Propane

[bjensen]

1970 36 classic. How to install a propane tank that will pass a survey?

 

[Comodave]

Did it ever have propane on it at all? If not this isn’t the place to learn how to install it. You need an experienced person or yard to do it. And make sure they are completely versed in the ABYC recommendations for a propane install. Have it checked by a first class surveyor after the install is done. It is only your life that depends on a proper install, and maybe your insurance coverage if there is a claim and it was not done correctly.

 

[Slowmo]

In our case the surveyor looked for a proper exterior propane storage box, remote shut off valve, and propane sensing system/alarm and made sure it all worked.

 

[Comodave]

There is way more to it than what your surveyor checked. That is why I recommend getting a professional and not the internet to get the help for a propane install.

 

[psneeld]

Member Boatpoker has a website that I believe has all the requirements for proper install.

As long as the tank is above decks and not restricted from the fumes flowing overboard not near an opening into the hull....not sure the box is absolutely necessary. Mine isn't and just passed an insurance survey.

 

[rwidman]

Did it ever have propane on it at all? If not this isn’t the place to learn how to install it. You need an experienced person or yard to do it. And make sure they are completely versed in the ABYC recommendations for a propane install. Have it checked by a first class surveyor after the install is done. It is only your life that depends on a proper install, and maybe your insurance coverage if there is a claim and it was not done correctly.

This is the correct answer. You won't learn all you need to know by asking a question in a boating group.

 

[denverd0n]

Just to be clear about the warnings above... Propane is heavier than air. If installed improperly it can leak, flow down into the hull, and turn your boat into a ticking time bomb! Boats have been destroyed, and people have been killed, because of bad propane installs. This is NOT something to approach lightly!

So, if you do not take the advice to get a professional who knows what they are doing to take care of this for you, then you need to spend a LOT of time researching the matter and learning the right, safe way to install a propane system.

That said, I am absolutely not one of those who thinks that propane is too dangerous, and only a fool would have it on their boat. Done right, and monitored properly, a propane system can be as safe as anything else on a boat. But you MUST have the system installed correctly, and maintained correctly.

Good luck.

 

[psneeld]

If you correctly follow ABYC guidelines, that can be found on the internet, are you not following expert advice?

 

[SteveK]

Boatpoker
Safe Boat Propane System Installation

 

[koliver]

1970 36 classic. How to install a propane tank that will pass a survey?

When inspecting a 1975 GB 36 with a factory installed propane system, this is what they had:

One of the seat lockers on the Flybridge, the one directly above the galley stove, had a pair of aluminum propane tanks, the horizontal orientation ones, as the vertical ones wouldn't have fit in the height of the locker. They were properly interconnected, had a solenoid shutoff, controlled electrically from the galley, with a warning light in the galley to tell when the solenoid was open, and a properly routed and sealed continuous line from the tanks locker to the galley stove.
What was missing, was a proper route for any leaking propane to go overboard without the possibility of finding its way into the bilge.

What the owner needed to do, in order to get the safety sticker (condition of moorage) was to drill holes in the locker, at its lowest point, and create proper routing to allow the heavier than air passage of any leaking propane to get down to the main deck and find its way unfailingly to the deck drain and hence overboard without getting to the bilge.

On a recheck, that owner had run a hose, sealed into the opening from the lowest aft corner of the locker to the aft end of the flybridge deck, where there were no opening windows below the possible flow of propane, and hence down onto the side deck where gravity would take any propane to the deck drain. He thus got his safety sticker.

 

[rwidman]

If you correctly follow ABYC guidelines, that can be found on the internet, are you not following expert advice?

Only if you completely understand them.

The ABYC guidelines are not "instructions". They are what must be done and what must not be done, but no information on how to do it.