Refilling the gas bottle abroad

[gatvol]

My gas bottle is just over half full, having weighed the net gas using my scales. About to head off to Europe for 3 to 4 weeks so it may well run out.

Is it easy to get refills in Portugal/ Spain/ France pls? I do have back up using the small gaz canisters with a dedicated little burner, but I don't want to find myself on a mission impossible trying to refill the main bottle.

Can you just get it topped up here? Ie get half a tankful and just keep my existing bottle?

Some of the exchange bottles look really rusty, I'd rather keep my nice condition one if possible, as it just lives in its plastic little cocoon in the van

Thanks

 

[Andresz]

In France:
You will not find the 907 bottle on a petrol station, other bottles yes, but not this one.

The only way is to go to Castorama or Bricorama or Le Roy Merlin or any other bricolage (DiY) supermarket.
They do exchange the bottle, but there is a paperwork (they will ask you for your address, telephone number and date of birth) involved, and bringing it from the back stage warehose involved, so reserve yourself 1-2 hours for the operation. :cry:

 

[gatvol]

Do folk know whether Portugal and Spain are similar nightmares pls?. If so it may make sense to swap the damned thing over here and waste a tenner in unused gas

Thanks

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

We carry a second cylinder, and have often ended up swapping during a trip. I think a full cylinder gives 20 hours of burning, if I've read the Cali specs correctly. eBay normally had lots of old cylinders for sale, or you may get one on Gumtree or Freecycle. Just make sure you get one with the screw in handle on the top, as you seem to need to have one of these when you swap your empty cylinder.

Alternatively, you may find a friendly forum member to let you have one. I certainly have one you could have, but it depends where you're based, as the trip to pick one up from someone could wipe out any saving.

 

[NickE]

Swapped my 907 in a supermarket in France 3 weeks ago - 22 euros. They had one on the shelf - like buying a tin of beans!
I would use your existing bottle till empty, at half full it will last a surprisingly long time.
We carry a spare 907 and a portable (canister) stove.

 

[spanner]

I have easily replaced mine in both carrefour and super U, just swap your old bottle when you go through th checkout normally cheaper than back home.

 

[gatvol]

ChrisandPenney52

thanks for the kind offer.

I try to keep my camper (relatively) light in terms of gear and backup gear. Moving stuff to get to stuff is a pet hate of mine. We take two folding bikes with us so we have to be careful what else we pack as these sit on the floor between the seats when we are driving and get put in the front footwells when we park - so we lose out on quite a bit of packing space this way

Given some of the helpful comments on the forum about French options, I am going to chance it with just the one big cylinder. I just bought an extra Camping Gaz 470 canister today as between my folding camping gaz party grill (underneath its griddle is a gas burner you can use with regular pots) and my standalone folding gaz burner, I do have a back up "double burner of sorts", though I would rather not use either of them in the van due to the fire and flood risks!

 

[ChrisandPenney52]

Yep, good reserve solution. It's far too easy to add more and more extras

 

[NickE]

two folding bikes [ ...] get put in the front footwells

That's a good idea, can I ask what make and model of bikes?

 

[gatvol]

We have two bromptons. They are expensive but we got them under the govt cycle to work scheme so you get your income tax and ni back and spread the cost over 12 months.

Of all folding bikes, these seem the best. They fit in the footwells with the seats looking forward or backwards. Brompton make padded travel bags, so we keep them in these to avoid risk of fouling the van. And they still fit! This means metal never comes into contact with metal or the van. Dry them off under the awning if need be prior to bagging up.

2 of These remarkable little bikes even fit in the boot of my 1994 merc sl convertible without damaging anything. I am 6 ft 5, and the seat will go higher than I need. 6 gears. Truly superb design. The build quality of the frame is excellent, some components are not as good as you would find on a similarly priced normal bike, but you have to accept that these things are folding bikes and not racers. A 20 mile ride is fine on one and surprisingly efficient.

They are actually the vw California of bikes. Expensive, fantastic design, best of breed, very good residuals and hotly contested on ebay, folk love them, active web forum, some cheap components disappoint the purist, niggles but it doesn't actually let you down. Unlike vw, the parts are cheap though.

 

[peregrinus]

Back to the gaz 907 - these were 22 euros for a refill in French intermarche last month.
Ask someone as you go in. Choose & buy wine. Collect gaz on way out.

 

[NickE]

Thanks gatvol, for the info on Bromptons. That's given me a lot to think about before next summer.

 

[gatvol]

After all my concerns, Lisboa Camping site in the capital had exchange 907 for 19 Euros ...... Other large sites had it in Portugal too for as cheap as 16 euros

I did not see camping gaz anywhere in Spain

In France large sites and all of the large hypermarkets we visited had it as an exchange. I paid 22 Euro in Hyper U

 

[flyingQ]

If the worst happens, you can always refill your 907 under gravity from another bottle, the only requirement is a suitable hose to interconnect them. Incidentally, this can also be done with propane gas, as used in most of north and central America and Norway - you can still use the normal regulator and everything works just fine, we have been doing just that for the last 5 months!
flyingQ

 

[peregrinus]

If the worst happens, you can always refill your 907 under gravity from another bottle,

Yes you can..... Over filling the bottle could be problematic - you need ullage or space for the gas vapour for a number of safety reasons.

I've also heard you can run a diesel engine on chip oil.

I won't be trying either of these.

 

[flyingQ]

Good point, any procedure outside standard practice requires care and above all an understanding of the process. Perhaps it should be added that there are many counties and even continents that only have propane and if you want to use all facilities from your Cali over a long period of time that's what you need to do! And that is what we have been doing for the last 5 months. All the best from La Paz, Bolivia ( where we might find a mixture of butane and propane).