# Fitting a Gaslow Cylinder



## exmusso (Jun 18, 2006)

Hi all,

I've just fitted a Gaslow refillable 11kg as a replacement for one of my BP Gaslight cylinders. 

I thought I'd give a quick run through what it entailed and minor problems encountered. 

I bought the kit at the York show and it consisted of the bottle, filling kit, manual changeover, and hose from bottle to regulator.

First thing required is a 70mm hole saw - biggest one I had was 54mm so checked out a few places and price for a decent one was around £20 mark which is a bit pricey for a one off hole. I eventually found a 3 piece kit at B&Q for £4.95 - designed for fitting recessed lights which looked like it would do. The size was quoted as 72mm but I stuck a digital caliper on it and it was actually 69.7mm 

After a serious bit of looking and checking, I drilled a small pilot hole in the centre of where the hole was going, having used masking tape around the area in case the drill slipped. 

I then used the hole cutter on the outer skin until it would go no further and then from inside the gas locker.

The filler was then fitted as per Gaslow instructions and ensuring the gas filler pipe was tightened before locating.

The filler pipe was then screwed to the gas bottle outwith the locker as there was plenty of length of pipe.

The bottle was placed in position, manual changeover fitted to the top of the regulator and then the hose to the regulator from the bottle.(left hand thread}

After filling the bottle at my local filling station - it took just over 21 litres before the 80% cutoff kicked in. Cost of fill was £10.10
Back home I made a soapy solution using car shampoo and brushed it on all the joints - all OK except for where the filler goes into the bottle. I then nipped it up a bit at a time but was concerned about the pressure I was exerting on the nipple so backed it up with stilsons. Eventually all OK and bottles strapped in using existing retaining straps.

This should now help when I go abroad and my BP Gaslight can be used as the emergency backup and the barbecue.

Cheers,
Alan


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## ingram (May 12, 2005)

Please clarify what it was that you drilled the 70mm hole through.

Was it the wall of a coachbuilt body: some sort of 'composite' material or was it through a steel panel? 

Thanks

Harvey


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## exmusso (Jun 18, 2006)

*Gaslow fitting*



ingram said:


> Please clarify what it was that you drilled the 70mm hole through.
> 
> Was it the wall of a coachbuilt body: some sort of 'composite' material or was it through a steel panel?
> 
> ...


Hi Harvey,

The 70mm hole was drilled in the side of the motorhome to enable the filler point to be fitted.

The outer skin is (I assume) aluminium which in turn has a layer of polystyrene insulation behind and finally the plastic/composite material of the gas locker.


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## ingram (May 12, 2005)

Thanks exmusso; I have been considering fitting a Gaslow; my van is a steel body so will have to find a good way of making the hole for the filler; I doubt the tool you used will go through steel.

Harvey


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## 2kias (Sep 18, 2006)

ingram said:


> Thanks exmusso; I have been considering fitting a Gaslow; my van is a steel body so will have to find a good way of making the hole for the filler; I doubt the tool you used will go through steel.
> 
> Harvey


Why not mount the filler inside the gas locker so that if you change the van then you can take the whole kit with you. No drilling of the body work required. Gaslow sell a mounting bracket I think.


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## exmusso (Jun 18, 2006)

*Gaslow filler fitting*

Hi Harvey,

A 70mm steel hole cutter - Starrett or similar will work fine on metal. Make sure it comes with the mandrel.

John,
There are three sizes of brackets available (all £30) from Gaslow for fitting either inside the locker or below. They are OK if you fit and forget but take up space in the locker if you are still using a conventional cylinder.

What I did get in case of removal in future is a fitting that looks and works like a gas locker vent which would replace the filler.

Cheers,
Alan


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

Alan,

I didn't get time to visit the Gaslow stand at York but have been considering having their system ever since we had to drive 44 miles to get a replacement cylinder in Scotland this summer!

Our van has no outside door to the gas locker and the locker height limits us to a 907 cylinder. However Horizons quote £342 on their options list for Gaslow so I presume it can be fitted, presumably with an outside filler inlet.
Is the Horizon's price realistic in your experience or would I do better shopping around?

Andy


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## wilse (Aug 10, 2007)

exmusso

I've just come back from France and am considering a single bottle gaslow system, would you mind telling me how much you paid. Thanks for posting your fitting notes, and picture, it looks a smart job. 

I noticed lpg or gpl as they like to call it was only 65-70 cents per litre!

My truck is silver, I bet they don't do a grey bezel?

wilse


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## MrRob (Jan 15, 2007)

Steamdrivenandy said:


> Alan,
> 
> I didn't get time to visit the Gaslow stand at York but have been considering having their system ever since we had to drive 44 miles to get a replacement cylinder in Scotland this summer!
> 
> ...


Ive just been quoted £150 to have my Gaslow swapped across to my new van, and Id note that I think it is now a legal requirement to fit the filler to "fixed" bodywork, and not on locker doors or brackets inside lockers etc. 
If it fits Id go for it .....and the very nice men at Monkton Moor :wink: will fill it up for you so you dont even have to mess about with the fillers that all seem to operate slightly differently and confuse me each time I fill up at a new pump. :? :roll:


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

Mmm that suggests a going rate of £150 for fitting and the odd plumbing bits plus the cost of bottle. Shall have to check the Gaslow site for the prices of bits.
That raises something we were discussing over the BLITS weekend weekend. If you have a van converted to LPG for the engine can you run all your gas appliances off the one fuel tank in the same way that you can run a diesel heater off the diesel fuel tank? Presumably you'd have to have the diesel heater fiddled with to burn LPG? 
Then you can run out of fuel for both driving and heating at the same time!!! :roll:


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi Steamdrivenandy it would be a lot cheaper to change your D/heater to a gas one(propex etc)
terry


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## 94639 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Steamdrivenandy 

I dont believe that you can run your engine and heating from the same LPG tank. AFIK you require a vapour take off to run gas heating etc. and a fluid take off for running the engine.


