Propane Placement Poses A Predicament

[Sailor Robius]

hello all,

has anyone mounted their LPG tank to an external rail? ours are currently in a cockpit locker, in another container, and accessed only with inhumanly small and flexible hands. is there a stainless rail mount already on the market or is this going to be yet another custom job? thanks in advance -rob

[centaur]

My half size tank is in the aft locker and luckily is easy to access.
Some of the local fishing boats here have their gas tanks fitted outside, often on the roof of the wheel house, and seem to survive OK. All appear to be custom mounted however,
Centaur

[zeehag]

yes. is excellent place to mount propane tanks.

[F15EWSO]

Originally Posted by Sailor Robius

hello all,

has anyone mounted their LPG tank to an external rail? ours are currently in a cockpit locker, in another container, and accessed only with inhumanly small and flexible hands. is there a stainless rail mount already on the market or is this going to be yet another custom job? thanks in advance -rob

I've got two 10#s in a nice locker but will augment my BBQ with a tank at the stern tied to the aft pulpit. I cleaned it, removed rust and repainted with White Rusteoleum. I was worried about the base or ring on the bottom staining the deck or leaving rust. I was ready to coat with a "rhino bedliner type product" when a true Genius suggested using car door "edge guard or trim" from the auto-parts store! $4 and clear trim and the bottom ring is now coated in clear plastic that I can see if/when rust develops. Great idea from the guy at sailnet to keep rust off the deck

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Sailor Robius

... is there a stainless rail mount already on the market or is this going to be yet another custom job? thanks in advance -rob

Yes ➥ Sure Marine Service, Inc. | Propane Railmount Bracket Assembly

And ➥ Propane Tank Mount System - Stainless Steel - LPG Tanks & Mounts - Galley, Stoves & Barbeques - Downwind Marine

Or, yes ➥ The Propane Project | Living on Miss Teak

[Blue Stocking]

Good Old Boat had a detailed article on building a rail mount unit some months back.
A first class job.

[hooligan6a]

I think rail mounts are a bad idea. Steel tanks rust, aluminum corrode. They look terrible and lines get caught on them. I keep mine in a Trident propane locker. It looks nice

Is safe, tank is below deck out of the way, doesn't take up deck space

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by hooligan6a

... tank is below deck out of the way, doesn't take up deck space

How do you vent a below-deck locker?

[ReMetau]

Originally Posted by GordMay

How do you vent a below-deck locker?

We have a built-in locker in our lazarette. It has a drain line at very bottom which exits the stern. Out solenoid is still in there, but we switched to a composite tank which doesn't fit in the locker so we keep it on our stern pulpit covered with Sunbrella. We have considered using the propane locker for a drink cooler.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by hooligan6a

I think rail mounts are a bad idea. Steel tanks rust, aluminum corrode. They look terrible and lines get caught on them. I keep mine in a Trident propane locker. It looks nice

Is safe, tank is below deck out of the way, doesn't take up deck space

the length of time for these acts to happen is longer than you will own your boat. except for steel, and there are ways to prevent the rust on deck problem. since i first moved aboard in 1990 i have yet to see a corroded aluminum tank.

i will be hanging mine over transom of f the cap rail with a fitting between cap and taff so bottle is overboard. doesnt take up deck space.
lines best not be being caught on overboard tanks astern the boat--LOL---you would be in a true world of hurt.
hooligan--sail much? if ye did you would realize this fact. many cruising boats have overboard mounted propane tanks. is a good way to keep out of interior of boat and out of the way.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by hooligan6a

I think rail mounts are a bad idea. Steel tanks rust, aluminum corrode. They look terrible and lines get caught on them. I keep mine in a Trident propane locker. It looks nice

Is safe, tank is below deck out of the way, doesn't take up deck space

Our boats are a pecuilar case of lines being caught on stern mounted rail tanks, the mizzen sheets are just not there on most other boats. I opted for another tank storage position that works for me, without loosing locker space, but it's controversial so I'll just clam up on it now.

Otherwise I think rail mounted tanks are a great thing, especially with those skinny 6lb bottles.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by hooligan6a

I think rail mounts are a bad idea. Steel tanks rust, aluminum corrode. They look terrible and lines get caught on them. I keep mine in a Trident propane locker. It looks nice

Is safe, tank is below deck out of the way, doesn't take up deck space

I Totally agree, its below deck out of the way, untill you get a leak.

Propane is heavier than air, it accumulates in the bottom of your boat,

Then it only needs one spark, A cigarette, turn some thing on that sparks, electric motor, light your stove. ETC ETC ETC,

The blast will separate the top and bottom of your boat,

A blown apart boat doesnt look nice, and a good chance it will sink on the spot,

Think of your boat full of petrol fumes, same ****, different fumes, explode just the same,

They need to be vented out side, done right, they look good on the rails, out of harms way and no worrys about leaking gas,

[Sailmonkey]

the trident propane locker that is spoken of is vented overboard,

http://www.alliedseawindii.org/kbase...opane/lpg2.jpg

[zeehag]

i do not run with a loose mizzen sheet. is to bad yours get in the way, as transom mount, hanging overboard below taffrail is an excellent placement for tanks even on my ketch. oops...my bad.

[bobconnie]

Im sorta on the edge on this one ! had stern mounted tanks on our colvin for over 20 yrs , had to replace the tanks not because of rust but because of there age! They worked well and never caused any type of problem, and of course leaks were not a problem as any leak would have vented overboard mounted where they were ! our new to us boat has dedacated locker of an approved type with proper venting ect. and it is nice to have them hidden and never having to worry about tripping over them LOL But rail mounts work well and with the new tanks available today seems like a great Idea!! all we had on the colvin was steel and they do require more upkeep, but we had a steel boat so it was no prob for us ! I would have no problem having a boat with rail mounted tanks ! just my 2 cents