[Maegusuku]

Hello there...

This is my first post, so apologies if I'm in the wrong place, or someone's already provided the answer. I'm new to motorhoming, and have an old Hymer Swing (fiat Ducato)... with the Calor gas, one is connected to a pipe, and there's also another empty Calor gas, not connected, and a Truma Secure motion (not connected to anything).

I have gas for the cooker, but no heating or hot water, and I presume the 2nd calor gas needs to be replaced and connected to the Truma secure motion thing (regulator?.)...

Does anyonwe know the specific hose and connector I should buy to connect from an Orange calor gas bottle (6kg) to the above Truma please?

Many thanks.

 

[jiwawa]

Hallo Maegusuku and welcome to the forum.

Both my bottles are permanently connected to the system (I have refillables) but all the gas requirements should be fed from your one connected bottle. The problem is possibly electrical?

It looks as if the secumotion has been taken out of the loop for some reason.

Hopefully someone else will see your post and provide more help.

 

[GMJ]

Firstly, if in doubt you should use/consult a qualified gas engineer for any gas work. However, notwithstanding that, replacing these pigtails isn't too onerous.

I have a Truma Secure Motion regulator in my MH plus I also have 2 x Truma Securemotion pigtails...which is overkill really as I now have double secure motion cover as it were.

As they are coming to the end of their 5 year life (I believe it is recommended to change them every 5 years: each are date stamped) I have bought 2 standard ones now. If you google 'Truma calor gas pigtail' you should find wheat you are after. NB: At the moment the Caravan & Motorhome Club have these on special offer to members at around £10 each...that's £7 cheaper than recommended retail (plus £4 postage though). Failing that Ebay is normally your friend!

HOWEVER...if you want to use the gas whilst on the move. Personally I would...

- get a gas safe engineer in to check your installation and see if you can find out if the secure motion regulator has been disconnected for any reason. Once fixed and usable you can use standard pigtails as above.

- Or, if you don't do that then you will need

https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/g...pressure-hose-with-rupture-protection-propane

Personally I only use Truma pigtails and only buy brand new. There are other makes on the market but I trust Truma. There are second hand ones on the market but I personally wouldn't mess around with those just to save a fiver or so. I also believe that you can buy stainless steel pigtails which are good for 20 years but since we change our MH after 4-5 years, I stick with the standard orange ones.

There are loads of experienced MHers on this forum so I'm happy to be corrected if any of the above is wrong.

EDITED TO ADD: See Tugboats really useful post below regarding regulators. This needs to be sorted/checked first before you worry about pigtail

 

[eurajohn]

Can you post a picture of all inside the gas locker?
Does the connected bottle have an on the bottle regulator fitted?

The Secumotion is what is known as a bulkhead mounted regulator, that particular type is to allow the use of gas appliances when driving.
I can only assume that for some reason a previous owner has bypassed the fitted system and rigged what you show to allow partial use of the equipment.

With some answers from you can offer some more suggestions.


.

 

[eurajohn]

I have a Truma Secure Motion regulator in my MH plus I also have 2 x Truma Securemotion pigtails...which is overkill really as I now have double secure motion cover as it were.

Geoff, not overkill, the two items have different purposes, the Secumotion is to automatically shut off the supply of gas from the regulator to the appliances should there be a severe enough shock to trigger it and the "rupture" device on the pigtail is to stop the flow of gas from the bottle to the regulator should the hose be ripped off of or damaged enough to allow an escape of gas from the bottle or regulator.
Both do the same job i.e. stop the flow of gas but for different reasons and different causes.

.

 

[GMJ]

Ah right, fair enough John, thanks.

As I have seen them advertised as Secumotion I assumed they did the same thing. I'm happy enough to go with the standard pigtails now though. We have 2 x 13kg bottles which I can hardly move so am happy that they will stay put. Its a job enough to get them sitting correctly over the raised keeper in my gas cabinet tbh.

Oh OP - just as a thought: the calor gas fittings screw in the wrong way round as it were so watch you don't inadvertently tighten them when you are trying to loosen, and vice versa.

 

[tugboat]

The item fixed to the bulkhead is the regulator that reduces high bottle pressure to a regulated pressure that the appliances use. The outlet is on the right hand side where the little black valve is. I assume the regulator failed as it has been bypassed.

It is vital in that case thaere there is a regulator fitted to the in-use bottle itself, otherwise the bottle is supplying too high a pressure to the van systems.

The copper pipe to the right of the coupling is what goes inside the van to the appliances and would have been connected to the black valve.

The other side of the regulator accepts gas from the bottle, and usually has a T connector so 2 bottles can be connected at the same time.

Your current setup should be allowing everything to work (assuming regulator fitted to the bottle) so if the cooker is working but not the heating, the problem is probably with the heating unit (Truma) hidden in a locker somewhere.

 

[GMJ]

Nice one Geoff...I have amended my post above to link to yours as I had completely forgotten about the regulator and just assumed there was one.

 

[Devonboy]

Welcome to the forum. As has been already stated the Secumotion looks to have been bypassed. probably because it was faulty & they are very expensive to replace. Hopefully there is a regulator attached to the top of the gas bottle in use as the Secumotion was the regulator. The Secumotion when used with two bottles needs a changeover valve, the Truma Duo Comfort range does this job, again very expensive. The hose from the bottle to the regulator would probably originally have been one with a crash protection, again very expensive to replace. The problem may be with the boiler or the supply may be turned off in the van. There should be a row of shut-off valves somewhere in the van to isolate each appliance. Truma product information here: http://www.southdownsmotorcaravans.co.uk/accessories/truma_drive-safe_secumotion.php

 

[Maegusuku]

Hello and thank you ever so much for your replies... Really helpful and given I'm such a newbie and don't want to gas myself or kids, I will pay for a gas engineer to sort it as it sounds like the gas bottle is not connected to the secure motion thingy for a good reason. I'm also highly unsure about the heating system and how it works.. you live and learn I should have probed the seller more at the time. Hey ho. Diolch. Thankyou.

 

[Penquin]

When I looked at. Securemotion with a view to installing it in our MH one of the guides that I read on it by Truma, said that it cannot be retrofitted as the pipe work has to be of a particular standard.

I did not go ahead with it but it might be one reason why it is not connected, hopefully a suitably qualified gas engineer for LPG for mobile uses will know what the restrictions are, if my memory is inaccurate.

 

[jiwawa]

Do come back and let us know how you get on.

I've found the forum invaluable over the years in solving problems.