted to take gas but I think things will improve from here. As more and more people find out about them. I am still finding people, and not one or two, who have never heard of Safefill or indeed, refillables! But I do note a real enthusiasm when they find out about them! - It’s  hard to get your head around this phenomenon as SF has been out for 8 yrs now and still they haven’t heard of it- where have these caravanners been? There is still a huge market out there! 

Hi everyone - this is the first time for me on this thread and came here due to my frustration over not being able to get hold of another Safefill bottle (I initially bought one of the 10Kg bottles and now want a 7.5Kg bottle as a back-up and to use with the Cadac BBQ) - I am now much more aware of the potential reasons for this delay and clearly have to wait even longer.  I have been in touch with Neil and we have exchanged e-mails since 2nd April - always the same answer - they are expected soon!

It's a great shame that Safefill are having such problems with supply, like so many I am fed up with being ripped off by Calor and the last straw for me was when they announced they were stopping with the Calor Lite.  After well over a year, there is still no sign of their promised replacement.

As a side issue, I was at my daughter's house at the weekend and we had a BBQ.  My son-in-law had to go to get a re-fill for his large Green BBQ cylinder - it cost him over £50 - just for the gas - that's a disgrace.

Tirril - with respect to your sticking valve problem.  The first time I put Gas in my "new" large bottle, I followed the advice and only partially filled - no problem.  When I later filled the bottle (first and only complete fill since buying) I couldn't work out why the gas wasn't flowing.  Eventually, I guessed it was a stuck valve and using a plastic biro after turning the tap on, I pushed the valve and allowed a small "spurt" of gas to escape - less than a second.  On refitting the connection to my motorhome - all was well and has been since.  As I don't use a large amount of gas I haven't yet filled for the second time so will have to wait and see it it happens again.

Merve - it's very sad that you have received so much hassle from some on here - there is no excuse for insults or attempts to discredit.  I thought as a club we did our best to treat all members with respect and accept that we wont always agree.  Like so many members, over the 30+ years of membership I have benefitted a great deal from other members experience, knowledge, help and advice - long may it continue.

Hi K- is this a Motorhome? Do they allow Safefill? If so Johm at Newton Grove would be interested as he is building this database for Safefill Friendly sites. This might be a timely opportunity to say that I have been in touch with Majita at MyLPG.eu I am trying to get him to make it possible for Safefill Friendly sites to be filtered and then if possible by County- so please folks, if you come across a refill point that has no problem with Safefill, please post it to the forum or email Newton Grove direct with the information so that way the database will build. 

I had trouble getting through to Safefill last year, when I did get through Neil said they had trouble with funny phone calls and that's why they had the answerphone on.

I have heard they have had to get a  new supplier to make the cylinders as calor had put pressure on the  old supplier not to supply them, but don't quote me as its hearsay.

Hi Dakota, it’s a theory David and I would reread your blog as I think it reads wrong.! What we do know as fact is that Hexagon Regasco, after being suppliers to Safefill for years, and not being able to do enough for them, suddenly went ‘cold’ on Safefill. They made an excuse that Safefill were too small or something but it’s strange that at the same time Calor were looking for a new ‘Lightweight’ Container after the disaster of the Calorlites. As Hexagon Regasco is the largest supplier or one of the largest suppliers in Europe, it is not unreasonable to imagine them approaching HR for composite cylinders.Can you imagine the size of the order Calor could give HR?? Was part of the deal to put a block on Safefill?? After all, they have tried desperately to deny filling points for Safefill cylinders and I can say that as I have had the truth from a couple of garage owners who have admitted that they have been told not to fill them or they will lose their facility! Suddenly Neil had to travel to sort out another cylinder manufacturer. That has been successful but the new manufacturer cannot produce the numbers that HR could produce. That is why we are in a position where we are waiting for stock because they are so popular. Some refuse to believe that these big companies can act in such a way- I find it extremely easy - this is about lost profit- the return of power to the people along with money lost on swingeing rental costs- that, to a big company is anathema , it is something they won’t have! Mammon rules!

Hi Cath, To be honest, Neil at Safefill is so busy with projects and getting cylinders in for customers that he has no real time to sit and do the website- something that all small businesses  suffer with. Some time ago he asked that reference should be made to MyLPG.eu. I have been in touch with Majita who runs MyLPG and have asked that Safefill Friendly Site be marked in some way and it’s something he is looking at I believe. Whether that will be by words or a symbol, I’m not sure but I am hoping he comes up with something. The site is really maintained by people who have been successful at filling a cylinder or collecting gas for some reason and they confirm that on the website- in other words, he is trying to stop people making a journey for nothing- ie-  turning up to a garage that has closed or in my case, the gas rig has been removed so - and this applies to all reading this, when you get gas from a site - confirm it on MyLPG. Over and above that, Johnny57 at Newton Grove CL has been very active in helping Safefill users by producing a map and data base of garages that will fill Safefill cylinders or refillables. Again- if you find a garage that will fill Safefill- get hold of John and TELL HIM! Only that way can we build up a full picture of what’s available. As you see above he supplied links for both- thank goodness for John! Hope this helps

On a site this weekend that sold LPG but they also refill normal Calor bottles, said they have an adaptor and bottle has to be completely empty as they have a chart that Flo Gas gave them to let hem know ho much to put in so they are only 80% full!!!

However, I am not sure I believe the fillers of the cylinders. I find it difficult to believe that a company as large as Flogas would enter into such a devious and downright illegal scheme- this is worth  further investigation!