# Love some help with gas connections in France etc.



## robbielouis (Jan 2, 2010)

Hi, 

We leave this weekend for an extended probably 3 month stay in France and possibly Spain, we have not motorhomed abroad and would be grateful for help and advice.

We use the normal gas supply blue bottle and wonder what is best in France?

Can we buy a regulator etc in France or is there anything we need from here? There seems to be some contradiction about what we require.
Dogs all sorted, passports ready, hopefully Sat off we go.


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## MikeCo (Jan 26, 2008)

First of all if you are looking for any decent weather you will not hang about in France and head for Spain. We also set off on Saturday but will be in La Manga on Thursday.
With regards to gas it depends if you will be on hook up or not, if the answer is yes then you might be able to manage on a couple of bottles of gas. If the answer is no then I would say no chance.
Also you really should be on Propane rather than Butane.

Mike


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

When you are in Spain buy a old gas bottle from a scrap yard (ecopark)
Take it to a garage and exchange it for a full one.
You can buy regulators and pipe from a supermarket or hardware store (fereteria)


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Whatever else you do, get rid of those blue Calor bottles (butane) and replace them with propane (red if you're using Calor). If you don't you'll find that the first bit of continental cold weather you run into your gas supply will fail. Butane is only any good in temperatures well above freezing and performance can start to drop off as high as 10deg.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Seems it is too late for you to fit refillable Gaslow bottles.


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## jedi (Nov 22, 2007)

Hi, 

I've been travelling abroad for about ten years now, for up to 12 weeks at a a time. In summer, without the need for heating, gas requirements are obviously much lower. I generally go with 2 full bottles and take a 905 Campinggaz ( very expensive I know!) for the bag. Camping gaz is readily available in super markets and garages all over Europe.

Last year, however, I spotted a special offer at a French garage. They gave you a 10kg bottle with FREE regulator for about £23.00. Obviously refills are then much cheaper once you have the bottle. From now on this is what I will use abroad as it was readily available at garages all over France. One Calor bottle will remain for back-up.

Long term, if you intend to spend a lot of time in your van then Gaslow system is probably the best solution. Takes some time to re-coup the installation cost on lower gas prices but very convenient.

Happy travels, Jedi


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## jedi (Nov 22, 2007)

Oops! Camping gaz was for the bbq not the bag! Damn spellchecker!


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## hymerowner (Sep 10, 2006)

Would second Jedi - we carry one Brit cylinder and one French one working on the principal that you can replace the French one easily on your way through and use the Brit one as back up. never failed yet.


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## anteater (Oct 29, 2009)

Hi, if anyone is still around on this thread, do you know if we could get a 6kg bottle over there, and not a 10? Not at all sure we would have room for a 10, as we currently have 2x 6kg from the dealer. In 10 days we go to France and it is still quite cold, and we are not sure if 2 x 6 will last us with cooking as well as heating by gas in the evening and part night.
Thanks for any replies.


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## hymerowner (Sep 10, 2006)

They come in all shapes and sizes in French garages and supermarkets - we got ours from a motorhome dealer and now just exchange the cylinder somewhere. Not sure what size it is - biggish!

We have a Hymer so we had no problems with the regulator. The dealer was concerned that he didn't have a regulator that would work for a Brit camping car until he realised the make.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

The connection is more likely to be a problem Anteater.

Web Page Name>> This << excellent article will answer most of your questions.

Dave


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## hymerowner (Sep 10, 2006)

Do what we did - find a dealer and ask advice. After that, no probs. Get a Hymer!! We had to take conectors off.


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## ubuntu1 (Jan 14, 2008)

*Gas*

I've written about it on my blog.
PM me if you want any advice - don't worry go and enjoy our neighbours, there are plenty of options to keep your gas supply available to you. It depends how much you want to spend and how handy you are with a spanner.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

hymerowner said:


> Get a Hymer!! We had to take conectors off.


Get a British van - we didn't have to take them off!! :wink: :lol:

Dave :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## hymerowner (Sep 10, 2006)

You got some modern camping car with pig tale things then? Ours had been converted for Brit gas and we then unconverted it. Lot depends on age of vehicle.

Found it harder to replace our gas this year - suspect that Fanc eis going over to modern "Le Cube" type things.


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