if using gas on a free camp site

magraret · Senior Member

if using gas on a free camp site

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

When I am camping I also have my fridge on gas and of course cook with gas when not utilising my open fire. I have two 9Kg bottles.

One 9Kg bottle usually lasts between 14 and 19 days - of course it will depend on the consumption of the fridge and how much you cook but that is pretty average.

Hope that helps.

Cheers - John

magraret · Senior Member

oh will it last that long that is a surprise

also can you fill a half used bottle or does it need to be empty

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I have a 90lt 3 way fridge and 2x4.5kg gas bottles and get approx 7 days each bottle just using the stove a little and fridge 24/7. Most cooking is done outside when travelling around. If your fridge is bigger you would use a little more gas I would say and also when it is hot. I have a little gauge on the fridge to yet me know when out of gas. I just start checking getting close to the time.

When driving with den on back I change to 12v but I'm sure you do that anyway.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Better to empty one, change over then fill the empty one due to cost but yes you can fill a half empty one.

magraret · Senior Member

where do u get the gauges from and how do you hook them up

Cupie · Guru

I use the gas fridge only rarely so can't give an accurate reply, but I would have thought that a 9 kg bottle would last at least 2 weeks as indicated by Dougwe.

I use a gas HWS constantly & get about a month out of a 9 Kg bottle.

In any case you might like to fill up both bottles & see how long they each last.

I transfer my part empty bottles to the home BBQ or Pizza oven to use up the remaining gas. I have a couple of spares as back up bottles. I'm too tight to fill up part empty bottles though.

Always have full or almost full bottles when I set out for a trip. A bit different if you are on the road full or almost full time I suppose.

I use the boiling water over the bottle method to check how much gas is left. (Gas is up to the top of the cold part of the bottle)

I put a white board marker line on the bottle with the date to indicate last tested level.

-- Edited by Cupie on Monday 9th of June 2014 10:45:07 AM

Happywanderer · The Master

When I had Myrtle my fridge was on gas. I had a 4.5 litre bottle which would last about 14 days and that was with a bit of cooking as well.
I used the boiling water over the gas bottle as well, so easy.
If you have two bottles swap them over when one runs out and get the empty one filled as soon as able, ready for the next swap over.
PS the fridges run on 12 volt when travelling, don't leave them on gas.

briche · Guru

Hi Mararet, I recently bought a gas pressure gauge that you connect onto the gas bottle in the same way you connect the hose. The hose is then connected to this gauge as normal. When you open the bottle you just press the gauge top 4 times and the gas pressure or the volume of gas in the bottle is displayed. That way you can keep an eye on it and know when it's getting low or has run out. I usually keep an eye on it after about 2 week. So all you need do is first change the gauge to the fresh bottle then connect the hose.

It has another aspect about it. If by some chance you have a major gas leak this unit shuts the gas supply off thereby stopping a major gas fire happening

I bought mine from Bunnings in the BBQ section And I think it was about $25 to $30 but worth the cost for the ability to keep an eye on the gas supply.

Hope that helps

briche

copper1 · Guru

On our recent trip around Tassie we free camped a lot and used our fridge, hot water, webber Q, and only once our gas heater lasted us 4 weeks on a 9kg bottle we have a truma gas level check that we got off ebay very handy gadget.

NeilandRaine · Guru

I do both free camping and c/parks. when free camping use gas for fridge and boiling the jug. Most cooking is done outside. fridge is 120 litre fridge freezer and hot water is on gas regardless. fridge is also on gas when sight seeing or wandering around town.
We changed our last bottle at the end of April and changed over again this week. Always fill the empty bottle asap. Don't wait for the second one to run out before looking to refillit isn't cheaper in bulk and you just don't know where you will run out.

Big Gorilla · Guru

My Waeco refrigerator is 12/24 volt. No gas. The only gas I use is for the stove and for hot water. I carry 3 x 2kg bottles. 1 bottle will last me 3 to 4 weeks. Refrig. seems to be a big gas guzzler. My suggestion is if you have ample solar power, leave your refrig. on 12 volt.

donnybabes · Veteran Member

Bunninings or BCF camp stores Aussie Disposals etc

revemike · Senior Member

I have just purchased the TRUMA Gas Cylinder Level Checker. A little pricy but I figure that overtime it will pay for itself with savings on gas (not filling gas tanks too soon).