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

brisey said:


> Hi Steamdrivenandy
> 
> I dont believe that you can run your engine and heating from the same LPG tank. AFIK you require a vapour take off to run gas heating etc. and a fluid take off for running the engine.


Hi Brisey 
Yes you can, LPG tanks can be supplied with two take off points, one liquid the other vapour..


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## 94639 (May 1, 2005)

Thanks for that Jim, I stand corrected. Sorry for the duff info Andy.


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## exmusso (Jun 18, 2006)

*Gaslow fitting*



Steamdrivenandy said:


> Alan,
> 
> I didn't get time to visit the Gaslow stand at York but have been considering having their system ever since we had to drive 44 miles to get a replacement cylinder in Scotland this summer!
> 
> ...


Hi Andy and Wilse,

I paid £216.70 for the following:- 11kg bottle, White fill kit, Manual changeover, 0.75m hose, French adaptor, Euro Adaptor and a Hole cover.

Had I got it fitted at the York show, that would be another £90.

The filler colour options are black or white but no reason why they couldn't be sprayed to match prior to fitting.

Re converting engine to also run on gas - only possible on a petrol engine.

Cheers,
Alan


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

Thanks for the info Alan.

All that enthusiasm about LPG dissipated like well LPG at about lunchtime today when I realised that Gaslow don't make a 907 size cylinder. The price for Gaslow on my van on Horizon's website is a typo as they forgot to remove it when they copied the option list from the Cavarno which has a bigger cylinder in a totally different place.

Then I read that LPG is currently only useable with a petrol engine and that really deflated the whole thing.

So it looks like I'm back at square uno with a small 907 and a diesel engine. 

Remind me not to get enthusiastic about anything in future.


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Steamdrivenandy said:


> Thanks for the info Alan.
> 
> All that enthusiasm about LPG dissipated like well LPG at about lunchtime today when I realised that Gaslow don't make a 907 size cylinder. The price for Gaslow on my van on Horizon's website is a typo as they forgot to remove it when they copied the option list from the Cavarno which has a bigger cylinder in a totally different place.
> 
> ...


You could always have an under-chassis LPG tank fitted. Would seriously increase your gas capacity and free up the space currently occupied by the Gaz cylinder at present.


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

Now then Spacerunner you sure you're not just trying to cheer me up?  

Any ideas as to who could fit at what sort of cost?

There I go again getting excited - calm down boy. 8) 

Andy


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Steamdrivenandy said:


> Now then Spacerunner you sure you're not just trying to cheer me up?
> 
> Any ideas as to who could fit at what sort of cost?
> 
> ...


Its true!!! A company called CMR I think, but I'm sure someone knows the name. Or you can Google for it. Prices compare quite well with a Gaslow system.


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## MrRob (Jan 15, 2007)

Steamdrivenandy said:


> Thanks for the info Alan.
> 
> All that enthusiasm about LPG dissipated like well LPG at about lunchtime today when I realised that Gaslow don't make a 907 size cylinder. The price for Gaslow on my van on Horizon's website is a typo as they forgot to remove it when they copied the option list from the Cavarno which has a bigger cylinder in a totally different place.
> 
> ...


... well you could consider a fitted lpg tank .... Conrad anderson are quoting £575 fitted for a 30 to 60 L tank. I think I will go this route.

As for your discussions about converting to a single fuel you would need a Petrol engined van, which would not have a diesel heater, to covert to LPG.... or do an engine swap as I don't think you can covert a diesel engine to run solely on LPG and reap the cost savings.

Given the problems with finding LPG in many places I would advise using Diesel that you can get anywhere (you can get diesel powered Hobs) the only problem will be needing more battery reserves to run a 12v only fridge. I had a Westfalia that only used a 907 for the hob and it would last months anyway. It was great never to have to worry about how much gas was left. BUT the gel battery cost £250 every 18 months and took up as much room as an extra 907. And if you needed extra power a diesel genny would be more expensive too.

Swings and roundabouts

:wink:


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## Steamdrivenandy (Jun 18, 2007)

MrRob said:


> Steamdrivenandy said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for the info Alan.
> ...


Ah, I've just worked out that my l'il old 907 cylinder holds circa 1.4 litres of LPG. With boring monotony that's lasted us a regular 10 camping days ever since we got the van.  
A 60 litre tank would therefore last us in excess of 400 camping days or around 10 years!!!  Maybe a tad smaller (and hopefully cheaper) tank is called for.
We only use gas for the hobs and some water heating, there's no room for oven or grill. 
We already have a compressor fridge because important van body ribs run at the back and prevent the cutting of vents for an absortion fridge. The original 85 amp battery used to give out in 2 days and even with a second on board we tend not to last more than 3 days or so without hook up in summer.


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi try this they quoted me £60 for a small cylinder complete with filling connecter and instructions.
http://www.mthautogas.co.uk/light-weight.htm
If you read all the bumpf you are allowed to refill cylinders,and although a little daunting the first fill it's easy pessey afterwards.I must admit that if my son had not bought a gas car I would have been terrified,but now theres no looking back and at less than £3 to fill a 3.9 kg cylinder as to £11.50 to exchange you have to give serious thought to it
terry


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