This is a little problem that took me by surprise a couple of years ago. I took a 13kg Calor cylinder, (red, propane) to exchange and came out of the shop with another. I did not think anything of it until it came to getting the thing in the gas locker. Try as I might, tugging and towing, pushing and pulling, the cylinder would not go in the locker. Upon closer inspection, I noted the carrying handle was longer on the newly acquired 13kg Calor cylinder than on the other cylinder already in situ. The workaround was to remove the cylinder in situ, place the long necked version in first, and then add the short neck cylinder. The difference in height is only a couple of inches. However, you might wish to bear this in mind when exchanging 13kg Calor cylinders
A long and short neck 13kg Calor cylinder
This photograph shows two almost identical gas cylinders. However, a closer look reveals the long neck on the left whilst the standard/short neck is on the right. Thanks to Cranham Caravans who helped with the photo’!
The Kon-tiki will carry 2 x 13kg Calor cylinders easily – but with short necks!
…and the weight of a 13kg Calor cylinder
The Kon-tiki is however one of only a few motor homes capable of taking 2 x 13kg Calor cylinders in the gas locker. Most european vans from Burstner, Dethleffs, Hymer and the like are geared up to accept 11kg cylinders.
Whilst discussing 13kg Calor cylinders, it’s worth mentioning that a FULL cylinder weighs approximately 26 kilograms. This means that 13kg is the weight of the cylinder plus of course 13kg of “gas”.
