When do I have to replace LPG components in my motorhome or caravan?
The gas test for your motor caravan or caravan is approaching. As a camper, you ask yourself what you can check in advance by yourself – without the expert giving you any nasty surprises in the test. There is a special focus here on the gas pressure regulator (pressure reducer) and the gas hose in the motor caravan and caravan – but not just before the gas test!
You drive your caravan to the gas test, just like you do every two years, and perhaps you have checked the gas system for leak-tightness yourself only recently. So, everything is under control, and you expect to be driving home soon with a shiny new test badge and the required entry in the test certificate.
Gas test not passed
And then it happens: The tester tells you that the gas pressure regulator and gas hose are already more than ten years old. Unless you get these components replaced, you won’t get any new badge and you won’t pass the gas test.
This is a huge disappointment, because: Wear parts such as the gas pressure regulator or gas hose must be replaced before the end of the 10-year period. The owner of the vehicle is solely responsible for this. And that’s you.
Origin of the replacement period
This 10-year period comes from a worksheet from the German Technical and Scientific Association of Gas and Water, for short: DVGW. Technical regulation G 607 (A) states: “Pressure regulator devices, automatic changeover systems and hose assemblies must be replaced for new parts at the latest 10 years after their date of manufacture.”
Campers must also replace gas regulation systems such as Caramatic DriveOne and Caramatic DriveTwo or Truma MonoControl (CS) and Truma DuoControl (CS) after ten years. It is otherwise impossible to pass the gas test with your motor caravan or caravan.
Among other things, this also includes the following pressure regulation systems from GOK, but also from the manufacturer Truma:
- GOK Caramatic DriveOne
- GOK Caramatic DriveTwo
- Truma MonoControl (CS)
- Truma DuoControl (CS)
- GOK Caramatic SwitchTwo
- GOK Caramatic ProTwo
This line of text is particularly important: “must be replaced for new parts at the latest 10 years after their date of manufacture”. This means that it’s the year the fitting was manufactured and not the installation date.
Finding out the gas pressure regulator date of manufacture
You will always find the year of manufacture at the bottom of the type plate of the pressure regulation system. From this point in time, you may use the fitting for ten years, unless it has a technical defect or a malfunction before then. Then, of course, you must replace it without delay.
It’s really easy to identify the year of manufacturer on GOK gas pressure regulators for motor caravans and caravans. It’s always printed right at the bottom of the type plate. This is how the operator knows when the fitting needs to be replaced.
There are two ways in which GOK indicates the year of manufacture.
- For earlier gas pressure regulators, we have stated the month and year of manufacture each as a two-digit number. So if you look at the type plate and see the combination 08.09 printed there, we produced the fitting in August 2009.
- For more recent versions of pressure regulators, you now only find the year of manufacture on the type plate (e.g. 2019) regardless of whether the fitting was produced in January, June or December of that year.
These two forms don’t just apply to products with a GOK label. For example, the older versions of the pressure regulation systems Truma MonoControl (CS) and DuoControl (CS) are labelled this way as well.
Finding out the gas hose date of manufacture
The tag on the GOK gas hose for motor caravans and caravans indicates when it is due for replacement. Missing the replacement date is a reason for failing the gas test.
For a large number of our gas hoses, we offer a special service in the form of a yellow tag. This tag indicates the corresponding year in which you must replace the hose – always related to your specific use case.
If the yellow tag is missing or has been torn off, you can find help here:
Conclusion and video tip
Now, you should have all the knowledge to prepare you for the gas test itself, and to carry out a little check yourself. You can find an overview of all the Caramatic series items from GOK here: https://www.gok.de/en/caramatic-series.
If, as well as the visual inspection of components, you would like to carry out a simple leak test, you will find instructions in the following video. Even if the leak test is carried out on a gas barbecue, the principle is the same for the gas system in your motor caravan or caravan.
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GOK and Truma are companies which are independent of each other in business terms with their own products and brands.
