Gas - which to use?

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sotal
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Gas - which to use?

Post by sotal » Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:09 pm

From the conversation I had with the dealer, I believe the Bongo I'm getting will not come with a gas canister.

The Bongo has the Southernimports Mid conversion in which has a 2 burner hob mounted in a kitchen like this...

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Now we're quite limited on space, the cupboards under the kitchen will house the coolbox like the one in the picture, and the fresh water container fits in there too. We won't be storing the portapotti there as I don't like the idea of it being with the fresh water supply bits! It will go behind the rear seats if anywhere.

Basically I'd like to take as little space up as possible. I don't imagine us using a lot of gas as it is only the 2 burners in the van that use it. Saying that we do have a mini BBQ that runs on gas, and we do have a little 2 burner/grill camping stove that we may use for longer stays to avoid get the smell of bacon over everything.

I have 2 butane bottles which are both empty at the moment. They are the smallest standard size (something like 4kg). Am I best sticking with these? They are a bit of a pain to swap between the bbq, camping stove and built in hob as they use a screw thread regulator. They are also quite large.

Would I be better using the camping gaz type bottles instead?

Any suggestions?
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by Cab-ova pete » Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:21 pm

that is the size I'm using at the mo but saying by that my conversion is built for this size, space is essential in a bongo as you will soon find :D good luck
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by g8dhe » Sun Jun 21, 2015 11:12 pm

Good place to have a gas leak, those cupboards! Gas is heavy so drops down right across the mains sockets and switches :-(
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by Cab-ova pete » Sun Jun 21, 2015 11:17 pm

Remember where your extinguisher is kept, I always keep 2 in the bongo( saving space again) :roll:
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by mikexgough » Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:17 pm

I'm on a 907 but my cupboard will take a 3.9kg propane which i'm going over to........ as I have a compressor fridge & solar.... I really only use gas for my 2 burners...so really it lasts ages ....for cooking bacon etc and not to stink out the Bongo....I cook outside on a petrol stove...at 60p a fill for 8 hours cooking...
it's what suits you.......
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sotal
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by sotal » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:44 pm

Still not quite sure what to do.


The bongo is fitted with a campingaz regulator for the 904/907 cylinders.

I could swap this out for a calor butane regulator.

There doesn't seem to be anything that actually holds the cylinder in place. Is that normal?

I'm tempted to go with the campingaz as it is smaller and as pointed out above space is a premium!


I'm planning on using some kind of outdoor cooking where possible to limit the smell inside the bongo. At the moment we have a small portable gas BBQ which has a calor regulator on it, we also have a fold up 2 burner stove and grill - which again has a butane calor regulator on it. I have 2 empty butane calor bottles. I also have a butane bottle cage and strap.

So we are quite setup for Calor! However regulators aren't expensive so could quite easily swap them over. I could do with making the job of disconnecting and reconnecting as simple as possible. The Calor system requires a spanner to undo - does the campingaz require tools or do you just spin the bottle off?

I guess we may also want to use both at once. Maybe I need two cylinders?!

Any thoughts!?
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by Gasy » Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:49 pm

Or a tee peace in the rubber hose with a caravan BBQ gas point on it
You can then just connect the extra appliance to the one bottle/reg
No tools req there just like a air line push fit
Gas safe heating engineer / plumber if you need any advice just shout.
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by sotal » Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:04 pm

I like that idea but ideally would want the bbq point on the passenger side and the gas bottle will be on the drivers side. Has anyone done this? Where did they mount the bbq point?
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by scanner » Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:11 pm

One thing to remember however much gas/gaz you use Camping Gaz (basically Butane) in canisters can cost about 4 times as much as Calor Butane in the larger cylinders.
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by Gasy » Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:19 pm

Can be hard piped with copper pipe and compresion fittings
In my caravan the bottle is at the front and on the side outside there is a nice slide up small opening with a BBQ point in side
I use it to connect an old caravan fridge which goes in my awning ( beer fridge )
Gas safe heating engineer / plumber if you need any advice just shout.
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by sotal » Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:44 pm

Ended up going for a Campingaz 907 cylinder. I used a strap from the old caravan to hold it in place.

It was a difficult decision but it came down to space in the end. The 904 seemed pointless as it was the same diameter. The 901 was too small. The 907 costs as much to fill for about 2.5kg of gas as the calor does for 4kg but hey ho!

I need to buy another regulator now for the gas stove and will probably try and sell the 2 empty 4kg calor bottles.
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Re: Gas - which to use?

Post by ELZE » Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:58 pm

Cab-ova pete wrote:Remember where your extinguisher is kept, I always keep 2 in the bongo( saving space again) :roll:

Dry powder or CO/2?
A Bongo is for life, not just for Christmas
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