Gas

[Donk's Dad]

Hi Ant.
We are using the 907 Gaz on the de-mountable but cooking takes for ever as does boiling a kettle.
Would fitting a new(er) regulator help? or could we switch to Calor Bar-B-Q gas as its a lot cheeper than Gaz & being propane not Butain like Gaz, I beleive it burns hotter.
We could just about fit the smallest bottle under the seats, but have about 3 of 4 x the gas for the same price.: so happy:

[Twolitre]

Hi Ant.
We are using the 907 Gaz on the de-mountable but cooking takes for ever as does boiling a kettle.
Would fitting a new(er) regulator help? or could we switch to Calor Bar-B-Q gas as its a lot cheeper than Gaz & being propane not Butain like Gaz, I beleive it burns hotter.
We could just about fit the smallest bottle under the seats, but have about 3 of 4 x the gas for the same price.: so happy:

I am not aware of BBQ gas. Is the bottle similar in size to the Gaz 907?

My kettle boils on Gaz as quickly as my electrical kettle at home. I know that the diameter of kettles and pans is a consideration if a lot of cooking is going on, but a gas burner is much more efficient with a kettle or pan as wide and as low as possible (as mine is). With as little contents as is needed. So much heat is lost up the sides otherwise. There are also kettles available with a perforated "skirt" round the bottom. I've never tried one, but they look a sensible idea.
Jim.
I'm sorry if I am treading on your toes Ant, but I have included a question!

[Donk's Dad]

The Calor Gas is called "Patio Gas" and is for Bar-B-Q's and heaters.

The small one is only 40cm high (but you might safelt even be able to temporary remove the plastic handles)

We have a kettle with copper loop's all around the base and it is surposed to be fast boiling.

We had a Bambi before the de-mountable romahomewith a very simlar hov & Grill but things cooked much faster and the kettle boiled far quicker !

[steamydave]

I sometimes turn the gas DOWN if I use the bigger burner, as in my mind, if the flame is burning beyond the edge of the base Of the pan/kettle, then it is heating the van more than the kettle!

But then that's just me!

Dave

[ant]

Donks Dad.
The regulator should have a date stamp on it, they should be replaced at 10yrs old. Old regulators do give trouble. The BBQ bottle does not fit the later Romahome gas locker, if your demountable is an early body then the gas bottle was stored and used under the seat locker where space was not an issue apart fron the height. Propane has an extra hydocarbon molecule than Butane and needs more air to burn properly, it does have to potential to burn with more energy but I doubt you could time a kettle boiling difference between the two.
Ant

[Donk's Dad]

Hi Ant

The bottle does fit under the seat in our romahome. - its the demountable one we picked up from you that was previously trailorfied (if that is a real word)



If its not the regulator (i seem to remember fitting a new one) can the hob burners clog? and can i clean them ?

Cheers

[peterholden]

I have written elswhere on the forum how you can reduce the height of the smallest calor gas cylinders (both propane and butane) so that they fit in an under seat locker.

Peter

[Donk's Dad]

a link or where its located on the forun would be handy

[jayjay]

A Gaz 907 on my demountable worked fine. Not quite so quick as an electric kettle to boil but something sounds wrong there somewhere. If you're not running low on gas and your regulator is ok (you could try fitting another one as that is the most likely thing and new ones occasionally disfunction) it's likely you need to take the cooker apart and clean it, could just be the burners need cleaning out. You can get aerosol cans of compressed air to blow out the underneath bits, tubes and the like. I believe there is a little nut or screw that you can turn to let more air into the gaz, could be the mixture is wrong.

Could it be that you haven't found the turning for high and have been using it on low - which is little more than a simmer? Sorry to ask this question, but I did that the first time on mine, the little lines for where the two separate heights of flame were supposed to be on the knobs had worn off and it was only with some experimentation that I found the High setting!

[Donk's Dad]

I know the daft questions have to be asked, as some people (me included) can sometimes not try the most obvious thing.

But YES we have tried it on high (low is almost non existant)

To cook 1/2 dozen rashers of bacon takes about 20mins. (twice as long as our old Bambi hob) 10-12 mins to boil a kettle.

If you are famished or thirsty you have to think well ahead.

[jayjay]

Definately sounds like something is wrong there. Unless you are using the grill to do bacon, that would take 20 mins! A frying pan should take about five to seven minutes to do bacon on a small gas burner.

I would first undo the burners (there's a screw in the middle on the old ones) unsrew them and soak them in hot soapy water, rinse and dry. Check to see if there are 'spacers' underneath the rings while you're there. Some have them and they fall to pieces after a while - they will look like rings of cardboard if you have them, and sit underneath the rings when in position.

While the rings are soaking, have a look down the holes underneath and see if there is anything blocking the gas from coming through and remove if poss. Put it all back together and see if its any better. If not, you might need to adjust the little air thingy (very technical, me) at the back where the gas feeds in. I'd still try a new regulator if the cleaning doesn't work.

[Ian.C.S]

If on low you have almost no flame,you should have a flame at least 1 cm high,then your regulator is naff and not letting enough gas through.Camper gas is mucky and soots up,so do the clean that J/j describes,then get a new regulator.

[peterholden]

Sorry can't remember where it was and so will repeat here.

When getting the cylinder make sure that it is one with a guard that is bolted on.
1. Measure the distance between the top of the control valve and the top of the cylinder. That is the maximum that you can remove.

2. Measure the height of the cylinder and the interior height of your locker.
This is the amount you need to remove and should be less than the measurement in 1

Unbolt the guard and remove the amount measured in 2 from the bottom of the guard and redrill the fixing holes.

The cylinder will now fit in the locker.

Remember to swap guards over when you change the cylinder.

In our Outlook we carry the spare cylinder under the seat and when the one in the locker runs out we swap cylinders and guards so that the empty cylinder can live under the seat until we get home.

Years ago when we had a Jiffy based Romahome the gas bottle lived in the cupboard under the stove and there was a dropout cut into the floor of the lcupboard

Peter

[jayjay]

Remember though, whichever gas you use, if the fault is at the cooker end, changing gaz for propane won't help.

[Donk's Dad]

Well....................!
I changed the Regulator for a brand new one.
I changed the flexible rubber pipe for a new one.
I removed the burners to check if they were blocked, but they look like they have hardly been used.
And i tried another Gaz 907 cylinder to see if there might have been a problem with that.

and......................! NO DIFFERANCE

The flame is only about 10mm High on full power. Its nice and blue with just flashes of yellow when a draft blows.

Although its an old camper pod, i dont think the Explorer cooker Hob & Grill have been used much.....I wonder why................

Any more suggestions. PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.