Question Re Foreign Gas Bottles

[Pikeman]

Before we upgrade our current van, we expect to undertake a long trip, France, Spain, Portugal. I have looked at previous threads on the subject and note that I can buy a new bottle and regulator in France from Bricomarche (looked on their sight and no mention of it???). Is this same bottle available/exchangeable in Spain and Portugal? Or will I have to go through the same process in each country. Please don't suggest Gaslow or Gasit - have researched it to death and it is not worth us doing that until we upgrade.

Cheers

Keith

 

[vwalan]

no . french bottles not usually swappable in spain .portugal.
spanish repsol can very often be swapped in portugal etc .
to be honest i take a uk 19kg bottle full and a spanish bottle . use the uk as emergency spare .
at home i have a french moroccan bottle so i can exchange in france and morocco . then i wouldnt take the uk bottle .
also there are gas depots that will fill uk or french bottles if you ask them . several in the tourist areas.
never worth having refillable bottles . in spain its cheaper to exchange .
have to use an awful lot of gas to return your outlay.
even in uk not alot of differance to autogas and flogas bottle .
forget calor they just rip you off.

 

[Minxy]

Keith ... I'm gonna mention refillables (note I didn't say the 'G' words! ), you can easily move it from one van to another so when you 'upgrade' to another it won't be a problem. I've just been putting my G....w system into my new PVC - this is the 4th MH/PVC it's been installed in now - it's easy peasy to do.

 

[Robert Clark]

The great thing about refillable bottles us that you never waste any gas (and money) swapping part full bottles
Top up anywhere, whenever you want and you'll only ever pay for the gas you need

 

[Don Quixote]

We changed our Spanish bottle system to refillable ( done by Dave Newell ) and have never looked back. No problem topping up when refilling diesel and therefore aways full. had it done 3 years ago so by now paid for itself and can be removed and refitted to new motorhome. You can of course get a bottle and regulator for each country you visit, but thats a waste of money and holiday time.

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[rosalan]

Regrettably there does not appear to be any interchange of gas bottles across the "Common Market", every country keeping their own precious bottles. There are illegal ways of getting them topped up in some countries or you could carry the expensive 'Gaz' which is Butane and can freeze in the winter. Some people rely on a Spanish and a French bottle when outside of the UK. The reality is that if you are away from home for several weeks, the only practical option is refillable bottles. While having the full works can be expensive, you can always carry just one small (6kg) refillable for emergencies.

 

[TerryL]

Honestly, by the time you've finished messing about (and paying for!) individual country regulators and bottles, you could probably have paid for a refillable system. As well as the ability to refill (almost) everywhere, you don't have to keep humping heavy gas bottles about.

 

[vwalan]

abroad you dont hump heavy bottles they lift them into your van for you and carry the old one away.
about 10-20 euro gets a spanish bottle . in france its cheaper . in morocco about a tenner gets you a full bottle and deposit. at 45 dirham 3 quid to exchange . yes first trip you may have a uk bottle you wish you never had . regulators are anything from 3 quid to about 8 quid . . i,m sure the ones with refillable dont actually travel very much . might seem cheaper if you stay in uk.

 

[Robert Clark]

. i,m sure the ones with refillable dont actually travel very much . might seem cheaper if you stay in uk.

Sorry but that's not true, not in my case anyway ...
How do you manage when moving from one country to another?
Take your French bottle back to the dealer and continue without a bottle into Spain, then take your Spanish bottle back before you move back into France, then swap it again when you go to Germany .... What a hassle, especially if the bottles aren't empty
Much more civilised to top up your gas when you're in the petrol station filling up with diesel.

 

[Minxy]

abroad you dont hump heavy bottles they lift them into your van for you and carry the old one away.
about 10-20 euro gets a spanish bottle . in france its cheaper . in morocco about a tenner gets you a full bottle and deposit. at 45 dirham 3 quid to exchange . yes first trip you may have a uk bottle you wish you never had . regulators are anything from 3 quid to about 8 quid . . i,m sure the ones with refillable dont actually travel very much . might seem cheaper if you stay in uk.

I suppose this approach is fine if you've got the space to safely store the various bottles, especially if you have some with a fair bit of gas in, but most people don't so IMV refillable is the only way to go for cross-border holidays.

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[vwalan]

Sorry but that's not true, not in my case anyway ...
How do you manage when moving from one country to another?
Take your French bottle back to the dealer and continue without a bottle into Spain, then take your Spanish bottle back before you move back into France, then swap it again when you go to Germany .... What a hassle, especially if the bottles aren't empty
Much more civilised to top up your gas when you're in the petrol station filling up with diesel.

if doing france and spain i take a french bottle and a spanish bottle . .if i use a french total bottle i can exchange it in morocco. this last winter i was only going to spain so took a 19kg uk bottle as back up . but used a spanish bottle . i can exchange the spanish bottle in portugal if need be . as it was i came home with 12 kg still in the uk bottle and an almost full spanish.
not difficult . in spain its not easy finding gpl stations and this year i saw many turn away refillable bottle folk . in morocco forget refillable . i never hand in a bottle with gas in . cant understand anyone doing that.

