Refilling free standing cylinders

olley · 04-07-2009, 08:44

Hi I hate to say "told you so" but Countrywide have just sent me a safety notice, saying that due to an accident, the refilling of free standing cylinders using an adaptor is nolonger allowed.

The notice has a picture of a modern "A" class with fire damage up the side, they don't say what happened.

Olley

Road Runner · 04-07-2009, 08:51

Yup not a pretty site

ScotJimland · 04-07-2009, 09:05

Hi Olley

thanks for posting the picture .. it looks like the adaptor has failed .. more information would have been helpful, the one's sold on ebay are made up from two fittings, unlike the proprietory adaptors for filling fixed tanks and Gaslow cylinders.. either way, a salutary warning to all of us who fill bottles in or near or vans using this type of adaptor..

jim

vwalan · 04-07-2009, 09:36

with out further info its hard to understand what happened i would have thought accidents can happen with the standard fill adapters as well . does it really make a differance, if the filler is fitted to the van n bottle clamped down its all joined with adapters. think beware this is all to be done with care n attention is what needs to be used here. looks like gas was leaking n caught fire due to fridge vents being close .bet they take more care in the future.hope its not going to happen to me.

ScotJimland · 04-07-2009, 09:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwalan

with out further info its hard to understand what happened i would have thought accidents can happen with the standard fill adapters as well . does it really make a differance, if the filler is fitted to the van n bottle clamped down its all joined with adapters. think beware this is all to be done with care n attention is what needs to be used here. looks like gas was leaking n caught fire due to fridge vents being close .bet they take more care in the future.hope its not going to happen to me.

Hi Alan

Filling a bottle in a locker definitely increases the risk of an accident no matter what adaptor you're using .. as you know, when you disconnect there is a woosh of gas .. which on a normal lpg tank isn't an issue as they are usually underslung with plenty of free space around.

The problem is, that many (most) garages won't allow you to fill a bottle on the forecourt so people fill covertly .. in car boots, back of estate cars or in lockers which is inherently more dangerous ..

jim

olley · 04-07-2009, 09:58

Hi Jim one the problems I see with these adaptors is the lack of a non-return valve, overfill the bottle and forget to close the valve on the top, and when you take the filler off you have liquid gas blasting out, which might be what happened here.

Olley

ScotJimland · 04-07-2009, 10:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by olley

Hi Jim one the problems I see with these adaptors is the lack of a non-return valve, overfill the bottle and forget to close the valve on the top, and when you take the filler off you have liquid gas blasting out, which might be what happened here.

Olley

Hi Olley .. quite possibly .. however there were two different adaptors on ebay , one fitted with a non return valve the other not .. but both types are 'home made' by joining two or three components ..

type one .. Bayonet adaptor + propane bottle adaptor screwed together.
type two .. same as type one with a non return valve between the bayonet and bottle adaptor ..

as far as I know neither are supplied with a certificate, the one I borrow has a non return valve but I certainly wouldn't trust it .. if you look closely, the valve in your picture looks incomplete, it doesn't show the bottle end .. which led me to conclude it had failed

jim

vwalan · 04-07-2009, 10:10

its very unfortunate that as humans we make mistakes . someone did there. the filling of bottles is just the same in a bottle filling plant there is still no non return valve. there is alot more gas around to catch fire though so the operator takes more care . i hope. even blowing up tyres is a life threatening experiance if you have ever seen one explode while being pumped up. i worked for michelin for awhile you should have seen some of their pics of mistakes. life n living needs lots of thought before we do it , but sometimes we dont think.