LPG refill refused

TerryL

TerryL

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On our way home and called in to a Repsol garage just short of San Sebastion to refill the gas bottles. I have Gaslow with an external fill point.

It started off very slowly, then two different attendants came across to me and said it wasn't allowed - no discussion, just no.

I know this happens in France, it did to me last year, but it's the first I've heard of it happening in Spain. Has anyone else suffered this refusal and anyone been told why?

I was going to fill the fuel tank too but they've missed out on that - plenty of other brands about.
 
i have the same system, never been refused, very odd, in ne garage I was having a bit of a problem filling and the owner came out and gave me a hand, anyway they lost out as you say,

 
Never been refused in Spain
Just move on
Loads of places that fill
 
I installed my gasit system last Sunday and promptly went off in search of LPG , i found a pump not too far away and will say that the first time was interesting ,i stuck the nozzle on and pulled the trigger ,no LPG,so i read the instructions and realised that i had to push a button :D , just short of 44 liters were sucessfully filled and no leaks (y)(y)
 
did you test for leaks with a lighted match like I did, I had no leaks either, :D o.k only joking before I get a earful

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TerryL said:
On our way home and called in to a Repsol garage just short of San Sebastion to refill the gas bottles. I have Gaslow with an external fill point.

It started off very slowly, then two different attendants came across to me and said it wasn't allowed - no discussion, just no.

I know this happens in France, it did to me last year, but it's the first I've heard of it happening in Spain. Has anyone else suffered this refusal and anyone been told why?

I was going to fill the fuel tank too but they've missed out on that - plenty of other brands about.
Click to expand...



They refused you because it's illegal here in Spain to fill anything other than the actual original factory-designed-and-fitted VEHICLE fueltank with LPG.
LPG at garages in Spain is licenced only for LPG propelled vehicles...to fill their engine fuel tanks. Not to fill any other form of separate or aftermarket or "leisure use" bottles.

Same laws apply in Portugal.

Only specialist gas companies ( eg Repsol, CEPSA etc) can refill such separate bottles, and then only in their own special factory process environments.

If they don't spot you using the nozzle to fill aftermarket-fitted LPG tanks for the "caravan" side of the vehicle rather than engine, you'll normally get away with it.
But the attendants were right to stop you once they'd spotted that the filler point you were using was not for an engine LPG tank for your MH.
Be more sneaky in future..........
 
It is for this reason that I never fill with LPG and diesel at the same filling station. as that is a dead giveaway. My external LPG filler point has a large decal on it saying LPG Fuel. (it is fuel after all, just for the fridge, cooker etc) Its also on the opposite side to the diesel filler so an operator can't see both at once. Be sneaky is the best answer.
 
Went into a Repsol fuel station yesterday and the attendant filled the Gaslow without a murmur. He even unscrewed my adaptor and handed it to me with a smile.
I had already opened the gas locker to turn off the taps on the bottles which he must have seen.

Richard.
 
Reallyretired said:
It is for this reason that I never fill with LPG and diesel at the same filling station. as that is a dead giveaway. My external LPG filler point has a large decal on it saying LPG Fuel. (it is fuel after all, just for the fridge, cooker etc) Its also on the opposite side to the diesel filler so an operator can't see both at once. Be sneaky is the best answer.
Click to expand...

Lke that.
 
Excuse my ignorance but why do you turn off the bottles before filling?

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f6c said:
Excuse my ignorance but why do you turn off the bottles before filling?
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If its anything like mine ,it has a solenoid that you can switch off to isolate any gas going from the bottles to the moho side , i open the screw type valves at the top of the bottle to let the gas fill up.
 
f6c said:
Excuse my ignorance but why do you turn off the bottles before filling?
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In order to prevent any liquid (ie as it comes out of the pump) getting pushed up the pipes and into the regulator which would bung it up/cause damage, this is what we were told when we enquired at the Gaslow stand ... if you want to risk it by not closing the bottles off you can but I'd rather not as I don't want to find out I can use the gas system when I'm gagging for a cuppa!

It used to be thought that the reson for turning off the bottles was to prevent 'over-pressurising' the habitation side of the gas system when filling but that's just a myth.
 
I pulled into a Repsol station last year,opened the the gas locker,screwed on the adapter while the attendant patiently waited to fill my bottle. No dramas despite everything that I have read on here.
 
We were refused at a Repsol in Spain when the chap realised it was for domestic use, it was somewhere past Monaco going West.
 
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Don't talk to me about bloody Monaco... :(


Moving on...

I get so very, very, very, very, very tired about reading what is legal and illegal about filling refillable gas bottles in Portugal.

I don't read law books. I don't believe all the "experts" on internet forums. I am simply not interested.

It is what actually happens to me in real life that interests me.

