Increasing LPG range

[Alan John Walker]

I have recently purchased a 2006 Alphard with a LPG conversion.

With the limited availability of LPG at service stations etc can I fit a second tank to increase my range?

External ?

Internal ?

I have also thought about home filling from LPG bottles?

I have a well established supplier in Telford, Watling Street, so filling up here is no problem.

 

I would appreciate your comments on which is an issue we all face.

 

[Rojie]

1 hour ago, Alan John Walker said:

I have recently purchased a 2006 Alphard with a LPG conversion.

With the limited availability of LPG at service stations etc can I fit a second tank to increase my range?

External ?

Internal ?

I have also thought about home filling from LPG bottles?

I have a well established supplier in Telford, Watling Street, so filling up here is no problem.

 

I would appreciate your comments on which is an issue we all face.

 

 

Hello Alan,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

As LPG is inflammable I would not even think of home filling (which may be illegal anyway) as, potentially, it is far too dangerous.

It is also held under pressure, which could be equally dangerous. I don't know what pressure is needed to keep LPG liquified.

 

The pressure in the source vessel must be much higher than that in the receiver vessel, (unless a pump is used), otherwise the pressures will equalise and no more gas/liquid will flow !

 

Several large companies have already announced their intention to withdraw from providing LPG on their forecourts.

Imho, this will only get worse.

[dave murrell]

On 12/13/2023 at 12:24 PM, Alan John Walker said:

I have recently purchased a 2006 Alphard with a LPG conversion.

With the limited availability of LPG at service stations etc can I fit a second tank to increase my range?

External ?

Internal ?

I have also thought about home filling from LPG bottles?

I have a well established supplier in Telford, Watling Street, so filling up here is no problem.

 

I would appreciate your comments on which is an issue we all face.

 

Perhaps the guy you are looking for is in Dawley in Telford. He is round the corner from me, he fits LPG to all sorts.

 

I used to pay £10 per year to a club and they it gave access to all LPG sites across the country (at a cheaper rate) and they gave me an A6 book with all the nationwide LPG sites and an access key with 4 digit code to gain access to the cages, not sure if this is still the case though.

 

Mobile Automotives & LPG

03 Springhill road.

TF4 3DG

07954 582 542

[pcous]

Hi Alan,

I assume you mean conversion to LPG fuel rather than gas for cooking.

If your LPG conversion was done by an approved converter (which it should have been in order to be legal) then the vehicle should be on the UKLPG register and it's likely that your logbook (V5C) will show the Alphard as dual-fuel.

You can have an extra tank fitted, but of course it is a specialist job and again you should use an approved installer - see www.drivelpg.co.uk/ for a list.

Our installer fitted two external tanks, piped up in parallel, to get 80L capacity - one in place of the spare wheel (often known as a doughnut tank) and the other smaller one slung centrally across the vehicle behind the petrol tank. Because it's a campervan, we also have gas cooking from a Gaslow bottle, which is permanently plumbed in. This is tee'd from the LPG filler, so we fill both the auto tank and the Gaslow at the pump.

Many forecourts won't allow you to fill portable gas bottles, because of safety risks. LPG in the fuel tank is held under pressure, as Rojie says, and it is the pressure that keeps LPG as a liquid until it reaches the regulator (in the engine compartment), where the pressure is reduced in a controlled way and then converts to gas. So any home transfer of LPG would be high risk and really could be highly dangerous.

[pcous]

Hi Alan,

By way of follow-up, you can check if your Alphard is on the UKLPG register at http://register.uklpg.org/publicsearch.htm

[Lou]

On 1/10/2024 at 6:37 PM, pcous said:

Hi Alan,

I assume you mean conversion to LPG fuel rather than gas for cooking.

If your LPG conversion was done by an approved converter (which it should have been in order to be legal) then the vehicle should be on the UKLPG register and it's likely that your logbook (V5C) will show the Alphard as dual-fuel.

You can have an extra tank fitted, but of course it is a specialist job and again you should use an approved installer - see www.drivelpg.co.uk/ for a list.

Our installer fitted two external tanks, piped up in parallel, to get 80L capacity - one in place of the spare wheel (often known as a doughnut tank) and the other smaller one slung centrally across the vehicle behind the petrol tank. Because it's a campervan, we also have gas cooking from a Gaslow bottle, which is permanently plumbed in. This is tee'd from the LPG filler, so we fill both the auto tank and the Gaslow at the pump.

Many forecourts won't allow you to fill portable gas bottles, because of safety risks. LPG in the fuel tank is held under pressure, as Rojie says, and it is the pressure that keeps LPG as a liquid until it reaches the regulator (in the engine compartment), where the pressure is reduced in a controlled way and then converts to gas. So any home transfer of LPG would be high risk and really could be highly dangerous.

Hi pocus,

 

Do you have any photos of that tank setup, especially the additional tank across the car.

 

Cheers 

Lukasz 

[pcous]

Hi Lukas,

The transverse tank is 30L, (270mm dia.) placed behind the petrol tank - seen in the photos from the rear of the Alphard, prior to underseal. The main doughnut tank is 70L I believe, located to the rear in place of the spare wheel. So 100L combined, which gives 80L LPG capacity (allowing for the safety cut-off at 80%). They're plumbed in parallel. Hope this is helpful.