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04-12-2008, 17:18
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Norfolk, VA
Boat: Morgan 34 and Watkins 27 astern of me. Hans Christian 38T is our current love
Posts: 66
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Placement of Propane Locker
I am planning on installing a propane locker into our Morgan 34. Was looking at getting the large locker from Seaward and putting it into one of the cockpit lockers. Is this safe? The locker will be vented overboard of course, but I seem to always hear of custom flush deck installations or the locker being secured in the cockpit.
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04-12-2008, 17:21
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Wherever the boat is!
Boat: Marine Trader 34DC
Posts: 4,619
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as long as the locker can be securely closed and sealed there is no problem. But the seal must be maintained and a good sniffer alarm should be installed.
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04-12-2008, 19:19
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: East Coast of America and Keys
Boat: Beneteau 473
Posts: 467
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Don't take lightly the possible ramifications of a bad install where propane is concerned. Make sure you have good ventilation or an overboard vent. Make sure fumes can't get into the bilge.
Take advantage of the latest technology such as sniffers and alarms.
Its a little dramatic but a friend literally disintegrated his boat here in Virginia Beach last year and damaged several other boats in the vicinity when he ignited propane fumes in his boat.
He survived but only for a short time in the hospital.
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29-11-2010, 14:35
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Norfolk, VA
Boat: Morgan 34 and Watkins 27 astern of me. Hans Christian 38T is our current love
Posts: 66
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Recently got a question form another Morgan 34 owner concerning where I ultimately placed the locker. I did in fact install the locker in the lazarette. I used a vapor proof locker that I screwed down to two uprights that I had glassed to the hull. I put it pretty close to the locker's lid, because I wanted the locker drain to be fairly high. Plumbing and electrical was pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, I don't own the boat anymore, so I have no pics of the install. Will be happy to answer any other questions though. Good luck!
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29-11-2010, 15:44
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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propane locker instal
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aqua Vitae
Recently got a question form another Morgan 34 owner concerning where I ultimately placed the locker. I did in fact install the locker in the lazarette. I used a vapor proof locker that I screwed down to two uprights that I had glassed to the hull. I put it pretty close to the locker's lid, because I wanted the locker drain to be fairly high. Plumbing and electrical was pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, I don't own the boat anymore, so I have no pics of the install. Will be happy to answer any other questions though. Good luck!
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Hi Aqua,
Thanks for the reply! Another thing I am wondering about; I know the locker must vent to the outside, but must the vent hole be at the same level as where it exits the locker, or would it be acceptable to route the vent hose to a higher point?
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29-11-2010, 19:07
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
Boat: FL12 12 ft rowboat, 8 foot sailing dink, 18 foot SeaRay I/O
Posts: 321
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Prropane flows down. The vent needs to slope downward.
An sea story to illustrate. You know those propane cylinders used on small torches? For years every USCG Ship had many of them on board, scattered every where in lockers and tool kits. Then in the 70's some ships started to have small explosions and fires in places where there should not be anything that was flammable. It was those cylinders. In the salty environment they would corrode and leak and the gas would flow to the bottom of the space where they were stored. Now they are all stored in special lockers on deck with vents to get the stuff overboard.
__________________
Ike
"Dont tell me I can't, tell me how I can"
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29-11-2010, 19:29
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#7
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CF Adviser
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: sausalito
Boat: 14 meter sloop
Posts: 7,260
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ike
Prropane flows down. The vent needs to slope downward.
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Not only does it need to slope downward, but it needs to emerge from the bottom of the locker.
Think of it this way: if the locker will hold water, it will hold propane. It shouldn't hold either.
__________________
cruising is entirely about showing up--in boat shoes.
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29-11-2010, 19:34
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Seattle
Boat: Cal 40 (sold). Still have a Hobie 20
Posts: 2,944
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And exit above the waterline.
John
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29-11-2010, 19:52
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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Yeah guys, thanks for the replies.
My way of thinking was that if there was a leak from a tank inside a propane locker that the volume of gas would increase to the point that it would be venting by natural pressure, even if the vent exited higher than the tank. Of course there would always an amount trapped by gravity within the locker.
I am thinking that if it didn't blow up while it was venting, why would it blow up if it was trapped in the locker?
My firefighter side says to put the vent at the bottom of the locker, and have the exit hole lower than the locker to have no accumulation at all.
I am trying to figure out a way of having the exit vent not take in water while hard on the wind.
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29-11-2010, 19:58
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2007
Boat: Beneteau FIRST 42
Posts: 1,836
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There's a easier place to place the locker..... I put mine on the dock and left it behing..
My tank, a small 1 gal. model hangs off the rear rail in a custom stainless mount I had made.. being on the rear rail, ther is no way for the gas to get into the boat except by hose to the stove. The 1 gal. tank lasts us just about a month and i keep a spair up front in the chain locker, which is vented by drain.
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29-11-2010, 20:06
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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Thanks guys. I want to find a way of having the vent not take in water when hard on the wind; there isn't much freeboard.
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30-11-2010, 04:10
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#12
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,082
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maarty10
... I know the locker must vent to the outside, but must the vent hole be at the same level as where it exits the locker, or would it be acceptable to route the vent hose to a higher point?
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No. Any gradient must down towards out.
See ABYC Standard A-1, Marine Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Systems
Here ➥ http://www.abycinc.org/committees/A-01.pdf
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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30-11-2010, 05:09
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 267
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GordMay I should have known you would have the perfect link - thanks, at the moment I am too busy to type it out, and as posts above show, a proper installation is Very important. The only comment I have is, given your waterline constraints, a recommendation to install the locker on deck. I am not familiar with the Seaward locker, but if that one is not weather resistant then there are others to choose from. The venting requirements for an on-deck installation are in the ABYC Standards - I see that the link is for 2000 and they have been updated since then so you should check for any changes before proceeding.
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12-12-2010, 08:40
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Maitland, FL
Boat: Bristol 29
Posts: 230
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maarty10
Thanks guys. I want to find a way of having the vent not take in water when hard on the wind; there isn't much freeboard.
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Not only does the vent exit need to be below the floor level of the locker, ABYC requires that no other opening to the interior of the boat be within 20 inches of the vent thru-hull.
__________________
David www.bristol29.com
"The lookout that first sights the cat shall have ten guineas and remission of sins, short of mutiny, sodomy, or damaging the paintwork." - Jack Aubrey
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12-12-2010, 11:07
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
Boat: FL12 12 ft rowboat, 8 foot sailing dink, 18 foot SeaRay I/O
Posts: 321
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You can get a check valve that closes if water enters the line, but stays open the rest of the time.
__________________
Ike
"Dont tell me I can't, tell me how I can"
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