My grandson has nick-named me... 'Mr latest tech-gadget man' - I must say I do like having 'gadgets' - might have to curb that desire now I am reaching retirement time - like most of us I will have to watch the pennies...

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

If you have a 3 way fridge do not run your fridge on 12v unless you are running the car, a 3 way on 12v will flatten your batteries overnight, it's a different matter if you are running a compressor fridge.
Cheers
David

neilnruth · Guru

We think our fridge runs better on gas than electricity but still only use it on gas when free camping and would get the same from our bottle. About 2 weeks. Using a butane cartridge gas cooker outside for cooking also helps it last longer.

Mousey · Senior Member

our little fridge works great on gas easy two weeks with a bit of cooking also

elliemike · Guru

magraret wrote:
where do u get the gauges from and how do you hook them up

This is the Gas Fuse Gauge. Most Big Hardware Stores will have them.

Remember to "PRESS DOWN" the DIAL on the gauge, to reset it.

Everytime you Turn the Gas Bottle valve off, you will need to RESET the gauge when you RE-OPEN the gas valve on the bottle.

Done by, Pressing down on the DIAL (the bit with Red, Yellow, Green, and the Needle in it)

I mention this because I met someone recently (New Grey Nomad, New Caravan) who had "No Gas" for a couple of days as something was wrong. When they mentioned that it was after they changed the gas bottle. Nothing worked. Even putting the refilled gas bottle on no gas was coming through.

They did not know about "RESETTING THE GAUGE"

How do I Know if the Fridge Gas is still Lit.

You must have a PILOT Light indicator of some sort on your Fridge.

It may look like that GREEN and WHITE indicator in the top right corner of the picture above. Or something like a Green Light maybe.

THE RED LINE is in the white part in the picture.

It is indicating the PILOT GAS LIGHT is not LIT, The gas is off or run out.

When you light the fridge the Red Line will move to the Right into the GREEN part indicating the Pilot Flame is lit and the Fridge is running on GAS.

As long as the Pilot flame is lit the RED LINE will stay in the Green.

If the gas has run out, the pilot flame will go out, so the red indicator line moves into the white part.

Get this into the morning routine of checking your fridge to see if the pilot light is operating. It is just a glance at the Pilot Light indicator.

Also a simple cheap Digital External/Internal Thermometer stuck to the Fridge Door will keep you informed of the internal Temp and also the temp inside the van itself.

If you do run out of gas overnight the fridge should take a while to thaw out. We have 90 litre fridge in the Avan. When on Dirt Roads we have all the vents sealed to stop dust getting into the van. The fridge is switched OFF for six or seven hours sometime and holds the frozen stuff OK,.

Hope this Helps

-- Edited by elliemike on Monday 9th of June 2014 03:55:02 PM

magraret · Senior Member

thank you all very handy info

reglynn · Guru

Hi magraret, we have 2 x 9 kg bottles as well, a bottle last us about a fortnight or a bit more, running the fridge, hot water system of a night to heat for washing up and a shower of a morning as well the heater for couple hours night and morning as we were in Tasssiie a couple months ago. As for a gas gauge, when there is no flame there's no gas means it's empty, so then i swap over to the 2nd bottle, or sometimes i pour hot water on the side of the bottle and feel where it's cold, that should give me an idea how full it is.

Cheers reg

rosco532 · Senior Member

Magraret........Was good advice from ellliemike.....Contrary to these days being tossed around, the longest we have had out of a 9kg on both fridge / cooking was 21 days per 9kg...

As a rule we got around 15 /16 days but now because we made changes to the front of our van & had to move the bottle brackets forward we have 2 4.5ltr bottles...BIGGEST mistake I've made as we only get around 5../..6 days per bottle now (looking to find another place to mount the bottles so I can go back to 2 9kg's)....Alway refill as soon as possible

...prices will vary town by town...from approx $17...right up to over $50 in the outbacks.

Cheers & enjoy your camping

Rosco