 

[Don Quixote]

Having lived in Spain now for nearly 4 years can say to date never had a problem refilling GPL, however we do drive a Spanish registered MH, which may or may not help.

 

[vwalan]

you may not have a problem . i can say this was the first year i have seen it .
also when traveling sometimes you may have to go several miles out your way to fill up. .repsol or cepsa are every where for bottles . this year even the delivery trucks were taking the other bottles back . some big gas stations had both in racks , again never seen that before .
i used to use malaga years ago ,when the gas depot was by the beach . now there are a few around . but i had been filling bottles for the last 30 years . i gave up when cepsa was giving away their stainless bottles free when they first came out .
might be this new regulation on bottles as tanks thats confusing things . but a few mates got refused filling gaslow .

 

[Minxy]

might be this new regulation on bottles as tanks thats confusing things . but a few mates got refused filling gaslow .

Could you please say where your mates had these problems?

 

[vwalan]

one was near sagunt . by the lidl store .
there was two more as we were going down . didnt make note .
a couple more as we went inland and up to santander.
luckily he had a repsol bottle as back up. but as we filled with diesel he tried to fill the gaslow .
it was attendant filling stations . they knew what to look for . a mate with a tank was asked at one station but seeing a proper tank his got filled . it became a sort of game will they wont trhey.

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[Minxy]

Other questions ... were the refillable bottles ones with the filler on the top of the bottle, or in the gas locker, or on the outside?

 

[vwalan]

hi. the filler was a bulkhead mounting . but they asked to see in the gas locker.
surprized me . i have helped olley on his gas list years ago when spain first started with its own adaptor . i met some germans that had had trouble as well. they were using alugas bottles .
also heard a few have had problems in france . where i cant say.
again seems to be the ones were they fill you up. not self service.

 

[Minxy]

It seems to be in certain areas then as we didn't have any problems at all when we were there in March/April this year and this was at ones where the attendants would do it for you if you wanted!

 

[gus-lopez]

if doing france and spain i take a french bottle and a spanish bottle . .if i use a french total bottle i can exchange it in morocco. this last winter i was only going to spain so took a 19kg uk bottle as back up . but used a spanish bottle . i can exchange the spanish bottle in portugal if need be . as it was i came home with 12 kg still in the uk bottle and an almost full spanish.
not difficult . in spain its not easy finding gpl stations and this year i saw many turn away refillable bottle folk . in morocco forget refillable . i never hand in a bottle with gas in . cant understand anyone doing that.

Problem is although you can legally carry 2 refillable bottle upright & secured in a vehicle , you can only legally carry 15kgs of gas in total in them.
Yes it used to be only the Repsol/cepsa distribution points that actually had lpg dispensers. The only 2 I know here that aren't are Caravans lorca & the opel bloke in Totana.
What I don't get is why any would turn a motorhome away from filling up?
What did they have it put inn for because there is certainly no vehicles around here that have lpg & the only ones used to be Barcelona & Madrid taxis.

 

[vwalan]

Problem is although you can legally carry 2 refillable bottle upright & secured in a vehicle , you can only legally carry 15kgs of gas in total in them.
Yes it used to be only the Repsol/cepsa distribution points that actually had lpg dispensers. The only 2 I know here that aren't are Caravans lorca & the opel bloke in Totana.
What I don't get is why any would turn a motorhome away from filling up?
What did they have it put inn for because there is certainly no vehicles around here that have lpg & the only ones used to be Barcelona & Madrid taxis.

there are alot of lpg cars now in spain . my mate had a garage in malaga and over the years the growth as been incredible . yes was only taxis years ago. now tanks are around for m,homes and is it the new regs are being applied possibly incorrect in spain . there are alot of gpl filling points in spain now . more ever year . but even so exchanging bottles is cheaper.

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[Graham and Jane]

Happy with my gas tank. Fill up anywhere and go weeks/months without filling. No bottles to worry about. No always the best option I know but it works for us.

 

[JJ]

Ok... let's stop all this nonsense.

If you are going to tour in your motorhome through the UK and France and Spain and Portugal regularly for long periods and are planning to use gas for cooking, heating, hot water and fridge, then there is only one (1) sensible solution for your supply.

A refillable system. (I use Gaslow but there are others).

Anyone saying it is better to use the different bottles in the different countries for what ever reason is simply wrong (wrong, mistaken, in error) and possibly still living in the past when the option of refillables wasn't available.

JJ