I have refilled my Gaslow system over and over and over again at different stations all over this country. Never ever been refused.

In several places the attendant comes out and fills them for me.

However... once again... I strongly suggest that if you are in anyway concerned about the matter, don't get refillable bottles.

But please don't tell me I will face refilling problems when I know I won't.


JJ :cool:
 
Minxy Girl said:
It used to be thought that the reson for turning off the bottles was to prevent 'over-pressurising' the habitation side of the gas system when filling but that's just a myth.
Click to expand...

Not if your gas regulator should fail as you were filling your bottles.

There is the high pressure side (the pump and the bottles) and the low pressure side (after the regulator). If the regulator fails and allows unregulated pressure through it, then the resultant high pressure will give your habitation equipment a very nasty shock.

Just saying

JJ :cool:
 
Never been refused anywhere in Europe, are you on UK Plates? That's it...UK Plates....its started.....Brexit, PHEW...glad I am on Spanish plates......:LOL::LOL::LOL:

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laird of Dunstan said:
If its anything like mine ,it has a solenoid that you can switch off to isolate any gas going from the bottles to the moho side , i open the screw type valves at the top of the bottle to let the gas fill up.
Click to expand...
laird of Dunstan said:
I installed my gasit system last Sunday and promptly went off in search of LPG , i found a pump not too far away and will say that the first time was interesting ,i stuck the nozzle on and pulled the trigger ,no LPG,so i read the instructions and realised that i had to push a button :D , just short of 44 liters were sucessfully filled and no leaks (y)(y)
Click to expand...
I got gasit fitted yesterday and did exactly the same, when I told the cashier it wasn't working she came out and put me right, all new to me, it'll be easy next time.

Mickey.
 
Apart from the Opel garage in Totana & the MH dealer in Lorca I have never even seen an attendant who wanted to fill my tank.:( All the ones I have used are normally miles from the petrol/diesel pumps & one in a Repsol garage on the Zaragoza road is so far you need to thumb a lift.:D2
 
We never got refused a fill up of our gaslow in Spain. The attendant even waited while we opened the locker to shut off the bottles before filling.Same now here in France.
 
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JJ said:
Don't talk to me about bloody Monaco... :(


Moving on...

I get so very, very, very, very, very tired about reading what is legal and illegal about filling refillable gas bottles in Portugal.

I don't read law books. I don't believe all the "experts" on internet forums. I am simply not interested.

It is what actually happens to me in real life that interests me.

I have refilled my Gaslow system over and over and over again at different stations all over this country. Never ever been refused.

In several places the attendant comes out and fills them for me.

However... once again... I strongly suggest that if you are in anyway concerned about the matter, don't get refillable bottles.

But please don't tell me I will face refilling problems when I know I won't.


JJ :cool:
Click to expand...



The OP asked why he was stopped from filling his gaslow lpg tank at a fuel station in Spain. He asked because he didn't know why. I know why so explained why, to help him. You may not have yet encountered that problem in Spain or Portugal but that does not stop the problem being real nor the law being applicable to people in Spain and to those garage staff who are supposed to apply it and who you've managed to deceive up till now.
 
JJ said:
Not if your gas regulator should fail as you were filling your bottles.

There is the high pressure side (the pump and the bottles) and the low pressure side (after the regulator). If the regulator fails and allows unregulated pressure through it, then the resultant high pressure will give your habitation equipment a very nasty shock.

Just saying

JJ :cool:
Click to expand...
I suppose there is that possibility JJ but if one of your hoses is loose you'd end up with a camper full of gas too ...

Just saying ;)

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The Nomad said:
Be more sneaky in future..........
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The Nomad said:
You may not have yet encountered that problem in Spain or Portugal but that does not stop the problem being real nor the law being applicable to people in Spain and to those garage staff who are supposed to apply it and who you've managed to deceive up till now.
Click to expand...
Can't understand why in one posting you've advised being more sneaky to the OP yet in another you come across as being against such actions by accusing JJ of being deceptive ... :confused:
 
f6c said:
Excuse my ignorance but why do you turn off the bottles before filling?
Click to expand...
Belt and braces! (y):D

Had to have a new regulator fitted a few weeks ago because there was oil in the old (2 year old) one. Fitter asked if I turned the taps off before filling as not closing them could be a cause of the blockage.
I have always turned them off after being advised on here that it was a good idea.
I have filled in France a few times and I hear that French gas can contain more oil but have no idea why that should be.

Richard.
 
Calm down peeps, question answered! (y)

I'm usually quite "sneaky" but up to now almost everywhere in Spain I've refilled before have offered to help too. I'm in France now so I'm sure I can find somewhere who'll refuse me here too!;););)
 
@TerryL Filled up at Repsol just outside Salamanca yesterday the attendant even did it for me.

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