Gas bottle refills seems easy enough?!
As most of you know, we bought our campervan in England to begin roadtripping Europe. When we bought the van it came with two Calor 3.9kg gas bottles.
Before taking off, we had them refilled. We also checked the gas cookers and oven to ensure they were all in working order. All good.
One thing we had not taken into account, was the difficulty in refiling them once they ran out and we were not still in the UK! Keep in mind the age of Betsy (the campervan) being over 20 years she does not have any of the fan dangled LPG gas systems installed.
Upon researching, nearly ever country in Europe seems to have a different connection for gas bottle refill.
When we were in Romania, a gas fitter had offered to manufacture the fitting we required. At this time we did not realise, what a great offer that was. Thinking that we could easily get the bottles refilled or exchanged in another country on our travels, off we went. Got to love the Romanians, they are problem solvers!
Troubleshooting
As with all problems that come up, it was time to trouble shoot. We asked around, in relevant motorhome groups on facebook and blogging communities. Some of the local experienced motorhomers had many suggestions, the general consensus was as follows.
A. Should have got an adapter kit before leaving click here for link to set of adapters
B. we were stuffed.
Neither is a very good option so we brainstormed. As a backup, we went to Decathlon (a camping and sports supplies store common across Europe). We bought a camp burner and gas cylinders to ensure we had cooking facilities. Incidentally, the day we bought these, the gas ran out – talk about timing!
We asked every caravan place we stayed at and fellow travellers alike. Lots of people had stories to tell us of their problems, in various countries they had visited trying to get gas refills.
Solution
After thinking about it, we reasoned everyone has to get their gas from somewhere. Someone in Italy must supply wholesale gas. Which they do! Trivengas head depot luckily for us, situated at Via Olmo, 13 30035 Mirano Ve (North East Italy). We were not far away, so, off 
we went to check them out.
Everywhere in Italy has a two hour lunch!
So we took the time to do schoolwork while waiting for lunch to
finish. They were so friendly and helpful. They have explained that our bottles were good quality and had the correct fittings that allowed them to refill. Not all bottles from all countries are the same and therefore it is on a case by case basis after inspecting the bottles that they can confirm whether they are able to refill.
This is not a service station, this is a head depot. They do have Trivengas service stations, located in Italy that could not help.
Great service AND a great price! Both 3.9kg bottles refilled for 21 Euro! We were sooooo happy to have the issue sorted and back on the road.
We wanted to share this with you all, in case anyone is bringing gas bottles from the UK. Or, anywhere for that matter, without an adapter kit (or already here) this could be a solution for you too.
Happy travels…
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