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Old 26-04-2018, 05:07   #1
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Midships Gas Locker

Can anyone help me with my Gas Locker conundrum?

Carpe Diem is a Franchini 47 and was built of fibreglass in 1991. Her present (original) gas locker is midships in the Starboard side deck. However the drain for the locker goes internally to a through-hull below the waterline. Obviously this is not ideal, as any leaking gas cannot drain away! The gas cooker is close by so the pipe runs within the yacht are short!

Presently the locker does fill with water on a hard sail - not ideal I know but we only store things that don’t mind the occasional submersion!

I want to improve things and make the gas installation safe, so, as I see it, I have 2 alternatives:

1. Reroute the present locker drain to a new above water line through-hull with a clamshell fitting to drain the excess gas. This will be fine till we have a hard sail when the hull fitting may occasionally be submerged! But I guess that can happen wherever the hull fitting is? But the clamshell solution may reduce or even prevent water getting into the locker when sailing hard!

2. Move the gas locker to the large lazaret locker near the stern. This is a considerable amount of work but may be the best solution! It has its own clamshell drain so no worries there! But I will loose an appreciable amount of storage!

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Jack
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Old 26-04-2018, 05:15   #2
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Re: Midships Gas Locker

Quote:
Originally Posted by jacklill120 View Post

1. Reroute the present locker drain to a new above water line through-hull with a clamshell fitting to drain the excess gas. This will be fine till we have a hard sail when the hull fitting may occasionally be submerged! But I guess that can happen wherever the hull fitting is? But the clamshell solution may reduce or even prevent water getting into the locker when sailing hard!

Leaking gas shouldn't be the norm so it's not like gas is in the locker on a continuous basis. You'd have to line up a hard sail, with a leak, with a flame source all at the same time to have an incident. I would think the benefits of having the shorter runs inside would more than make up the minuscule risk of not being able to off-board gas when under hard sail on one tack.
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Old 26-04-2018, 05:58   #3
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Re: Midships Gas Locker

I would agree with dwedeking2, BUT...

I would add that I would be very careful to close the valve at the cylinder, and not rely on the solenoid, whenever there is any possibility that the drain vent will be below the waterline.

It is true that the odds of the stars all aligning just so, such that an explosion is possible, are pretty small. On the other hand, the results of such an alignment would be absolutely catastrophic.

The fact that the manufacturer built the gas locker that way in the first place is completely inexcusable.
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Old 26-04-2018, 08:16   #4
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Re: Midships Gas Locker

I also agree that in your situation,the risk is tiny.

These SS thru hull water outlets appeared on ebay this past year & would appear perfect for your requirement. 1/2" ID is the required ABYC LPG drain size-so you would need a 3/4" model.
Len

https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAINLESS-S...wAAOSw7FRWVCOH
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Old 26-04-2018, 13:12   #5
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Re: Midships Gas Locker

Thanks everyone! Most helpful, looks like I need to get my holesaw ready!
Jack
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Old 26-04-2018, 13:26   #6
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Re: Midships Gas Locker

When the clamshell fitting is underwater, you will be heeled over in a direction which would make it basically impossible for gas to leak into the boat.

In my opinion that plan is perfectly fine.
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Old 26-04-2018, 13:43   #7
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Re: Midships Gas Locker

It is hard to guess at how your drain can "drain" downhill of the gas bottle and the entire locker, not knowing where the waterline will be in the different areas at different heels. It could be that you would need to elevate the gas bottle and seal off a smaller area, such that the entire area was above the heeled water line, so a simple "drain" would also still be above the waterline. Sometimes there's no elegant solution.

A compartment that regularly fills with water from time to time might just be an inconvenience, but that still sounds like something needs to be done about that.
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Old 26-04-2018, 15:48   #8
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Re: Midships Gas Locker

Jack,

I think the advice you have so far here is reasonable, so I won't add to it. (when was the last time you heard that here?)

But I will comment that I have seen a very half-assed approach to propane safety from many of the European boat builders. One of the catamaran builders in particular (in my opinion) borders on the criminally negligent in the design and execution of their propane installations.

I have seen a boat explode from a gas leak. It was an amazing thing to see, and it re-enforced to me that propane hazards are NOT a theoretical concern.

In your case, if you had the boat surveyed when you bought it, and the survey did not raise this as an issue, I would raise hell with the guy who wrote the report. Not that you can expect any reasonable satisfaction, but at least his certifying organization needs to know he is incompetent, at least in this area.
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