Club 80-90 Forums

As I said in my first post (Compressor fridge and Zig CF8), I'm a campervan newbie with a (just bought) 1987 T25 Autohomes Kameo, pondering a few things. The second being heating. A Propex heater was a standard fit in the Autohomes Karisma model and a build option in the Kameo (not added in mine). If anyone has an Autohomes conversion with Propex heating, where is the unit fitted please? If anyone has Propex heating in any conversion, does it chomp through gas/how much gas do you need to carry to be able to use it (and cook !) without worrying about running out? A few variables I know, influencing how long it runs/consumes fuel: how cold it is outside; how warm 'you' want to be; but general 'in your experience' comments would be helpful. As would suggestions of alternatives to consider.

Thanks again in advance.

I have an autohomes kameo 1985 it was fitted with a propex heater which was in left hand side cupboard under sink it was mounted on floor there should be a hole in floor for exhaust to exit under van .

My old Kameo had heater in same place. The gas cupboard had room for two tanks. When one emptied I'd swap it over and get empty refilled. 2 tanks worth was easily long enough for several weeks of cooking, fridge on gas, and heating. Can't remember exactly how long, as it was 10 years ago.
The thermostat worked well, meaning the other half was happy. I liked it so much I bought a Propex for my next van.

fazzer wrote:I have an autohomes kameo 1985 it was fitted with a propex heater which was in left hand side cupboard under sink it was mounted on floor there should be a hole in floor for exhaust to exit under van .

Thanks. I'll look for the hole when I get it home again; currently having a 'proper' service ! Fingers crossed.

syncropatrick wrote:My old Kameo had heater in same place. The gas cupboard had room for two tanks. When one emptied I'd swap it over and get empty refilled. 2 tanks worth was easily long enough for several weeks of cooking, fridge on gas, and heating. Can't remember exactly how long, as it was 10 years ago.
The thermostat worked well, meaning the other half was happy. I liked it so much I bought a Propex for my next van.

Thanks; that sounds encouraging Did you fit it yourself in your new van or is it a 'Registered/qualified person' only fit ?

DIY fit in new van. If you’re competent and can do 12v wiring and gas tight connections it’s a doddle. Similar skills to home wiring and central heating DIY.

syncropatrick wrote:DIY fit in new van. If you’re competent and can do 12v wiring and gas tight connections it’s a doddle. Similar skills to home wiring and central heating DIY.

Mmm... I'm new to 12V and gas but have worked on home elecs (permissable areas) and plumbing (sinks, taps, new toilet, appliances). I guess if I 'had a go' I could get my install checked by a Gas safe LPG registered person...

Any caravan or campervan installer should be able to give your install a health check.

I have a propex in my van and i use around 4 liters of gas for a 24hr period in the winter, thats using the heating from say 16:30 until 8:30 in the morning, i turn the thermostat down during the night but keep it on, along with cooking and fridge. i invested in a gaslow refillable bottle last year so dont worry about the gas cost now. so my 6kg refillable bottle will do 3 nights just about. This is also up here in scotland and mostly camping halfway up a mountain at a ski center in the winter.

At the oposite end of the spectrum, a full 4.5kg bottle lasted me all last year.
That's cooking and propex. we wern't half way up a mountain in winter and didn't run it all night as it's quite noisy however we did run it to keep the dog warm when we have to leave her in the van for a wee while.
I think Propex have gas consumption figures on their website.

jas915 wrote:I have a propex in my van and i use around 4 liters of gas for a 24hr period in the winter, thats using the heating from say 16:30 until 8:30 in the morning, i turn the thermostat down during the night but keep it on, along with cooking and fridge. i invested in a gaslow refillable bottle last year so dont worry about the gas cost now. so my 6kg refillable bottle will do 3 nights just about. This is also up here in scotland and mostly camping halfway up a mountain at a ski center in the winter.

Thanks that's very helpful. I found the Gaslow stand at the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome show (NEC) yesterday and it looks a good setup. I think I can get the 6kg in the 'wardrobe' cupboard at the back with the filler on a bracket under the skirt (bracket suggestion by CAK tanks); is that where you have yours? Did you self fit?

bigbadbob76 wrote:At the oposite end of the spectrum, a full 4.5kg bottle lasted me all last year.
That's cooking and propex. we wern't half way up a mountain in winter and didn't run it all night as it's quite noisy however we did run it to keep the dog warm when we have to leave her in the van for a wee while.
I think Propex have gas consumption figures on their website.

Warm happy dog sounds good; thanks.

jas915 wrote:i invested in a gaslow refillable bottle last year so dont worry about the gas cost now. so my 6kg refillable bottle will do 3 nights just about.

6kg lasts 3 nights - Or have I misunderstood ?

I used a SAFEFILL re-fillable bottle and was very pleased with it. Fill up at the LPG pump at the garage = so very cheap to run I used to not even consider the cost. A re-fill (about £10) used to last a couple of months and I often used it often (if you see what I mean).

As for fitting the Propex, drilling the big holes in the floor for the exhaust and burner inlet was the hardest bit

My new van is a Diesel, so I will be using either one of OBG's Eberspachers, or similar.

ghost123uk wrote:
I used a SAFEFILL re-fillable bottle and was very pleased with it. Fill up at the LPG pump at the garage = so very cheap to run I used to not even consider the cost. A re-fill (about £10) used to last a couple of months and I often used it often (if you see what I mean).

As for fitting the Propex, drilling the big holes in the floor for the exhaust and burner inlet was the hardest bit

Thanks; I hadn't heard of SAFEFILL and the LPG map will be really useful. Gaslow is also a refill at the garage (I think ?) but via a fixed connector either through the bodywork or attached to under the skirt. The cylinder stays in the van so no lugging in an out It was suggested (CAK tanks) that with the 'under the skirt' fixing, the whole kit can be removed if selling the van, so only a one off up front investment...

Slightly off topic but hopefully worth adding...I finally got round to testing my old Propex X1 that has been in the garage for a couple years. Turns out it works perfectly although I couldn't get it to stay lit initially. Turned out it simply needed to have the lid fitted to run! (I'd removed the lid to clean the motor and all connections). Despite this being a long discontinued model Propex in their modern guise were still really helpful on email. They were quite happy to offer advice free of charge and didn't just try and flog me a new model!

Now I just need to work out where to install it (I have an LPG tank under the bench seat so the main Propex unit will need to go elsewhere).