Gas locker hose

[moya]

Has anybody read the article in the latest Roma Club magazine on page 5 by Ant of Avon Motor Caravans?

He says that if you have a black gas locker hose it should be replaced every year! If it is orange every 5 years. He says it amazes him how many he sees with the original black hose in the locker. He goes on to say that "Either you are not getting them checked or you're getting very bad service from somewhere!"

If orange hoses last 5 years why are the new Romahomes not being fitted with them? (Ours is just over a year old and the hose is black).

We have just had the first habitation check done and and as far as I am aware the gas locker hose has not been changed.

What colour hoses have you all got in your gas lockers? Do you understand this better than I do?

[Pauline]

Ours is black, don't think I've ever seen an orange one.

[Derek]

moya said:

Has anybody read the article in the latest Roma Club magazine on page 5 by Ant of Avon Motor Caravans?

You and me both, Moya. We have a black hose as in the pic.


The hose has a date stamp which is a year before the van was supplied (03/2004)

I think these are OK for five years from the date but I will check.

[moya]

Thanks for that Derek. I am glad it isn't just me who doesn't understand it. I suppose I could always email him on their website and ask him to explain what he means. Don't think I will lose too much sleep over it at the moment though.

[ant]

Hi I'm Ant of Avon Motor Caravans. It seems you need my article about gas hoses explaining.
Up until 2005 Romahomes were fitted with gas regulators that fitted to the gas bottle. these vehicles required a rubber hose to connect the gas regulator to the vehicles gas plumbing! If this rubber hose is black it should be changed every 12 months, no ifs or buts, your insurance company may be interested to see the wrong age of pipe in the event of a fire claim! if its orange it should be changed every 5 years. Just to make it a bit more confusing for you the latest gas (euro) regulator that all motorhome are fitted with come with a high pressure rubber "pig tail" that fits directly onto the bottle and then to a fixed gas regulator in the locker, these are helpfully in either black or orange and last for 5 years. If you need more help then contact me and i'll try to explain in more detail. Thanks Ant

[Pauline]

Hi Ant

Big welcome! Thanks for taking the time to come along to explain, it makes more sense now - as it's so important Romahome really ought to mention it in the vehicle handbook!

Just to clarify - even if the one from the bottle to the regulator is black, it can last 5 years?

But the internal one from regulator to cooker/gas appliances must be changed every year if it's black?

Think we should go all electric!

[ant]

Hi Pauline.
You've got it. The photos on Dereks posting show a gas bottle with a black hose that should be changed each year. Had the regulator been fitted to the locker rather than the bottle it would be a high pressure hose and ok for 5 years.

[moya]

Hi Ant,

Thanks very much for replying to my query. Can I just verify with you to make sure I understand it now. We have got the fixed regulator as our Duo Hylo was built September 2005. It has got the black hose so are you saying that is ok for five years? Sorry if I am being a bit dense but as you have pointed out safety is a very important issue. Thanks again for taking the trouble to respond.

[Graham]

Hi Ant

Thanks for coming on to explain about the pipes, I hope you stick around we could do with a technical expert, we have lots of Romahomers coming on asking technical questions.

Regards
Graham

[Pauline]

Thanks Ant,

The pipes from our gas locker to the appliances look like they are made of copper type metal so I assume they will last much longer?

(our Dimension is 18 months old)

[ant]

Hi Moya.
A September 05 biuld Hylo will have the high pressure "pig tail" pipes which are good for 5 years.
Ant

[Derek]

Thanks for that Ant, we will get our hose changed.


(Click to enlarge image)
I assume this type will be OK (BS 3212/2) and last for five years from the date on the hose.

Derek

[moya]

ant said:

Hi Moya.
A September 05 biuld Hylo will have the high pressure "pig tail" pipes which are good for 5 years.
Ant

Thanks again Ant. I know we don't have to worry now.

[ant]

Hi Derek.
Thats it. the orange pipe will always have "High Pressure LPG" on it and a month and year of manufacture, it can be left for 5 years from that date. Sadly the customer very rarely gets the full 5 yrs because we as dealers have to buy it 50 metres at a time which can take a year or so to use up. I suspect that is the reason your black pipe appeared to be out of date before your van was made! Romahome may buy it in in larger still quantities, it is the "gas oil" that ruins the rubber so provided the old black hose was not fitted prior to your van there was no danger of failure. The gas regulations are always changing, sometimes for the good and sometimes not, but always Brussels lead!

