Hi
Should be picking up a new Triton 430 from AL any day now. We are compete novices so have hundreds of questions but something we need to get sorted is the gas.
What is the recommended sort of gas and bottle size and do we need two?
Any advice gratefully received!
All the best
Rich

Hi RichB, exciting times - good luck with your Triton.

We collected a new Troll last summer from AL and I'm sure that they gave us a sheet that told us what things to bring with us when we collected. It stated what gas to get and when we collected the van Cameron fitted it for us and showed us how to use all the gas appliances. We got the Blue Calorgas Butane 4.5KG dumpy bottle. There seems to be space for two in the locker but we only carry one.

To be honest we haven't used the gas a great deal as we use the EHU for a low power kettle, toaster and small oil filled radiator. We only use the gas for a bit of cooking and to give a quick hot blast on the gas heater in winter. We even use the EHU on the hot water boiler.

I might be mistaken but I seem to remember reading somewhere, it might have been in this Forum, something about using propone gas if you intend winter camping when the temperature drops very low. You might want to check this out if you intend camping in near freezing conditions.

Don't do what we did and leave the AL site with your new van in tow in the middle of the rush hour - it was very unnerving towing it for the first time in solid traffic and trying to cross lanes.
MikeT

Hi Mike

Many thanks for the reply which is really helpful. You are probably right and I will have this sheet from AL but can't lay my hands on it.

Rush hour sounds scary - think we'll try and plan to avoid that at all costs. We are hoping to tow the thing home very slowly over a week or so and via a few sites.

All the best

Rich

When we got our original 'van from AL they were kind enough to give us a gas bottle foc, they probably have loads kicking around so maybe a quick phone call before you pick it up my be worthwhile?

Chris

Hi Rich
When we first purchased our 430T, there was no gas supplied, so decided to go the Propane Gas route. We had the appropriate regulator fitted and then bought a 6Kg tank. The first year we were camping mostly with hook-up, so didn't use it that much. We then decided to try 'off-grid' but didn't know how long a bottle lasted. With this in mind we bought a smaller back-up (3.4kg) so to keep the weight down and this would cover us if we ran out halfway through an evening.
We have now had the van just about 3 years and we ran out on our last trip out. I had also been logging how much gas we had used (anal that I am!!) and this was our usage for a 6KG Propane Bottle:
7 days Fridge
15 Hours Central Heating
67 English cooked breakfasts!!
5 Dinners
About 220 kettles of hot water for tea/wash up etc.

Regards Chris

The two types of gas for caravans are Butane in the blue bottle and Propane in the red bottle, Butane burns hotter than the propane however if you are going to venture out in the winter season propane freezes at a lower temperature.

I use one 6kg Calor lite propane bottle, the advantage of this is that the empty bottle is lighter than the standard bottle which keeps the nose weight down. It also has a built in gauge so you have a rough estimate how much gas is left. We do a lot of cooking and use the gas fire and so far we are on our second season with it.

Thanks very much for the advice guys. I think i know what to do now!
All the best
Rich

Quote: Poptop320 wrote in post #6

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I use one 6kg Calor lite propane bottle, the advantage of this is that the empty bottle is lighter than the standard bottle which keeps the nose weight down.

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Quote: Deeps wrote in post #8

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Quote: Poptop320 wrote in post #6

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I use one 6kg Calor lite propane bottle, the advantage of this is that the empty bottle is lighter than the standard bottle which keeps the nose weight down.

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Blimey, you must be one of the few as it's my understanding that a good number of us struggle to get anywhere close to the recommended weight either stated by Hymer or the tow bar manufacture.

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AL say they do not handle gas so make sure you have some with you if you're going to use the van immediately.
I settled on 2 3.9kg Propanes - a bit easier to manage into the locker. When one runs out just switch over and replace. Yes it's a bit more expensive first time but beats worrying.
Make sure you have a good quality gas spanner and remember they are left hand thread!
There's a button on the gas line next to the cylinder connection that you need to press in after turning the gas on - or nothing will come out.
If a site has washing up facilities then take a bucket and get your hot water there - costs nothing.
Electric Hookup costs more than gas - just a bit inconvenient if you're into appliances, tv, remoska etc.
Only boil the amount of water you need.

>If you have the kitchen in the front it bumps up the nose weight....<
Not always, with my 552 I can pick up the tow hitch with one hand and I aint popeye
Dave

Quote: eribanaut wrote in post #12

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&gt;If you have the kitchen in the front it bumps up the nose weight....&lt;
Not always, with my 552 I can pick up the tow hitch with one hand and I aint popeye Dave

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In the matter of correct nose weight, it appears that if you ask ten different people the question you can reasonably expect to get ten different answers back lol.

Here (https://www.caravanwise.co.uk/caravan-tips/nose-weight.html) is an example of what I mean although in this case the author chooses to have a foot on both sides of the fence so I feel sorry for any absolute beginner to caravaning in coming to a decision.

How do you know what the correct nose weight is?

The best way to establish this is to look for the figure in your manual. Unless your caravan's manual states otherwise as a rule of thumb you should aim for the nose weight which is 7% of the actual loaded weight of your caravan.

My reading of this is that the figure provided by the caravan manufacturer/stated in the manual takes precedence over other rules of thumb.

There is of course a third consideration to be taken into account - namely the towing vehicles tow bar limit which in fairness the above source does refer to.

So let's see how this all pans out in practical terms and using our Troll 542 plated at 1300kg as an example.

The caravans handbook (which repeats the same text as our earlier Triton 430) states that for maximum stability a nose weight of 100kg should be established OR the maximum allowable limit of the tow vehicles tow bar whichever has the lower value. In the case of our tow car the tow bar limit is 88kg which is the figure that should be used.

Applying now the 5% - 7% rule that the article (and other sources sometimes refer to) this returns a figure of between 65kg and 91kg which would necessitate us tending more towards the 5% end of the scale (our tow bar limit being 88kg).

However, quoting from the same source once more - as a rule of thumb you should aim for the nose weight which is 7% of the actual loaded weight of your caravan - how many of us actually tow at the absolute maximum weight limit of the caravan: very few I would hesitate to guess. I would also guess that even fewer of us actually take the loaded van to a weighbridge to confirm the fully loaded weight before the off so to say.

For the first time ever I actually did this yesterday with the result that our loaded van has a total weight of 1060kg - well under the 1300kg limit.

Applying the 5% - 7% rule in this instance would return figures of between of between 53kg at the lower end and 74kg at the upper end both well below the caravan manufacturers recommended 100kg AND the tow vehicles 88kg limit.

Now I accept that the above is all hard facts and figures and doesn't take into consideration other important factors for stability etc such as correct distribution of load and correct tyre pressures (another minefield) but does, in my opinion, serve to show that the entire subject of nose weight can be confusing especially to those with little or no experience of towing.

No matter what I do - short of dumping a dead body or a sack of cement in there, my noseweight is stuck at 50 - 55kg. There is just not enough room to store anything heavier at the front of the van - 410 Triton. Tow hitch is rated 75kg. I doubt if I'm anywhere near my max of 1000kg - probably around 850 - 900.

Don't think a couple more of kilos of gas is going to make a huge difference.

As far as I can tell the main reason for the noseweight factor is to keep the van from rotating back around the axle over dips and bumps and so lifting the back of the car - I guess. Probably wrong as always.