Is this good practice or are there real regulations? I wonder why a box is needed for a bomb proof steel pressure container anyway. The real risk is the hosing and other downstream attachments.
Propane box
Collapse
X
-
Real regulations.
ABYC A-1 is attached, section A 1.12 addresses your question directly. The USCG adopts ABYC A-1 in 46 CFR §184.240(a) making the provisions federal law.Attached FilesNeil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
-
-
What Joe said.
Propane is very similar to gasoline in that vapors are heavier than air meaning in the event of leakage they'll settle into an explosive pool in the bilge and the energy is only slightly less but comparable to gasoline. Propane storage tank pressures can range between roughly 30 to 200 PSI. Typical on board regulators are single stage that reduce the tank pressure to less than 1/2 PSI.Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
Comment
-
-
Another thing - you cannot use a propane box INSIDE a boat. We got a propane job where the owner wanted a box inside the boat. We warned him, but did as requested. I did say we needed a surveyor to sign off to keep us from getting sued if he blew himself up.
The surveyor said no way no how and we then built a teak and stainless mount to keep the tanks on the stern rail overhanging the water. We got nice aluminum 10 pound bottles and it ended up looking OK.Joe Della Barba
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I
Maryland USA
Comment
-
-
minimal propane storage
A la one of Don Casey's books, I built a pvc tube with a sealed capped bottom end and a removable pvc top lid. It perfectly holds three one lb canisters stacked. It attaches to the stern rail, and has a 1/4" hole in the bottom of the outboard edge to vent fumes.Marty
1967 Tartan 27
Bowen Island, BC
sigpic
Comment
-
-
Originally posted by romantic comedy View PostI have a propane locker that holds 2 11 pounder inside the boat, in the cockpit locker. It is vented thru the hull.
Is this not legal?Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
Comment
-
-
Thanks Neil. Looks like I am compliant. Although I am not 100 percent sure. The locker is mounted on a hinge. It has to lay down in order to remove the cylinders. so maybe/maybe not.The locker was installed by the PO and was part of the pre purchase survey. As I recall, there was no issue with the locker on the survey. But that was a survey, lol.
I have been happy with it. Mostly what I have seen is propane bottles attached on the deck somewhere. Often they are at the rail or overhanging the water. i have also seen a few that were inboard and not vented.
Comment
-
-
According to our surveyor, NO no way no how not even close
Those lockers were never intended to be gas-tight inside a boat. They need to open to the outside. Also even if they were 100% gas tight, if there ever is a propane leak all the propane dumps right in the bilge when you open it to change tanks. I didn't think it looked right when our customer wanted it mounted that way and it turned out I was right.
EDIT:
Installation:
Pressure Regulators
LPG LOCKERS
A-1.8.2.1
LPG lockers shall be installed so that the
locker opens only directly to the outside atmosphere, and
A-1.8.2.2
If a LPG locker is installed inside a boat
locker, the LPG locker shall be located as high and as close
to the boat locker’s opening as possible in order to comply
with A-1.8.2.1.
A-1.8.3
Our surveyor assumed that 18.2.2 meant the locker itself was not connected to the interior of the boat. I think you could make a case this rule does not exactly say that, but I have never ever seen any production boat with propane inside the boat ever. 100% of all propane lockers I have ever seen that were from the factory only opened to the exterior of the boat with a few exceptions where there was a larger locker that was sealed from the interior itself, in essence a big propane locker, and the smaller propane locker inside it was mainly to keep things from hitting the tanks. This is actually a nice kind of locker to have to store other flammables like gas cans* for the dinghy or acetone.
* total thread creep, but I was aboard a Cabo Rico 38, got a lecture about the extreme danger of gasoline engines, and then the skipper climbed down in the engine room to fish out a Clorox bottle of gasoline for his dinghy and we also had water on for coffee on the propane stove
Originally posted by romantic comedy View PostI have a propane locker that holds 2 11 pounder inside the boat, in the cockpit locker. It is vented thru the hull.
Is this not legal?Last edited by joe_db; 03-04-2017, 11:41 AM.Joe Della Barba
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I
Maryland USA
Comment
-
-
Originally posted by romantic comedy View PostInteresting. Is it not possible to have a legal propane locker in the boat?
The standards are very clear about the need for the locker to be vapor proof and have venting outside the boat in a specific way. The lockers that may be purchased to install directly (as expensive as they are!) will meet the requirements as long as the venting is done according to ABYC standards.
If one wants to mount LPG on the stern pulpit or elsewhere on the exterior, they should still be cautious on any possibility of vapors settling into any opening into the boat.Greg Murphy
S/V Amalia
1965 Cal 30
Muskegon, MI
Comment
-
Comment