Refilling Gaslow Bottles .. problem filling at Shell station . (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

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Three times I have gone to refill my Gaslow bottles at a Shell station in Woodbridge.. and three times have failed .. the pump pressurises then does nothing.. no matter how long you hold the fill button.. but the plot thickens..

The first time it happened I thought I was doing it wrong.. or had made a mistake fitting the bottles.. so went home and checked all pipes were connected properly.. but found nothing amiss so went back and tried again .. same problem.. I was puzzled.. and also worried.. how can this be ?

So I went over the road to an identical Shell station with the same LPG pump and it worked fine..


Has anyone else experienced this or other problems with LPG pumps ?

In France had no problem.. and much prefer the French connection to the UK bayonet gun which I think is over complex for what it does..
 
Feb 16, 2013
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Three times I have gone to refill my Gaslow bottles at a Shell station in Woodbridge.. and three times have failed .. the pump pressurises then does nothing.. no matter how long you hold the fill button.. but the plot thickens..

The first time it happened I thought I was doing it wrong.. or had made a mistake fitting the bottles.. so went home and checked all pipes were connected properly.. but found nothing amiss so went back and tried again .. same problem.. I was puzzled.. and also worried.. how can this be ?

So I went over the road to an identical Shell station with the same LPG pump and it worked fine..


Has anyone else experienced this or other problems with LPG pumps ?

In France had no problem.. and much prefer the French connection to the UK bayonet gun which I think is over complex for what it does..
Our shell garage is the same, are you sure they are switching it on in the booth, we always have to go in and tell them we want gas before it will work.
Completely agree about the French pumps.
 
Jan 3, 2008
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I guess they just have a faulty pump, especially if the one on the opposite side of the road is working ok. I haven't had any problems when I go up to the Shell station in Oulton Broad.

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Tanya_and_Mick

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Yes, at Shell Fenstanton (A14) - the filler to the left of the pump is exactly as the OP describes; however, the filler to the right of the pump works perfectly.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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are you sure they are switching it on in the booth,

yes.. each occasion the attendant has came over to help.. pump was definitely switch on

I guess they just have a faulty pump,

that's all I can conclude... but you would think Shell would have repaired it.. it's over a year since I first tried to use it..
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Yes, at Shell Fenstanton (A14) - the filler to the left of the pump is exactly as the OP describes; however, the filler to the right of the pump works perfectly.


that is strange.. but glad to find out it's not just me ..

I was getting paranoid about filling up..

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hilldweller

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We came unstuck in Spain once, someone had hit the emergency stop mushroom on the pump. The attendant was clueless.

Did you hear the pump start ?

Come to think of it, many years ago, I remember having to hold a Shell station button for ages before the gas arrived.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Did you hear the pump start ?

can't honestly say I did Brian .. but the pump readout showed a small amount had been metered, about .. ÂŁ0.05

I tried several times.. disconnected the gun , then reconnected and held the fill button for ages.. and I do mean ages .. hand was numb holding it .. Jan came out to help hold it in..

The pump in the station across the road only had to be held for a short time..

.. thought it worth mentioning as it may catch others out..
 

GJH

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Come to think of it, many years ago, I remember having to hold a Shell station button for ages before the gas arrived.
I recall that happening at the Shell station at Thornaby once and at a Shell station on the A1 north of Peterborough. The kiosk staff reckoned it could take a while for the gas to get through because the main tank was so far away.
I've had no problems with any other places, Shell or otherwise.

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Aug 19, 2015
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Our first experience of filling our LPG bottle was at a Shell garage somewhere in Cheltenham. We Followed instructions for connection. When we twisted lever and tried to lock it on, gas flew out everywhere. Retried it again, some happened. Went to kiosk to ask advice, girl in there said sorry can't help you we are not allowed. The instructions are there. Luckily, when I went back to MH a lady manager came over as she could see there was a problem and straight away put a sign on the pump to say it was out of use. They had a second pump opposite which worked properly. She was very helpful as we had to manoeuvre the MH and go into the forecourt against the flow of one way traffic. We only have a 6kg bottle and it filled in about 20 seconds and cost ÂŁ6.71 !!
 
Sep 3, 2012
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Same here at. Shell garage at Newark
All connected , pressurised ,etc pushed the button,nothing,tried again but the same. 5 pence . Told the attendant but it looked like a new fill nozzle to me. Not had issues elsewhere but believe all nozzles on shell are being changed at some stage

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klaatu

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I sometimes have problems with pumps which are very slow to begin with, but then speed up after minute or two, but I've not come across one so far which didn't eventually co-operate. Often the people at the cash desk will say that they are always having some problem or other with the LPG pump.