[lunnie]

Ant,

Is this something I could do myself? or does it need to be fitted by an 'expert'?? - Joan ( the stolen Romahome!!)

[ant]

Hi Joan.
No you don't need an expert to change the pipe in the gas locker, you can do it yourself. You do however need someone who is qualified to mess about with gas to change any internal (lunken) hoses.

[lunnie]

Hi Ant, Thanks for that, I have had Freda 2 for a year now, so I guess they need changing, I know this is cheeky, but could you give me some idea of the cost of the expert for this task, and anything else I need to have done, because I have no handbook as it was taken along with the van.

Would like to have the work done closer to home, but if I have too, I will driving to Bristol!

Joan

[ant]

Hi Joan.
I think when i last saw Freda2 we sorted a fridge problem, if thats so i would have changed the gas hose while the fridge was out, if not then it costs about £25 to change each Lunken hose for solid copper ( I no longer replace them with more lunkens as the gas Reg's are moving away from allowing the use of lunkens with fixed appliances). Freda2 will have 2 lunkens if i've not changed them already.
Ant

[lunnie]

Hi Ant, Can I easily see for myself if you have changed ? I know the heater is copper, does that help.

Joan

[ant]

Hi Joan.
You need to look under the fridge where you'll either see a copper pipe or an amoured lunken hose (silver in coluor)
Ant

[lunnie]

Hi Ant,
Check today, and I have the amoured lunken hose, do you think that you changed it when you were checking the fridge? If I remember correctly you have looked at the fridge twice for me, 1st time for myself and 2nd for the insurance, I could send you a thinking cap if that would help?

Best regards - Joan

[ant]

Hi Joan.
If you've still got armoured hoses it would be better to change them for solid copper, that way you don't have to get them changed ever again! You ca then leave your memory to remember sometime a bit more interesting!
Give me a ring if you want me to change them sometime.
Thanks
Ant

[lunnie]

Hi Ant,

Thanks for that, I will arrange to come and visit you again, will be next year now, this weekend I am off to NZ!!! I am hiring a very large motorhome there!! not to sure about that, but as we are two ladies we required separate beds, so it is Mishubusi Quattro I think, so it should make very interesting driving hopefully the whole of South Island!

Regards - Joan

[ant]

Hi Joan.
Have a good trip to NZ. Spread the Romahome word down there, I've have only got one customer in Aus', none in NZ!!
See you next year.
Ant

[lunnie]

No problem in spreading the word about Romahomes, I love them, little tardis's they are!!!

[clarina]

Having read all the above with regard to the gas hoses, I went and checked ours, only to discover that ours was indeed black. Jim has now replaced it with the correct orange one. I would not have realised if it wasnt for this info.

So glad I have found this web site.

Sorry we didnt get to Chipping Norton last weekend, family commitments etc. hopefully if there is one in the spring we may be able to make it.

I am afraid do we tend to be 'fair weather'campers, especially with two dogs!! nothing like the smell of 'wet dog' in an enclosed space!!

[Derek]

clarina said:

Sorry we didnt get to Chipping Norton last weekend, family commitments etc. hopefully if there is one in the spring we may be able to make it.

I am afraid do we tend to be 'fair weather'campers, especially with two dogs!! nothing like the smell of 'wet dog' in an enclosed space!!

Hi All

We will second that, Judy and I would have liked to meet all of you, look forward to next year, hope we can make it then. Also the bit about wet dog, taking our Meg camping is great fun but she hates the wet and mud more than we do. Every time we go back into the camper, paws need to be washed in a bucket and dried, hence the need for an awning. Hard standings and sites with good roadways make life very much easier.

Thanks also to Ant for all his advice.

Derek

[Pauline]

Talking about these gas hoses made me wonder if the same applies to the black pipes used when camping and using a gas bottle hooked up to a cooker.

Do these need changing every year too?

Just thinking about our son and daughter in law who are tent campers and whether they should change their hose.

[ant]

Hi Pauline.
I'm not sure if there are any regulations for outside camping with gas. A gas leak in an open field isn't so dodgy as in a locker next to your head! If the black pipe is hard I would change it as the hardness is probobly due to the gas oil in the pipe which will burn with a huge yellow flame if it gets as far as the camping stove burners, all the pots will go black and smell like a filling station!
Ant

[Pauline]

Thanks Ant, I'll pass on the info to them - better safe than sorry.