How to tell how much gas is left in the bottle.

[richard]

Does anyone know of a device or way of working out how much gas is left in a gas bottle, apart from lifting it up and sloshing it around?

I have a propane bottle in my Romahome Hylo, which has no room for a spare, and I dont want to be caught out while on a holiday in France. Can one buy compatible propane bottles there?

Richard.

[lunnie]

There is a stick on gadget which is supposed to show you the level of gas, think it is sold by Kleeneze

[wendy]

Richard, you are best to take Campingaz when you go to France as you will easily be able to change that when if it runs out.

[jayjay]

lunnie said:

There is a stick on gadget which is supposed to show you the level of gas, think it is sold by Kleeneze

I bought some when I had a static caravan, can't say they worked very well though. Always seemed to be an approximations rather than an accurate reading. They do let you know when its getting low though.

Richard if you buy a small Camping gaz 907? (even a couple) and a regulator, you could store it underneath in the seat storage, they are quite small and you will, as Wendy says, be able to get it refilled/exchanged abroad.

[Derek]

richard said:

Does anyone know of a device or way of working out how much gas is left in a gas bottle, apart from lifting it up and sloshing it around?
Richard.

You can use one of these



www.gaslow.co.uk/pages/c_s2_1.htm

Derek

[lunnie]

I have read somewhere that you can test by water, not sure how, will ask Caz on another forum, because I think she may have the answer.

[ant]

The only reliable way to tell how much gas is in a camping gaz bottle is to weigh it. I have a small spring balance weighing device that I hang the bottle from. Full to the brim a Camping gaz bottle weighs 14 pounds, empty it weighs 8 pounds. larger Calor bottles have the empty tare weight stamped on them.
Ant

[rhodgkinson]

Thank you all for your comments:

The Gaslow guage looks the business but I guess experience will only tell how much cooking time is left when the guage goes into the red. The other problem is that given the lack of space in the gas locker, inserting the guage into gas line might make it more difficult to fit. I see Gaslow also do a combined regulator/guage that might overcome this problem.

Weighing might be a cheaper option but then you would have to unhook the gas bottle and take it out of the locker each time you want to weigh it. When I fitted a gas bottle myself, although I was careful, I found, when it was too late, that I hadn't aligned it properly and the connection leaked.

I cant use Camping Gaz as our cooker and fridge are designed for Propane. Romahome switched production of Duo HyLo from Butane to Propane at the beginning of 2006 because they were having problems with the Smev gas cookers they were installing having carbon deposits build up on the metal grid on some but not all units. The propane was said to burn hotter and solved the problem. It also has the advantage of working at much lower temperatures than butane, which allows use in the depth of winter.

Richard