Even at full speed, I have to stand there holding the button in for 10 to 15 minutes or more to fill up from empty (and take two goes, at they invariably stop after 100 litres).
 

movan

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It isn't just disconnect the gun .. you have to put it back on the pump. Then when you do it all again it works .. and only then does the indicator go back to zero .. on both my local garages.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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It isn't just disconnect the gun .. you have to put it back on the pump. Then when you do it all again it works .. and only then does the indicator go back to zero .. on both my local garages.

tried that Joy and still no 'joy' . (sorry for pun.)

the first time I had trouble the attendant came out to assist and did just that .. to no avail..

but even if that worked, it shouldn't such a fuss and bother to refill .. it should be fool proof and simple..

using the French Claw is child's play and makes the UK gun look like an antique ..

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Mar 26, 2009
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At my local Shell station I was told there is a timeout period on the LPG pump. If you don't connect and hit the start button within the required period the pump has to be reset at the till and also at the pump itself by placing the filler back into its cradle.
 
Feb 16, 2013
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On our local shell it never works first time, instead of putting the nozzle back , on our first time I was told to connect it up and then put my hand in the hole the nozzle came out of(n) don't ask me, but it worked , maybe just a coincidence I don't know.
 

Fletton

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It isn't just disconnect the gun .. you have to put it back on the pump. Then when you do it all again it works .. and only then does the indicator go back to zero .. on both my local garages.

When I filled at Ceanby Corner... I connected and it pressurised... BUT the indicator doesn't go to Zero until the button is pressed and held.. It happens all in one action... Unlike "normal" pumps that zero prior to delivery ....

Also the guy next to me said that it has to travel a long way so if not used recently... You have to just stand there - button pressed until gas arrives...

I emptied another bottle yesterday... So will be visiting a station soon for my second go!..

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movan

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obviously more to this refilling lark than meets the eye ... :unsure:

Yes.. and yesterday I was reminded of one of @Snowbird 's posts ... I always hold the tube far back as I release the handle ... yesterday the jet of gas shot back about 12ins to my hand and burnt it .. will never make that mistake again.. much further jet than normal. :(
 

vwalan

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nice to hear how convenient they are to fill.

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Langtoftlad

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...
Has anyone else experienced this or other problems with LPG pumps ?
Yup - at Total, Glinton.
Thought it must be me.
Then easily filled at Shell (St Albans, just off J21 M25)
But cylinder didn't take much - thought it must be me
But then discovered it was fuller than I'd thought :rolleyes:
nice to hear how convenient they are to fill.
It is very convenient.
*Top up when you fill up with diesel.
*No messing about with spanners in a confined locker
*No humping heavy cylinders
*No wasted gas exchanging a not totally empty one for a full one
*No paying Calor's inflated prices.

(Though I do wish the LPG pumps were a little more reliable).
 
Aug 10, 2012
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Three times I have gone to refill my Gaslow bottles at a Shell station in Woodbridge.. and three times have failed .. the pump pressurises then does nothing.. no matter how long you hold the fill button.. but the plot thickens..

The first time it happened I thought I was doing it wrong.. or had made a mistake fitting the bottles.. so went home and checked all pipes were connected properly.. but found nothing amiss so went back and tried again .. same problem.. I was puzzled.. and also worried.. how can this be ?

So I went over the road to an identical Shell station with the same LPG pump and it worked fine..


Has anyone else experienced this or other problems with LPG pumps ?

In France had no problem.. and much prefer the French connection to the UK bayonet gun which I think is over complex for what it does..
If you mean the shell station on the A12 going north to Southwold then yes. ...
Did exactly the same thing to me
Nice Indian man helped me , got 3 x ÂŁ0.10 in and stopped

Small world
 

Snowbird

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I have had similar problems with LPG pumps where the pump does not start immediately. After a few minutes of holding the button in they do tend to do something. My 200 litre LPG tank does take some filling when empty and I have noticed that although the first 25 litres or so can be slow filling it does speed up a bit after that. Best place I find for filling in the UK is Calor centres as they fill for you, well at least the one in Liverpool does,and its the cheapest for miles around.

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Snowbird

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One more thing I have noticed when filling from empty with LPG. The quantity you can get in varies by up to 30%. Some pumps obviously have different cut off points.

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Emmit

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Hijack Alert,
Could someone please post a link showing the type of 'Dish' adaptor I need for France, and could they confirm that it is the same adaptor to be used in Spain/Portugal. I am aware that there are two 'Dishes' and I would not want to buy the wrong one.
Apologies for Hijack and thanks in advance.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Hijack Alert,
Could someone please post a link showing the type of 'Dish' adaptor I need for France, and could they confirm that it is the same adaptor to be used in Spain/Portugal. I am aware that there are two 'Dishes' and I would not want to buy the wrong one.
Apologies for Hijack and thanks in advance.

as far as I know there is only one dish type connector..

look here

http://www.mylpg.eu/adapters

dish-adapter.jpg
 

Snowbird

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Hijack Alert,
Could someone please post a link showing the type of 'Dish' adaptor I need for France, and could they confirm that it is the same adaptor to be used in Spain/Portugal. I am aware that there are two 'Dishes' and I would not want to buy the wrong one.
Apologies for Hijack and thanks in advance.

Spain has gone onto the newish Euro adaptor which I call the bullet. As far as am aware, there is only one type of dish adaptor, both used in France and Portugal.

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