I cannot believe how much a Calor lite propanerefill costs, that is that is if you get hold of one (like hens teeth). I live in South Staffs and have been wondering if I can get a local Autogas agent to fill it. I used to get a local coach company to fill them up for about half price. But no longer have LPG coaches.
Regards
Chris
------------- if your car could travel at the speed of light and you turned on your lights what would happen?
If you do find a local agent to 'illegally' refill your cylinder it's still only a local solution, have you considered swapping to a Flowgas Gaslight cylinder, all the lightweight advantages of a Calor Lite, but no difficulty finding refills countrywide, and MUCH cheaper than some of the stupid prices I've seen asked for full Lite cylinders!
You will need to change to a 27mm clip on coupling/regulator and appropriate adaptor/hose, as it's a different cylinder coupling to Calor.
Your problem getting Calor Lite refills can only get worse, Calor stopped manufacturing new lite cylinders about 5 years ago due to serious quality/durability issues, and the only ones still in circulation are old cylinders, and they will reduce in numbers as they fail routine Calor refill quality checks, the writing is on the wall that they may get scrapped altogether as numbers in use dwindle! Calor said in 2018 they were introducing a replacement, but here we are 4 years on and still no sign of it, don't think it's going to happen!
You can of course do a straight swap, Lite for Standard Calor cylinder without cost penalty, if you don't need the lighter weight.
Considering the problems Calor had with faulty/damaged cylinders (large numbers were recalled and scrapped), think I'd be very cautious about getting a 'illegal' refill and bypassing the routine inspection that happens with a legit Calor refill! An uncontrolled LPG leak is a very nasty thing!
S/H empty Calor Lites are selling for £25-£50, so you could easily sell it and cover the cost of new Flogas coupling/regulator and adaptor/hose! S/H Flogas Gaslight cylinders are not too difficult to find, I got mine free from Freegle, but often around £10 from many sources.
Safefills and the like are fine if you use a lot of gas, but you need to factor in the high cost of the cylinder and the time to recoup that even though the refills are 'dirt cheap', and the need to re-certify cylinder after 10 years at your expense. Also, LPG refill sites are diminishing at a rate of knots as forecourt demand slumps, so in a few years you may find yourself back in the Calor Lite difficulty of supply situation.
There are cheaper refill options (Gaslow/Gasit/Alugas/Safefill) but all require much more expense upfront.
If noseweight is an issue - Safefills are incredibly light compared to standard calor steel bottles. For me the other advantage is I only need to take one (topped-up) Safefill bottle instead of one half empty calor and and an additional calor in case I run out.
But in 5 years time I suspect many lpg pumps will have been removed to make room for charging stations.
Quote: Originally posted by gari on 06/9/2022
But in 5 years time I suspect many lpg pumps will have been removed to make room for charging stations.
Is there still an 'issue' that many petrol stations do not recognise the difference between a Safefill bottle, and a more common non-refillable bottle - and hence refuse to allow you to fill one at their pumps?
Quote: Originally posted by gari on 06/9/2022
But in 5 years time I suspect many lpg pumps will have been removed to make room for charging stations.
Is there still an 'issue' that many petrol stations do not recognise the difference between a Safefill bottle, and a more common non-refillable bottle - and hence refuse to allow you to fill one at their pumps?
We have never had that issue wherever we have refilled.
MFG group have already stated that they will remove all LPG stations by 2024 due to the decrease in demand and to make way for EV charging stations.
saxo1
I think I've found the answer for all the campers out there who are unable to exchange their Calorgas cylinders,or most other types.
I havent tried it yet but after searching around on Amazon,I found that Cadac make a conversion kit.Basically a frame that holds three throw away aerosol type gas cylinders(usually come in packs of 4,used in the stove in a case gas cookers)in a triangular formation.So I guess uses 3 cylinders.It comes with a rubber pipe fitted with a threaded nut on the end,to connect to your regulator.The aerosol cylinders are readily available in most camping and diy shops,so its an easy answer to the gas exchange unavailabilty problem.You would need to make sure you connect the 3 cylinders correctly to avoid leaks,going by the reviews which mostly seem like a good product though.
Its on Amazon for £50
Quote: Originally posted by Devbrad63 on 11/9/2022
I think I've found the answer for all the campers out there who are unable to exchange their Calorgas cylinders,or most other types.
Mmmm.........just over a litre of gas, doubt that's going to last very long.
Never had a problem with availability since changing to FloGas lights.
------------- I came into this world with nothing and I've still got most of it left.
Quote: Originally posted by macquatic on 11/9/2022
Quote: Originally posted by Devbrad63 on 11/9/2022
I think I've found the answer for all the campers out there who are unable to exchange their Calorgas cylinders,or most other types.
Mmmm.........just over a litre of gas, doubt that's going to last very long.
Never had a problem with availability since changing to FloGas lights.
It's a solution of sorts, and does overcome one of the issues of European travel where Campingaz aside, large cylinders are not available/refillable outside each country of origin, but CP250 type cartridges are easily found.
Now for the 'BUTS', and there are unfortunately quite a few. Those CP250 cartridges are Butane, so not good for use in chillier temps. I've certainly had plenty of camping/caravaning trips where overnight temps have dropped enough for Butane use to by unwise (I run my gas fridge 24 hours/day)! My last camping trip I used around 1.5Kg of Flowgas Gaslight Propane at under £10 cost, that would have been 7x CP250 cartridges at around £18 cost! Not to mention the risk of gas fridge going off unnoticed when the cartridges ran out several times, and ambient day temps were mid 30C so perishable contents may have suffered!
Also looks like you would have to cut off the supplied integral Cadac connector to substitute 'something else' to couple to your own 'non-Cadac' equipment, also with it's own integral regulator you cannot feed a bulkhead mounted system on a caravan/MH! So an expensive bit of kit needing 'modification' to replace a standard cylinder, not a true alternative for caravan/MH gas cylinder use, and expensive to keep running on short lived cartridges. Never had an issue with Flogas, so think that'll stay my 'solution'. If I need more gas for abroad, I'll take a bigger cylinder or 2 smaller ones to cover calculated needs, it's a system that has always worked for me for donkey's years.
Always good to keep an eye open for alternatives, but think this probably has a LOT of reasons not to treat as anything other than what it is as a specialist solution for Cadac.
I managed to exchange a 6kgs standard Calor a couple of days ago at a C&CC site, for £26.75 which I thought was reasonable. I do have a Calor Lite which I am currently using but I am unsure if I can change it for a standard cylinder when its empty? I was told it was only like for like?
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Topic: Calor gas lite refills
via mobile 11/9/2022 at 7:46am
