gas bottle size for Winnebago Leisure Seeker

[Dot]

STRATCO.
NEW
9kg bottle WITH gas ready to go $49.99

[Craig]

Dot,

I don't think I'll throw away my good quality bottle and replace it with a cheap one that probably shouldn't be fitted to an RV.

[Dot]

don't leave us guessing , what are the probs with them? might help someone

[Greynomad]

We have the same prob with Girt's bottles: only one size fits properly.
Some are too wide - the bottles issued just squeeze through the door, compressing the rubber hatch seals on the way.
Some are the right width, but too tall - no way they'll fit through the door.
Have not yet found a 9/8.5kg bottle that's too small.
I have made up a length of cord with a knot at the right length for the circumference, and another marking bottle height.
If I can't get a refill, I lay a straight stick (here's one I prepared earlier ) across the swap-bottle's collar to check the height, then wrap the cord around the bottle.
Quicker than a tape measure.

[graynomad]

I never swap for the above reasons. In the new camper we're about to build I'm ditching gas all together (diesel cooker), it can be hard to find and it's always too expensive in the outback. For example $16 for a 2.2kg in Coral Bay (Coral Pay I call it) last time we were there.

_____
Rob

[Dot]

STRATCO.
NEW
9kg bottle WITH gas ready to go $49.99

Craig, are you saying that the ones I mentioned from Stratco are the cheap and nasty ones?? and shouldn't be fitted to RV's? can you explain why for us please?

[Greynomad]

I never swap for the above reasons. In the new camper we're about to build I'm ditching gas all together (diesel cooker), it can be hard to find and it's always too expensive in the outback. For example $16 for a 2.2kg in Coral Bay (Coral Pay I call it) last time we were there.

_____
Rob

That's why we bypassed it when we toured the WA West Coast a year ago!

Yes, Craig,
Don't imported gas bottles (and hoses etc) have to pass Australian Standards?
Do you know something the rest of us don't?

[T1 Terry]

Hmmmm..... one of those hangman nooses set up here me thinks.

I'm a licenced LPG automotive installer and I was in the process of getting my cyl inspectors ticket, till I found out what a mess the system is in, then I dropped the idea like a hot potato.
The numbers on the cyl collar should represent the material it's made from, the thickness of that material and the protective coating. It should also have the actual weight of the empty bottle stamped in the collar. Next time you are at the shop where they sell empty cyls, pick a few up and see if they are different weights, the check the stamping in the collar, is the heavier feeling cyl actually marked as being heavier than the light one?
Now look at the collar, the certifying inspectors number is stamped in that collar, do you think the certifying inspector went to China and examined each bottle, then stamped that number into the collar along with the testing procedure, weight and measured capacity? Or does it look like those collars are mass produced, already stamped and welding onto the next bottle it is paired up with?

Not long ago there was a report of a cyl dumping liquid LPG through the seam weld at the centre of the bottle, how would that bottle have passed the mandatory pressure testing which is 3 times the relief valve pressure yet ruptured at a weld joint and let the contents of the bottle escape with no way of stopping it?

When you pick up your next swap bottle, turn it over and check for rust around the base ring in the actual bottle itself, rust pitting painted over, the (3) or (4) marked bottle has a very thin wall thickness and no corrosion paint protection inside or out, just a splash of s[pray paint on the outside.

If you can find a (1) or (2) stamped bottle in good condition and it weighs the same empty as is stamped on the collar, don't let it go, it will be worth spending the $$ getting it recertified and refilled each time

I have a few swap bottles that still have their filling pug attached and the tape still on them, but they are empty, that gas came out some where and it wasn't via the tap.

[Dot]

But what about the ones from Stratco?? they are brand new with a gas fill for under the $50.

[T1 Terry]

What brand bottle Dottie? I guess they have them on the shelf empty and then fill them as they sell them, take the bathroom scales with you and weigh the empty bottles, see if it matches the weight stamped on the collar.
Personally, I wouldn't put (3) or (4) stamped bottles in an enclosure or out on a van drawbar where it could get belted with rocks etc as the cyl wall is rather thin, but that's just me. It wasn't very long ago that these (3) and (4) bottles were only legal in an out door bar-b-que that was under cover and the (4) bottles could not be left in the weather, including in the sun, not just the rain, but the laws have been relaxed a bit more these days, not sure if that's a good thing or not, time will tell. Only (1) or (2) stamped bottle will pass survey on a boat, I don't think that has been relaxed so that will give you a bit of an idea of how that authority feels about the (3) and (4) bottles.