Also FWIW ---- Ontario Provincial Parks are now begging campers to take
those disposable propane containers home for local disposal --- because it
costs $2.50 each for the park to dispose of them. Pretty shocking when the
things only cost about 3 bucks each.
 Cheers,
Doug

 On 10/11/05, Phil Zimmerman <phil.zimmerman@mail.crcn.net> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 11 Oct 2005 07:15:06 -0700, Larry Chase <roadguy@ROADHAUS.COM>
> wrote:
>
> >Chris,
> >Any history of usage with this set up.
> >How many times have you used it?
> >How long to fill?
> >Problems?
> >Thing you would do different?
> >Etc?
> >Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 21:56:30 -0400
> >From: Christopher Gronski <gronski@GMAIL.COM>
> >When I had the valve on my propane tank changed the guy that did the work
> >also made up a "cheater hose" for me. The fitting on one end matches the
> >van, the fitting on the other end matches a standard tank. Hook em up,
> open
> >the valves and voila!
> >
> To the list:
> jimt's posts in the archives give an informative test of refilling the
> Westie Tank and worth a read.
>
> My recent experience:
>
> I found an "Auto-Propane" to "POD" Adapter at a local propane supplier
> (Superior Propane in
> Canada) and a 4' POD male to male Hose that hooks-up to current refillable
> portable tanks. A bit
> pricey (aprox. $65 Can$) but when out of propane in the middle of
> where-ever.... priceless!
>
> Used this set-up once on my last trip. As per my experience, woke-up in
> the morning... no fridge
> no stove..... out of propane! Pull out the adapter hose and fitting,
> extract the Manchester #5 tank
> (holds about 4# of propane... slightly less than 1USgal), from the Luggage
> Compartment,
> assemble tank and hose, hook to Westie auto-fill fitting, open valve on
> portable tank and listen to
> the wonderful sound of propane flowing into the Westie Tank. Retire to the
> Westie, make coffee,
> drink coffee, guess this worked pretty slick! Oh, restart fridge.... 8-)
>
> Later, went out to inspect this set-up. Test joints with soapy water... no
> leaks as all three joints
> are, "o-ring" seals, essentially hand-tightened. Didn't try filling the
> Westie Tank by inverting the
> portable tank... up-side-down and elevating portable tank above the Westie
> Tank. Me too lazy and
> WANTED coffee. At a more civil hour, packed-up my stuff and headed to
> town. Filled Westie Tank,
> took about 3-USgals.... so seems as if not much filling took place.
> Essentially, the portable tank
> just flows through the Westy Tank, supply gas to the system. Worked Ok.
>
> Carrying a "spare" portable tank is a pain. Where to store outside the
> Van? I carry mine up in the
> centre of the luggage rack with the bow of my canoe (when I carry it)
> covering the tank. Provides
> some weather protection and increased security in event of a crash. Do not
> want a flying propane
> tank sent down the highway....
>
> FWIW. When purchasing the adapter fitting and hose, I pressured the
> propane clerk guy to sell me
> a non-refillable bottle adapter (an adapter that fits onto those 1 lb
> green disposable tanks. He
> rightly held his ground saying: you don't want any of those.... go with
> the refillable! But I am only
> going to use this when I run out of propane... like once a year... and
> carrying the disposable
> cylinders is so much easier? Go with the refillable he says. But, but,
> but... I don't have an excess of
> storage space for a propane tank? Go with the refillable he says again.
>
> Down the road a bit, at a State Park in somewheresville.. I read a rant
> from the Park Ranger
> regarding those little green disposable bottles..... "Please take your
> bottles home with you and do
> not leave them here!" They gave some statistics of how many bottles they
> get "stuck with" each
> year. The cost of safe legal disposal..... Glad the propane guy I bought
> my stuff from stood his
> ground.....
>
> As always, your milage may vary...
>
> Phil Z. '87 Westy
> Campbell River, BC
>