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17-11-2010, 09:26
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Ireland
Boat: Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409
Posts: 116
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Fireproof Covering for Gasoline / Petrol
I was reading various posts and am interested in getting a small portable generator (eg Honda). Like many people I don't like the idea of having gasoline on my sailboat. Is there a fireproof covering that one could put around fuel containers to minimise fire hazard?
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17-11-2010, 09:36
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Toronto
Boat: CS36Merlin, "La Belle Aurore"
Posts: 7,557
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Gasoline, acetone, paint thinners, propane, alcohol, nail polish remover.... I've got it all aboard. Just take care, keep everything well sealed. A good nose helps.
__________________
Rick I
Toronto in summer, Bahamas in winter.
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17-11-2010, 10:37
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Winter land based UK New Forest. Summer months away. Making the transition from sail to power this year - scary stuff.
Boat: Super Van Craft 1320 Power Yacht
Posts: 2,175
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Guess we all base decisions on personal experiences.
I helped pull five people from the water years back in Perth. They'd just refuelled a 40 foot wooden petrol cruiser and it exploded when they turned over the engines. Boat burned to the waterline, the crew were also badly burnt and had major glass cuts.
Two years back a female pal was on the bow of their boat about to pass over mooring lines when hubby used the thuster.
They stored their spare dink petrol in the anchor locker for safety. Everyone now assumes the tank breather was open, the locker drains somehow got blocked, the compartment below had thruster relays.......
The complete bow (and pal) were blown off and over the pontoon.
So maybe the risks are overestimated, but maybe they are not.
JOHN
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17-11-2010, 10:40
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Naples, FL
Boat: Leopard Catamaran
Posts: 2,572
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I'll have to agree with boatman, as long as the fumes are under the LEL, (lower explosive limit), no bang. Remember you are floating in an object made primarily out of petroleum by products. Having an explosive vapor monitor in the bilge is a good idea. I drive around with 200gals of gas aboard all the time.
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17-11-2010, 10:52
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#6
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PORTUGAL
Posts: 30,585
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swagman
Guess we all base decisions on personal experiences.
I helped pull five people from the water years back in Perth. They'd just refuelled a 40 foot wooden petrol cruiser and it exploded when they turned over the engines. Boat burned to the waterline, the crew were also badly burnt and had major glass cuts.
Two years back a female pal was on the bow of their boat about to pass over mooring lines when hubby used the thuster.
They stored their spare dink petrol in the anchor locker for safety. Everyone now assumes the tank breather was open, the locker drains somehow got blocked, the compartment below had thruster relays.......
The complete bow (and pal) were blown off and over the pontoon.
So maybe the risks are overestimated, but maybe they are not.
JOHN
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The 1st example could have a lot off possible explanations... fuel leaks etc.. as to the second... I feel its asking for trouble storing fuel next to electrical relays/motors... mines in a seperate dedicated locker.
__________________
It was a dark and stormy night and the captain of the ship said.. "Hey Jim, spin us a yarn." and the yarn began like this.. "It was a dark and stormy night.."
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17-11-2010, 10:57
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kingston / Thousand Islands, Ontario
Boat: C&C 35 Mk.II
Posts: 343
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The risk from gasoline isn't the liquid, it's the vapour.
"Fireproof" materials offer an extra few minutes to extinguish a fire, or get out of there, before the fire gets impossible to control. They don't stop the fire from starting in the first place, and they don't do anything about the vapours that are responsible for explosions like the ones John mentioned above. Those vapours are easily cleared with a good ventilation system (appropriate bilge blowers, etc.) or by storing the gasoline like you store propane- in a locker vented overboard.
__________________
Matt Marsh
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18-11-2010, 13:34
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Tampa, FL
Posts: 5,009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marshmat
...storing the gasoline like you store propane- in a locker vented overboard.
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BINGO!
Treat gasoline just like you would propane and you are extremely unlikely to ever have any sort of problem. And--just like with propane lockers--you need to check those overboard vents now and then to make sure they aren't clogged.
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19-11-2010, 10:00
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Ireland
Boat: Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409
Posts: 116
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Thanks for all these comments. Follow up question. A gas locker is vented at the bottom because gas is heavier than air. Does it matter where a locker used for gasoline is vented?
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19-11-2010, 10:14
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kingston / Thousand Islands, Ontario
Boat: C&C 35 Mk.II
Posts: 343
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Gasoline vapours, like propane, are heavier than air. A locker holding a can of outboard gas would be vented in the same way as a locker holding a propane tank.
__________________
Matt Marsh
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19-11-2010, 11:40
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#11
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Eternal Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Boat: Vancouver 36 cutter????
Posts: 620
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I'd suggest going to metal cans despite the problem with rust. I'd also suggest storing them on deck (which can be a safety issue in rough seas) or in a vented locker.
As for fireproof, about all I know about that is asbestos - and that's another can of worms in itself. I have been pondering using a fire blanket and cutting it for a good cover. It (the blanket) may be a bit less carcinogenic than asbestos.
__________________
Capt. Douglas Abbott
USCG/MCA IV/M.I./C.I. 500-ton Oceans
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19-11-2010, 11:47
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kingston / Thousand Islands, Ontario
Boat: C&C 35 Mk.II
Posts: 343
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Fire blankets are often a fine, long-strand fibreglass cloth. Itchy, but not particularly carcinogenic.
Your best bet for preventing a gasoline-related fire or explosion is to prevent the gasoline vapours from building up anywhere. Covers and blankets don't do anything about the vapours.
If you have flames approaching the tanks, the most a blanket will do is buy you an extra thirty seconds, maybe a minute, before the tanks (metal or plastic) are breached. If you haven't abandoned ship by then, you're done either way. The only solution is to prevent the fire from starting in the first place: keep the liquid in the tanks, the vapour out of the boat, and the ignition sources well away from the flammables.
__________________
Matt Marsh
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19-11-2010, 12:00
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Brooklin, Maine U.S.A
Boat: Allures 44
Posts: 734
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I've already got a gas jug on deck. The real challenge for me would be storing the Honda 2000, itself. Do they tend to leak gasoline, or emit gas vapors?
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19-11-2010, 12:02
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kingston / Thousand Islands, Ontario
Boat: C&C 35 Mk.II
Posts: 343
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cfarrar
The real challenge for me would be storing the Honda 2000, itself. Do they tend to leak gasoline, or emit gas vapors?
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Not on land, they don't, but if the thing is lying around loose in a locker, it could conceivably spill a bit if it gets tossed around in a seaway. As long as it's securely stored in a well ventilated space, the generator shouldn't be any more dangerous than the fuel jug itself.
__________________
Matt Marsh
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19-11-2010, 12:16
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Toronto
Boat: CS36Merlin, "La Belle Aurore"
Posts: 7,557
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cfarrar
I've already got a gas jug on deck. The real challenge for me would be storing the Honda 2000, itself. Do they tend to leak gasoline, or emit gas vapors?
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I've found the Honda to be very gas tight. Just remember to close the breather on the gas cap.
__________________
Rick I
Toronto in summer, Bahamas in winter.
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