Propane tank location

[Dixon Hemphill]

Where is the best place to locate a propane tank? Is it OK to put it in one of the cockpit lockers? I have read many articles about the need to locate a tank far away from the engine and if possible in a place where it is outside the boat on a transom pulpit. Is this really necessary?

[Parfait's Provider]

Propane is heavier than air and if there is a leak you want it to go overboard, not into the bilge, nor the cabin. If you use a locker, it needs to be closed to the rest of the boat and vented overboard from the bottom.

I'm sure you can find more expert advice elsewhere, but you do not want to mess with propane or gasoline.

Keep on sailing,

[Troy Scott]

Dixon,

My CD36 came from the factory with a dedicated propane locker. It's a small cockpit locker with the bottom well above the water line. The locker is completely sealed from the remainder of the boat. Any propane that might escape finds it's way down a hose from the lowest part of the locker to a through hull fitting in the transom just above the water line. Any leaked gas flows out onto the water rather than into the bilge. In addition, the lid of the locker has a seal like a portlight seal, and the lid is made extra heavy/strong.

I believe you could convert a space in your boat similarly. Just make sure that the bottom of the space is well above the water line, and that you create a perfect seal on whatever space you partition off. You should make some provision for securing the tank so that it can't come loose and rattle around. Any hose going from this tank should be well protected, but that's another post......

[rorik]

Try this thread.
http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic ... highlight=

Scroll down a few posts and you'll see 2 pictures of my tanks.

http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad14 ... C02656.jpg
http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad14 ... C02664.jpg

For a proper installation here's the ABYC link :
http://www.abycinc.org/committees/A-01.pdf

There's nothing like watching a boat burn to the water line.

[Dixon Hemphill]

Many thanks to those who replied to my message. I have decided to locate the tank in the port locker well above the waterline. I will put it in a "sealed" box with a hole in the bottom to which I will attach a 1/2" hose running out to the transom above the waterline. This seems to satisfy the code which I find is quite restrictive.

I hesitate to put an other hole in the transom but this seems to be the only to satisfy the code regs.

[rollo_cd26]

The previous owner of my CD26D had a propane locker installed in the port cockpit locker behind the diesel tank. THe propane locker is a heavy duty polypropelene box with tight fitting lid and special closures, vented throuth the transom above the waterline. The hose runs into the cabin and was never properly routed to the stove. There is also a solenoid operated valve that controls the flow of gas through the hose. My current project is to move the stove to the port side of the cabin, move the radio and stereo to the starboard side to keep both electrical devices away from the propane and install a new drop down to mount the stove. I have an older Sunbeam stove that came with the boat. Does anyone know of a better and perhaps affordable stove to replace the old Sunbeam?

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Dixon,

You can located a propane tank in one of the cockpit lockers providing you build a dedicated locker for the tank, it can be closed off completely from the rest of the locker, and the propane locker is vented overboard.

[NOTE: All connections between the propane tank, regulator and solenoid valve need to be made in a vapor-tight compartment separated from the interior of the boat. A vent line from the lowest point of the locker must drain overboard above the waterline.]

Your best option would probably be to purchase or build a drop-in propane locker. You'd have to install it either forward or aft of a locker lid or through the afterdeck if it's wide enough.

The locker shown below could be installed inside a cockpit locker. (Don't forget to vent it overboard.)



The locker shown below is a drop-in type. You'd have to cut a hole in one of the seats of the cockpit, either forward or aft of the locker lid (wherever it will fit), and drop the locker into place. It has to be vented overboard as well.



But the easiest route would be to mount the propane bottle to the stern pushpit. Mount it on the aft side of the pushpit. You can route the hose through the deck (use a vapor tight fitting -- see below) and to the galley. (Run the propane hose inside of another hose to help protect it.




Click on the link below. It shows what was done to accommodate a new propane locker on the CD36 Far Reach. You won't need one quite so big. A locker big enough for one bottle is big enough.

http://www.farreachvoyages.com/projects ... ocker.html


Hope this helps.

Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[SurryMark]

Propane is propane, but is it necessary or advisable to have detectors if you are only using small portable tanks? I use CNG for cooking (lighter than air) but am thinking about a small propane heater.

[Russell]

Propane is propane, but is it necessary or advisable to have detectors if you are only using small portable tanks? I use CNG for cooking (lighter than air) but am thinking about a small propane heater.

Are you talking about those small portable heaters? If so, IMO, people who use those on boats are nuts. With such devices you have your propane tank inside the boat, no solinoid, no shutoff valve on the tank and you are relying on some inexpensive built in electrical oxygen sensor to keep you alive and no way to detect leaks except your nose. I have met many people who do use them on boats, but I never would.

If you are talking about a proper cabin heater mounted to a bulkhead with a chimney and propane tanks mounted properly outside (which still qualify as portable, so hard to know what you meant), then thats fine. But reguarding a propane detector, I would say with a heater install a detector is probably more nessisary then with a stove, as it will operate with solinoid an tank valve open for many hours on end, where as a stove you really dont leave on terribly long. So opportunity for a leak is much larger with a heater.

Though I have never understood why people use propane bulkhead heaters. Those cost of a diesel heater is not much different, it is much safer and our boats have a nice large tanks of fuel for them already.

[SurryMark]

[quote=

Though I have never understood why people use propane bulkhead heaters. Those cost of a diesel heater is not much different, it is much safer and our boats have a nice large tanks of fuel for them already.

My basic question is on heating a CD27. In another string I asked if anyone has info on installing any kind of heater on a 27. I'd be totally interested in pix or descriptions of solid fuel or diesel heaters. (And yes, I was wondering about those little "camp" propane heaters, as an easy way out.)

[Jim Davis]

I have used one and taken it off the boat. My use was limited to evenings and upon wake up to take the chill off. At night it was turned off and placed on deck. The chance of a leak bothers me, especially with the throw away bottles. The main reason I took it off, however is the "camp style" produce too much moisture. Everything would get damp and the condensation unbelievable. They have their place, but I will not be using it again on the boat.

[Andy Denmark]

Mark,

I have used a Mr. Heater "Buddy" catalytic heater for several years and find it fine for a CD-27. It is not cheap to operate because the sporting goods stores put a premium price on individual fuel cylinders. I find that Costco, Sams Club and sometimes Lowes offer 4-packs at just over half the single unit price.

Being catalytic there is no open flame and no fire hazard. I have a First Alert carbon monoxide monitor that's used religiously when the heater is running and never hit the rack with the heater going. Also, I make sure there's positive ventilation fore and aft while the thing is operating. I'm guessing the fuel usage to be about 6 hrs per cylinder on the low setting.

Check it out .............
________
MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROW

[Troy Scott]

I considered the small portable propane heaters. The simplicity and lack of "mess" is certainly appealing. However, due to the possibly dangerous nature of those little units, I've decided it isn't worth the risk in the cabin. I wouldn't mind using one placed on the bridge deck. But, I think I would like one of the fan-assisted radiators that uses engine coolant. If I anchor out somewhere I almost always run the engine for a few minutes to warm the water heater and pump up the batteries. I could warm the cabin at the same time, using heat that would otherwise be wasted.

[Joe Myerson]

I haven't used one, but I wonder if it might be safer to use one of the alcohol-burning catalytic heaters on the market. Sure, alcohol is expensive, but it's also safer and these heaters don't generate enough carbon monoxide to pose a serious danger.

Also, the "buddy"-type propane catalytic heaters are illegal here in nanny-state Massachusetts. Most catalogs warn you they can't even be shipped here.

--Joe

[rorik]

Mathilda has a Hi- Seas diesel heater. That company was Seattle based and is now gone, but there are many other companies that make diesel heaters.
Diesel heaters don't make consensation like a propane heater. It's a very nice, dry heat.
Setup is easy. Split off the existing fuel line to the engine with it's own little pump on a seni dedicated circuit in the DC panel, run the line through the bilge up the backside of the forward bulkhead and into the back of the heater.