We have bottled gas.
When we left in September, I turned the tap thing off. We had bought a new bottle and used it a couple of days.
Now I’m back I turned it back on - but no gas.
Just in case I’m missing something obvious, is there anything else I should do?
And a supplementary question: what do I do when I need to change the bottle?
Is there a vent/prime button on the regulator?
All the regulators I have on 13KG bottles have a small button that has to be pressed to get gas flowing?
It’s usually on the bottom of the outlet pipe that leads from the regulator. Only 4-5mm in diameter so very easy to miss.
If it’s in the off position, you can push down on the switch and jiggle the connector to remove it - might be worth trying that, then putting it back in place, and then turning the switch to the open position again.
Have a look at the lighter coloured panel at the side you should be able to see the liquid if you give the bottle a shake, i used a video on youtube to get started with this type of regulator
If it is supplying a hob in your kitchen, there may be an additional cut off switch in a cupboard under the hob. That’s what we found in our house.
Thanks for your help.
I don’t think you have yet plumbed the depths of my ignorance 
Is the regulator the thing at the top of the bottle that the silver tube is attached to, please?
Yes it’s the red beastie on top. 
Its job is to reduce the pressure of the gas coming out of the bottle to a manageable level for the appliance it’s connected to.
Regulators (of a different sort!) are also used by scuba divers to “regulate” the pressure of the compressed air from the tank on their back, down to ambient pressure so their lungs don’t explode. 
Regulators are great, aren’t they? I mean, look at Ofwat.
My difficulty is the lack of a third hand to hold the torch. I think I’ll have to wait until Madame’s arrival so I can use both hands to manipulate the bottle.
Thanks again - Im sure I’ll be back
Buy yourself one of these - invaluable. We have 2 of them. Great for sorting out the slots in the back of the computer under the desk, walking the dog in the dark, changing the tiny lightbulbs under the kitchen wall cabinets, etc etc. Not expensive. In fact ANother holding a torch is just in the way and not pointing it in the right direction.
Cheap LED head torch - get one you can angle the torch on if you wear varifocals.
I’m not sure a torch would help. Wrap a hand around the pipe that leads from the regulator to the appliance. You should feel a little sticky-out-bit on the underside. Use your forefinger to press the central button on that while using your thumb on the opposite site to provide an anchor.
Maybe, but a small head torch is fantastically useful for lots of other things.
Indeed. We have them all around the house, garden and cars!
Indeed - I keep one in my rolling camera bag’s front pocket so that I can see to put everything back safely in a dark hotel reception room at the end of photographing a wedding. Too easy to leave an expensive black-painted lens behind otherwise.
There might be a safety valve button that you have to press before gas will be allowed out of the bottle after a switch off. Usually, this is on the opposite side to the valve.
What you can do - but make sure to do this outdoors - is unscrew the regulator with the gas turned off and then slowly open the valve on the gas bottle itself and listen for the sound of any gas escaping (it’ll make a pssssst noise). You’ll also smell it eventually, but you hear it before you smell it.
If there’s no noise / smell despite you opening the valve, then you know the bottle is empty and need to replace it. If you do hear / smell the gas, then you know you just need to work out what’s stopping it getting from the bottle to wherever you’re using it (oven, heating, etc…).
For this one, your local supermarket will most likely have an area where you can buy a new gas bottle. Just take the old, empty one with you otherwise they’ll charge you extra as a deposit for a new one.
Our local Leclerc and Carrefour have both switched to automated machines rather than dealing with a person. Just select the bottle you want (e.g. 13KG butane), the machine opens up a door where you remove a full bottle and insert the empty one before closing the door. After that, hook up the new bottle to your regulator, open the vale on the new bottle of gas and, if needed, press the little button on the regulator to open the safety valve on the regulator that allows the gas to flow.
It’s an Antargas Calypso 10 Kg bottle. The black tab you can see turns it on and off (it’s on in the picture) and there should be a button on the opposite side to where the pipe comes out of the regulator. It’s quite large and you push that in and release in order to bet the gas flowing. To release the regulator, you turn the black tab 180 degrees into the off position and pull it up (or is it down ?) I have the same regulator ( but propane and hence blue) on my gas plancha. Here’s q good picture of one
https://www.amazon.fr/ANTARGAZ-DETENDEUR-BUTANE-diametre-CALYPSO/dp/B0798W4TQM
Also, instead of venting gas, you can just weigh it. That’s what I do with mine to judge when I may need another. Full, they’re about 15 Kg and about 5 Kg when empty (without the regulator). The exact weighs should be somewhere on the bottle on an embossed silver coloured disc.
