Gas refills

hako · Guru

Gas refills

GaryKelly · Guru

G'day, g'day, g'day yawl. It occurred to me that swapping an empty 9kg gas bottle for another is a piece of cake. But what happens if it's not empty and you're about to cross the Nullarbor or some place like that? Can you top up a half full bottle? I know some peeps carry a spare but I don't like the idea of having a full bottle of gas inside the van, and I don't have an outside bracket for gas and/or fuel. Topping up with fuel is easy though.

ibbo · Senior Member

A hardware shop would have facilities to top up a bottle.In NZ when one has a bottle refilled it is placed on a set of scales at the servo,weighed and then filled.That way you pay for what you receive.9KG's go a long way used normally.Like you I prefer not to carry a bottle inside my vehicle. aww

Olley46 · Guru

I have never heard of any one filling a partly used bottle without charging for a full bottle,rays outdoors weigh the bottle but charge for a full bottle.

Lance C

barrie · Guru

Clean eze in WA are the only ones i kow off that weight the gas put into bottles

GaryKelly · Guru

Well, seems to me that topping up a gas bottle is not as easy as topping up a fuel tank. So, next question. Do most service stations in remote places or small towns have a gas-bottle swap service? Or are they limited to larger towns?

barrie · Guru

Most do a swop and go as do caravan parks even if you do not stay there

Santa · Guru

GaryKelly wrote:
Well, seems to me that topping up a gas bottle is not as easy as topping up a fuel tank. So, next question. Do most service stations in remote places or small towns have a gas-bottle swap service? Or are they limited to larger towns?

Most do Gary, but, cab be expensive, we've paid between $18.50 and $27 out in the bush for a 4.5kg refill/exchange, quite a price range.

neilnruth · Guru

As mentioned hardware stores seem to be the place to re-fill or top up gas. We just took a bottle back to refill and fortunately she checked the date and refused to re-fill it. We had only bought it last year but it was out of date for checking. So we had to buy a new bottle. So our 9kg bottle which was only 8.5kg lasted us for 6 weeks last year and 3 weeks this year and some in between with a lot of freecamping. As mentioned - they last a long time. Another interesting thing the hardware said was - if you buy a 9kg swap bottle it will only have 8.5kg of gas. If you take it back to be re-filled, they will put 9kg of gas in it. And it's a lot cheaper than swapping.

Loki · Senior Member

You might check out the cheap canister stoves and carry one as a backup. They don't take up much room and are also very useful for cooking outside (my stove in the van is plumbed in).

neilnruth · Guru

That's a good idea Gary. We used the butane cooker outside all the time on the last trip. They're great. Just stock up before you go though as the second lot of refills we got were double the price at a local hardware.

GaryKelly · Guru

Cheap. Yes, one of my favorite words hehe. Thanks for the tip Loki and Neilnruth. A little portable sounds like a great idea. My cooker is plumbed in as well.

herbie · Guru

GaryKelly wrote:
Cheap. Yes, one of my favorite words hehe. Thanks for the tip Loki and Neilnruth. A little portable sounds like a great idea. My cooker is plumbed in as well.

I have just recently brought one of these little propane gas stoves and they are so handy ,do not know how we survived with out it. We have a Coleman two burner gas stove on a stand outside the van,we use a lot, but this little stove is grate when we go off with just the tent or even just in the 4x4 to make a cuppa.

03_troopy · Guru

Our local hardware store charges more to refill than it does for a swap and go. They say it's because the attendant has to take time to refill that they charge more.

GaryKelly · Guru

Okies... swap and go seems the go. But to check the level of gas remaining, I've heard that if you place your hand on the bottle, you can tell the level by where the exterior temperature changes from warm to cold.

hako · Guru

Gary - just buy one of these electronic scales in the link for $3.45, then you can work out how much gas is left. The cylinder dry weight is stamped on the cylinder. The scales are also useful for working out how much gas you are using daily etc. It weighs in 10gm increments which is good for the size of the fish I catch. One day I'll catch one that's legal size.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10g-40kg-Electronic-Digital-Fish-Hanging-Weight-Luggage-Scale-Metal-Handle-Hooks-/170921035017?pt=AU_Kitchen_Scales&hash=item27cbb00509

goldcoaster · Senior Member

Gary, to see how much gas you have left in the bottle,pour some warm water down the side of the gas bottle and move your hand slowly down the bottle feeling for the cold change,that is where your liquid gas is up to.