Safefill - Refillable Gas Cylinders

tadhatter replied on 18/06/2019 13:16

tadhatter

Posted on 18/06/2019 13:16

Last summer, as part of my ambition to do far more off-grid touring, I thought I'd invest* in Safefill. Perhaps my alarm belles should have been ringing when the place I went to go to purchase a canister was Brayford Leicsure and they only had one size available - the medium sized one - and lots of them! But nonetheless I coughed up my circa £160 for it and have them fill it up and carried on smug in the knowledge that I would soon be quids in in longer term savings.

However, for various personal reasons we haven't been able to get out in the caravan anything like as much as we had hoped since then - partly due to a job change and house move - we've only just got round to needing to re-fill it. I duly looked on Safefill's website to find stockists and discovered that there was only one in about a 10 mile radius. That would be ok if this garage would actaully allow me to refill it. Notices on their lpg pumps said that individual gas canisters were not be refilled here and before I even checked at the kiosk a forceful looking lady shouted at me saying that I couldn't fill that thing here! However, after discussion she told me where, locally, I could get it sorted. I thanked her and went on to that location. Unfortunately she clearly mistook Safefill with standard Calor gas. I tried to call Safefill at this point only to hear that I couldn't leave a message as the mailbox was full!

I proceeded to look for an alternative website to see where LPG was stocked and then proceeded to a couple of other locations, one which didn't actaully exist anynore and another also refused to let me fill my Safefill container. Having wasted 2 hours on a wild goose chase I decided to head home as I had work to do rather annoyed and frustrated.

So, can anyone else tell me if they'ved had simialr unhelpful experiences with Safefill or, more helpfully, let me know somewhere where I can get my cylinder refilled in the Beds/Herts/Bucks area.

Very much lool forward to hearing responses.

Cheers,

Tim.

*for investment read expensive wasted of money!

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208 replies

Milothedog replied on 21/06/2019 09:59

Member

Milothedog

Caravanner

Posted on 21/06/2019 09:59

Maybe the reasons for lack of local supply and refusal to fill stand alone cylinders is due to other reasons.

Back in 2000 my company ran 17 Daf SB 220 single deck buses which were LPG powered. the sites where they were maintained and parked had to be fitted with gas detector alarm systems in the drainage systems and workshops. (LPG is heavier than air and collects at the lowest point and also expands something like 250 times + in the atmosphere) If I recall correctly the large storage tanks also had to have bunding around them and the refueling stations had gas detector alarms.

Maybe the legal requirements placed on a business to store and sell LPG make it not worth their while.

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Rocky 2 buckets replied on 21/06/2019 12:13

Rocky 2 buckets

Posted on 21/06/2019 08:00 by Johnny57

Shame WK57ABF as you have taken years to gain this knowledge it would have been great to share with others who may be using/considering using refillable bottles.
If its difficult to find places that allow them to be filled then sales of the bottles may decrease and maybe the filling points also if they get little/no custom!

Posted on 21/06/2019 12:13

It also denies those outlets extra revenue potentially adding to a swifter demise to the network

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young thomas replied on 21/06/2019 12:16

Member

young thomas

Motorhomer

Posted on 21/06/2019 12:16

heres a radical suggestion....

have a fixed filler fitted to the towcar connected to a Safefill sitting (say) strapped in the boot. the smalles fill points are now very discrete.

call at LPG garage, fill without issue just like an LPG propelled car (or a Gaslow fitted MH) and when returning to the caravan, remove full bottle and connect to caravan gas supply.

job done.

ok, an extra hole in towcar bodywork, or even a bumper skirt, but a lot less grief, perhaps?

Gallery

replied on 21/06/2019 17:18

Posted on 21/06/2019 12:16 by young thomas

heres a radical suggestion....

have a fixed filler fitted to the towcar connected to a Safefill sitting (say) strapped in the boot. the smalles fill points are now very discrete.

call at LPG garage, fill without issue just like an LPG propelled car (or a Gaslow fitted MH) and when returning to the caravan, remove full bottle and connect to caravan gas supply.

job done.

ok, an extra hole in towcar bodywork, or even a bumper skirt, but a lot less grief, perhaps?

Posted on 21/06/2019 17:18

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

tadhatter replied on 21/06/2019 19:59

Member

tadhatter

Caravanner

Posted on 20/06/2019 19:13 by young thomas

Thanks for the replies - although none address my problem of where to locally re-fill my Safefill cylinder.

didnt I post 3 filling stations close to Dustable from the Filllpg App?

i didn't post the actual addresses but I no longer deliver IT Services

Posted on 21/06/2019 19:59

Yes you did, and and thank you. However, they won't fill Safefill cylinders. It's relatively easy to find lpg stockists. It's quite another thing to find one which let's you refill.

JVB66 replied on 21/06/2019 20:13

Member

JVB66

Campervanner from Hertfordshire

Posted on 21/06/2019 20:13

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richardandros replied on 22/06/2019 07:41

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richardandros

Caravanner from East Yorkshire

Posted on 22/06/2019 07:41

I was in Brayford Leisure (the dealer mentioned by the OP), last month. They must have had 30 or 40 Safefill cylinders of different sizes on display so I don’t think there’s any need to worry about them going bust. I know there were problems last year because I had to go all the way to Catterick to find one.

I am fortunate in that there is a little village garage about 5 miles from home that refills Safefill cylinders so I just make sure it’s topped up before we go away and I don’t need any other filling stations.

We are not heavy gas users, however - I bought it primarily to save weight.

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DaveandVicki replied on 22/06/2019 12:08

Member

DaveandVicki

Caravanner

Posted on 20/06/2019 21:38 by young thomas

" We managed without a problem except Vicki missed her TV "

our TVs are both 12v (as are many that "run off mains'....via an transformer/adaptor) and when we on mains, the charger charges the 12v batteries and the tv still runs from the 12v supply...so no need to miss any tv....even the soaps

Posted on 22/06/2019 12:08

Two of our TV's are 12v, but with being on a site with EHU we took the mains only one instead as it fits onto the wall bracket. Waiting for another size bracket for the 12v.

Perhaps I need to carry more than one TV.