LPG problems ahead

[Pudsey Bear]

What!! in accuracies in the forum thread, I'll alert the meeja.

 

[wildebus]

What!! in accuracies in the forum thread, I'll alert the meeja.

 

[Campervanannie]

The Weymouth article was the one linked in the earlier posts, with a comment along the lines of 'no wonder they would want to stop selling LPG'

Steve

The comment no wonder they want to stop selling LPG was my comment on the picture from Wellingborough and I did post that I could not verify if there was any truth in it.

 

[Whooooooosh]

Station Finder - Motor Fuel Group - Find Your Nearest MFG Service Station

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FYI - If the fact that MFG are to stop selling LPG worries you, do what I did and use the link above to see if any of the forecourts you use are part of MFG.

Turns out none of them that do LPG near me are MFG so NBD.

So now I'm not worried. GTR

LOL

 

[marchie]

The comment no wonder they want to stop selling LPG was my comment on the picture from Wellingborough and I did post that I could not verify if there was any truth in it.

I didn't make my comment in relation to your post, Annie; it was another Member's post. There was a some confusion yesterday with what looks like two explosions at different Morrisons Fuel Stations and the Weymouth explosion being referred to as the 'no wonder they want to stop ...' comment, when another member posted separately that Morrisons Weymough do/did not sell LPG.

And lastly, the Weymouth article in the original post/link carried the Fire Service quote from the [onsite?] Commander that there was hard information/known cause of the explosion, by which stage, there were quite a few posts/replies referring to the lpg explosion cause! Other than that, everything was as clear as mud, save nobody enquired whether David Suchet could be tempted out of retirement to apply his little grey cells to solve the mystery!

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

No MFI garages near us at all.

 

[Campervanannie]

No MFI garages near us at all.

MFI didn’t they do fitted kitchens and bedrooms I don’t remember them ever selling LPG.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I did wonder who'd jump on it first as I tryped it Annie.

 

[cheyenne]

AES fridges are a pain, and I would always turn one off as soon as I entered a garage for peace of mind as you can be waiting more than 15 minutes on a busy day and who knows if it is actually 15 minutes, Dometic etc are not known for precision.

hi. yes your right the auto fridge has caught us out a few times but handy if the electric goes in the night .cheyenne

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We've had the gas run out in the night, but we know as the kettle is on first so the fridge stays shut for a while till it's cooled down, we go find a cafe or something for breakfast as we're normally mobile by 9am ish anyway.

 

[marchie]

We've had the gas run out in the night, but we know as the kettle is on first so the fridge stays shut for a while till it's cooled down, we go find a cafe or something for breakfast as we're normally mobile by 9am ish anyway.

Kev, is it only me, sad puppy that I am, who checks the gas bottle levels every 2-3 days, even when the 2nd bottle [11kg] is full, to ensure that the gas doesn't run out in the wee small hours? Anal retnetive? Yes; OCD? Yes ...

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Kev, is it only me, sad puppy that I am, who checks the gas bottle levels every 2-3 days, even when the 2nd bottle [11kg] is full, to ensure that the gas doesn't run out in the wee small hours? Anal retnetive? Yes; OCD? Yes ...

Steve

I'm sure it isn't only you Steve, some folk fit gauges etc and maybe even alarms, I just wait until one runs out then swap over and start looking for a replacement, not so easy lately as we're running dual 6kg propane.

the only thing I have any concerns about LPG wise is if it runs out when the oven is on coz bears like their grub.


We did once run out one Christmas trip, it was late evening and the heating went off, not messing around in the dark so I left it til morning.

 

[nabsim]

I'm sure it isn't only you Steve, some folk fit gauges etc and maybe even alarms, I just wait until one runs out then swap over and start looking for a replacement, not so easy lately as we're running dual 6kg propane.

the only thing I have any concerns about LPG wise is if it runs out when the oven is on coz bears like their grub.


We did once run out one Christmas trip, it was late evening and the heating went off, not messing around in the dark so I left it til morning.

Isn’t it just a matter of closing one bottle and opening the other? That’s how mine was set up with manual changeover, maybe a minute tops

 

[Trotter]

Isn’t it just a matter of closing one bottle and opening the other? That’s how mine was set up with manual changeover, maybe a minute tops

Just so. It isn’t brain surgery. It’s no more complicated than turning a tap on and off.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Isn’t it just a matter of closing one bottle and opening the other? That’s how mine was set up with manual changeover, maybe a minute tops

I tend to go with whatever setup the van comes with and this is a simple single bottle setup so I have to physically, take out the full one, take out the MT one, put the full one in and pipe it up, then put the MT one back in ready to replace it, so a full five minutes and a fair bit of pain lifting them.

 

[wildebus]

Kev, is it only me, sad puppy that I am, who checks the gas bottle levels every 2-3 days, even when the 2nd bottle [11kg] is full, to ensure that the gas doesn't run out in the wee small hours? Anal retnetive? Yes; OCD? Yes ...

Steve

How do you check them?
considering how long they have been around, reliable systems to actually tell you what is in a bottle seem far and few between, so if you have a good way to do so!?

I fitted these gauges to my bottles

Gas Gauge by David, on Flickr
They are not very good as gauges, sticking low on the green "gas" section until just about empty, but I still like them as they are also a safety valve. (shuts off when gas out and you had to press in to reactivate after filling/turning bottle on).

I remember Wully using his ultrasonic (?) gas level detector on my Gaslow bottle at Lochore and it saying I was nearly empty (which was quite possible). But after making a detour to the Morrisons near Burntisland, I could only get about £3 worth in (but filled up with overpriced diesel whilst there. win-win ).
Kind of put me off those detectors.

The ones you can fit to the bottom of a tank and monitor with a Bluetooth app seem reliable but horrendously pricey

Seems monitoring Gas Tanks is even more basic than monitoring Domestic Oil Tanks (for the first couple of years, my gauge was the literal dipstick, being a length of wood. Only problem being the marks on it were not very good and although it indicated a reasonable amount of fuel in the tank, the boiler ran out on Christmas Eve in a very cold winter and I had no heating or hot water until the next year!)

 

[Lefty107]

We still have a few local but as stated earlier just a little planning and not a problem. I also wonder if they decrease the remaining garages will find it more profitable as generating a higher turnover so would be more inclined to keep.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

A 6kg at this time of year will do 10-14 days as it is only fridge and cooking, but even in winter we only use slightly more as although this was a budget van when new it is well insulated so the heater is not on for long as we cook tea in the van so the hob or oven warm it up, then we'll play cards read or make the beds up and get in.

 

[Rumour]

That Wellingborough fire was definitely an LPG fire. It was started while the Transit was filling up. Whether or not it was a non refillable cylinder is yet to be reported. (I'll try and find out when I get to chat to a friend who is a fireman at Wellingborough). Sad that he was injured, no matter what he was filling. But this is or at least was our local gas point! And at 0.799p we liked the price too. I would think that the gas pump will not be replaced now, so back to filling where we see it.

 

[Okta]

The pressure gauges are pretty close to meaningless. The gas pressure should not drop at all until very nearly empty, it has more to do with temperature than volume of gas.