The following is written as I understand it, I would love Campingaz to come onto the forum and explain their policy if I am incorrect.
Campingaz have built an automated plant at their UK factory which ideally runs on 907 butane cylinders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9H9g9A8mmE
The plant cleans, repaints, refills, tests and relabels gas cylinders. Most of the year it runs on 907 size cylinders which are delivered in cages on pallets and placed in storage. Although 904 cylinders have the same diameter as 907 cylinders they are shorter and cannot fit into the same cages.
To run 904 cylinders on the plant the plant has to be closed, the tooling adjusted and the unpacking and repacking process altered. Campingaz will therefore wait until they have caught up on their supply of empty 907 cylinders before starting to refill 904 cylinders. Since they are kept busy all summer with 907 cylinders the 904 cylinders have to wait until winter. This means that towards the end of the camping season the supply of 904 cylinders dries up and they become unavailable in the shops.
The campingaz 901 cylinders are a different height and width to the other cylinders, they are very useful for applications such as lighting and as a backup in case a bigger cylinder empties while away. There is always demand for them. However Campingaz only refill them once they have exhausted the supply of both empty 907 and 904 cylinders as it requires a bigger adjustment of their tooling. So for a few day in the middle of winter they refill their stock of empty 901 cylinders and ration them to the shops willing to sell them. For example the branch of Go Outdoors in Tonbridge got 4 cylinders as their years supply in the spring of this year.
Although Campingaz have not discontinued the 901 cylinder they are not buying in any new cylinders and older cylinders are being scrapped by Campingaz or lost by customers. Customers holding empty 901 cylinders cannot get them refilled except in the early spring and then only while stocks last.
There are videos of people in Europe refilling 901 Campingaz cylinders from upturned (Calor Gas equivalent) butane cylinders in their sheds and garages. This is really dangerous and illegal to do in Britain. Coleman (USA) who now own Campingaz are aware that people in the USA are refilling disposable Coleman gas cans despite several accidents and deaths.
The refillable Campingaz 901 cylinder is equivalent to the disposable Coleman can that Americans are dying to refill. In my opinion anyone holding a standing camp and cooking propper meals should be using refillable gas cylinders rather than disposable cans simply on the grounds of cost per kg of gas. Disposable cans should be for cyclists and hikers.
Wow, to think that I am sat on 6 months worth off GO stock of 901 cylinders !
All my CampinGaz cylinders of which I have two of each 901/904/907, all came from the local tip, and have since been exchanged at various retailers, although I have still retained all six CampinGaz cylinders we really only use the 907.
The 907 is the ideal size imho and we always carry two, that way we never run out of gas.
Although I think it is about time that the CampinGaz cylinder was updated.
Aluminium, titanium or glass fibre construction would be a vast improvement.
Also an update to the regulator is well over due, some type of clip on device rather than the current screw on affair would prove more practical and safe.
CampinGaz first introduced their cylinders back in 1949 and they appear to still be of the same design today.
Thanks for that insight into the production process Bramston.
Edit = there is even an official CampinGaz video on YouTube showing the process, and they all look to be 907’s in the footage.
I see now why they use steel, as they use magnetic lifting arms to move multiple cylinders around in one go.
enjoyed the You Tube presentation on renovating and refilling of Gaz Bottles.
I've been using this product for a (vast) number of years and have never had a repainted one.... ?
Yep, the 907 is a great size cylinder, we carry two in the trailer tongue box, so we never run out of gas.
The only thing that bugs me is that the CampinGaz refill is the most expensive gas around, even the Le Cube Butane refill works out half the price for the gas, compared to CampinGaz.
The good thing is that in this modern age, we mostly use electric, our current 907 has got us through at least 10 weeks of camping, with quite a few more weeks left in the cylinder, so I guess the size over price of gas wins the day.
I bought an adaptor that fits the click on type or screw type disposable canisters and has a clear tube attached too --off Ebay. This I connected to the outlet of an old Gaz screw to bottle top type fitting having removed the jets and I now fill my own 907 and 901 bottles at a fraction of the cost and any time I want -- ie can refil a 901 (1lb of gas) for around £3 as opposed to £15 or so --- When filling hold the disposable can upside down oner the GAZ cylinder and you will see the liquid gas running in. Does not fill completely but around 90% --and hey its the answer here ---take care ensure theirs no leaks and for safety work in the fresh air
l have stopped using my 907 because refilling it is daylight robbery how they are getting away with charging £30.00 plus for 2.72kg of gas is beyond crazy
l am now using a 7kg calor bottle and that is cheaper to refill than a 907
I carry a 907 in reserve in caravan when in France next to French Le Cube bottle in gas locker. So when cube runs out I change to 907 but only until I exchange cube. 907 exchange in France is around 23€ which is same price as cube exchange which holds twice as much.
Do you find that the gas pressure in the bottle being filled can impact the LPG decanting down under gravity and the pressure in the feeder bottle above?
When a gas bottle is empty it still contains butane or propane gas at atmospheric pressure.
The donor gas bottle contains liquid butane or propane and some butane/propane gas at above atmospheric pressure. The warmer the weather the greater the gas pressure.
When the 2 bottles are connected and the donor bottle is inverted (turned upside down) it is the pressure of the gas in the donor bottle that forces the liquid fuel into the empty bottle.
One a cold day when the gas pressure in the donor bottle is low the process will be sluggish, on a warm day with higher gas pressure in the donor bottle it will be faster. Butane is more sensitive to cold conditions than propane.
All gas bottles are factory filled to a given net weight, allowing a space for gas to form at the top. This is why you should weigh the bottle being filled. A donor bottle that has been used a bit, having a larger gas space may be better at refills than one containing the full
net weight of fuel.
This process is dangerous and illegal in come countries. Doing it indoors is really dangerous as any spark or flame could blow up the building and cause fatalities. Overfilling a bottle above net weight can cause the refilled bottle to squirt out liquid fuel when it is used which is not good.