Have I got a leak? Our Gaslow realy is Gas-Low Forums

teemyob

Hello all,

I fitted Gaslow 2 months ago. Scince then our gas seems to need frequent re-filling. We did have calor 1 x 13kG and a reserve 6kG, so I guess as we are now using a 11kG Gaslow (only fills to 80% so lets say 8.8kG (Am I correct?)) along with a Calor reserve of 6kG.

*There is a slight smell of gas when you open the locker.

* I have tried the Gaslow gauge leak test, the gauge does move down slightly after some time (the intructions state after the specified period of time, what is the "specified period of time"? as they do not state it!) as to me if it moves at all it must be leaking as there is not great temperature drop when I am testing.

* I have tried leak testing solutions and cannot find a bubble.

We refilled the Gaslow bottle on Friday 25th May. Cooked a a fair bit inc Hob Oven and BBQ, used our Truma Heating for water and space heating for no more than 2 hours a day and yet by Monday 28th evening the Gaslow was empty and had switched to the Calor reserve!.

So can anyone offer any advice or tips?

I noticed Russel had a problem with his Gas Hose and I have checked the joints thouroughly from the Bottles onward and no leaks!

Trev

bognormike · Moderator

seems odd, shouldn't run out so quick. If there are no discernible leaks, I should get an expert to look at it. You could have aleak elsewher on the lines. Are you sure it filled up? how much did it take?

teemyob

Hello Mike, thanks for the response.

When I filled up it took just over 19litres.

I am just going to check it again now and see if I can trace anything.

Trev

whistlinggypsy

Trev, on our recent 33 day trip of France we started with 2 x 11kg bottles which is i think 43lts of gas.

We had hookup on only 5 days, 3 days on a site and 2 days on electric at an Aire, so the rest of the time we used gas for everything, cooking, fridge, heating/hot water ect.

When we filled up on the day of our return we put in 28lts of gas approx. 1 and 1/3 bottles for 28 days of Aires camping. For you to use 21lts. in 3 days suggests you have a leak and should seek expert advice from Gaslow company.

Bob

DABurleigh

Trev,

That's got me stumped.

1) Your gas consumption for 4 days suggests to me you have a significant leak which ought to smell like crazy.

2) Your description of your gauge needle moving slightly after a leak test (turning off at bottle and seeing if pressure drops) is at odds with this. Stipulated time is probably something around 30 secs - basically if you can see the needle movING (as opposed to having moved over a period) it is enough to do something about. If you don't see it movING but the pressure gradually drops over a much longer period it is something to keep an eye on and do a soap&water leak test on just the more convenient visible/ accessible joints in the gas locker.

3) Gaslow are great over the phone - superb receptionist/ secretary for MD Richard Glazebrook - so pose the problem to them and resolution/ satisfaction will not be too far away.

Dave

teemyob

Hello there, thanks for all your replies.

My old mate who I trained as a refrigeration Engineer has just come round to help me out (he has moved onto commercial Gas/Oil and is Acopse and Corgi Trained/certified).

We have iscolated all the internal taps for ALL the appliances.

* Firstly he smelt the odour straight away
*We tried leak test solution - soaked all the joints, hoses regulator the lot nothing visible
* Carefully tested all joints with an electronic sniffer very slightest trace coming from the upper part of the Gaslow refillable

After removing the Gaslow Cylinder to Regulator hose (fitted through the Level valve) we noticed I had been bit heavy handed when tightening them up and the seals were squashed and distorted. We have replaced the hose complete with new seals, we have also replaced the Regulator to Bulkhead hose with re-inforced orange hose in place of the black one.......

Now the gauge test pressure is dropping much slower but he suggest there is still a tiny leak somewhere as in 30 mins it drops 3 little markers!

Still trying to trace it..............if we have one!

Trev

SPACEFLOWER

I had the same problem on a brand new 'van. We isolated everything and changed the cylinder, and removed the twin take-off gaslowe. All was well, as the used cylinder was now empty we re-newed that as well. Eventually we came to the conclusion that the original new flexible 'rubber' pipe was faulty, we re-newed that. Our Gaslowe now stays in the green for 24 hours. Gaslowe state that 10 minutes should be enough to establish if there is a leak or not.

Rapide561

Hi

I believe that the 11kg is the 80% level. So in theory a cylinder will take approx 22 litres to fill.

Russell