Post by Admin on May 27, 2014 19:07:40 GMT
Gas seems shrouded in mystery,but here a couple of things to help you.
Lets talk Bottles :-
Whats the difference between a red bottle and a blue bottle ?
Well, In the Uk at least, A red Bottle is Propane gas a Blue bottle Is Butane gas both are classed as LPG's ( liquid petroleum gases)
Both gases are contained in a cannister under pressure, and use the heat from the atmosphere to change from a liquid to a gas. at this stage they are under a lot of pressure,so go through a regulator to step the pressure down, next trip is to the appliance itself.
So Why Red and Blue wheres the benefit?
Blue gas ( butane ) is often referred to as a summer gas, when temperatures are low around 5 Degs C it has difficulty gassing in other words it cant draw enough heat through the bottle to change into gas so nothing gets to the appliances.
Propane on the other hand ( the red Bottles) will gas to approximately -47 degrees so is far more suited to Winter weather.
Well cant I just run Butane Summer and Propane Winter?
Well yes you can, but you need to change the regulator because they run low pressure side of the regulator at different pressures, this can be an expense when using automatic changeover valves. Butane runs at 28 mbar and propane 37 mbar. so a different regulator needs to be used...If you are fresh from a touring caravan, you may have had a 30 mbar regulator but that was something specified to motorhomes and caravans after 2002 the old rules apply with static caravans.
Talking automatic changeover valves what are they ? Automatic changeover valves are designed to help you not run out of gas. With Lpg when the gas does run out it is common to get an air lock and whilst not the end of the world time consuming purging appliances particularly water boilers.
A ACV is normally attached to two gas bottles by two hoses,( lodges often 4) after it passes through the regulator a single hose fastened by a nut to the gas pipe which runs inside the static or lodge. On the change over valve is a dial which points towards the bottle being used, as the bottle empties it automatically draws on the next bottle to maintain supply. The empty bottle is replaced, and the switch we now point to the second bottle and the process starts all over again.
Now I dont know why, But the Dutch and Germans particularly have a habit of shutting the valve on the second bottle that negates the whole idea of a ACV...you tell them and they still take no notice. It is perfectly safe. ( we just close the valve when we change the bottle)
Finally hoses,
We have two types of hose High pressure bottle to regulator and Low pressure from the regulator to the static.
A couple of things to bear in mind, and a gas engineer should check if he is doing a Landlords check or safety check.
1) Lpg hoses should be made from NEOPRENE, Natural gas hoses are made from rubber, LPG perishes rubber in weeks !!!
2) And heres the tricky bit if the hoses are British they will have a date stamped on them. That is when they were made not a use by date. Continental hoses though are stamped with a replacement date.
We always changed the hoses after 5 years , but in either event should be checked at least annually for cracking and perishing, and if in any doubt changed.
Well thats hopefully explained the common set up you will find on most Holiday Parks
Andy
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