From the series: Things you didn’t know existed or that you needed – magical vanlife helpers.
At some point, it was enough: The constant estimation of how much gas is still in the gray 11 kg bottle, when it needs to be changed or whether the heater will survive the night is extremely annoying in the long run. So a control option had to be as simple as possible. Sure, you can remove the bottle and hang it on a suitcase scale. There are also different measuring devices that you hold to the outside of the bottle. You can knock. And so on and so forth. The Mopeka Pro* sensors work by ultrasound and transmit the measured values to a smartphone app via BluetoothLE. The whole thing is clearly laid out and intuitively set up quickly.
This also allows multiple sensors, for example, if you have two bottles with you. However, for cost reasons, we decided to limit ourselves to one sensor.
Limitations of the Mopeka Pro sensor for gas cylinders
But even this system (of course) has its limits. The quality of the measured values depends on the shape of the gas cylinder base (the flatter the better). In Germany there are different models, some have dome-shaped bottoms, others are flattened). It also has an influence on whether the vehicle (i.e. the bottle) is standing straight. To minimize measurement errors or to reset the sensor position, there is an option in the app to zero the position. So here, too, you should not rely on the measured values down to the last percentage point, but you have a good indication of how the fill level in the bottle is developing and when you should think about topping up or looking for a replacement option.
Exchange or refill gas cylinders in Europe
On the subject of exchanging gas cylinders in Europe, we, or rather our naivety and laziness, shot ourselves in the knee a little at first: In the DIY store in Germany, we were told that the gray gas cylinders were a European exchange system and we could exchange them anywhere in Europe. Haha. A short research would have taught us better, but – as written – we screwed that up. So then in Spain we started to read a bit and discovered the diversity of the European gas cylinder landscape. Even on the Iberian Peninsula, there are significant differences between neighboring Portugal and Spain that make it difficult to obtain gas for cooking, heating, and cooling. We will submit a detailed article on this topic later.
Speaking of swapping: There is a risk of forgetting to remove the sensor from the old bottle when replacing it. That would be very annoying (and expensive). So take care and possibly stick a reminder on the bottle!
In summary, I can say that the purchase of the Mopeka sensor was worth it. Is the system perfect? Definitely no! Is it better than guessing or having to lift the bottles out of the gas box to check? Definitely yes!
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