Did I remember to turn off the gas?

[capnsensible]

Movement guarantees wear and fretting at the joints, so the closer the P-clips the better. And put double clips close either side of the cock and flexy pipe joint, in particular.

There are interesting things that can be learnt from this report, especially as those involved should have known better.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c717be5274a429000013b/lord_trenchard.pdf

But this has gone off track from the op. Who shouldn't really need to be concerned. Simply on next visit to boat, ventilate well before switching anything electrical on.

And you know what they say about Chinese stuff. Twenty minutes later you will want another one....

 

[capnsensible]

Do you get your diesel system periodically inspected and certified by a licensed engineer?

I do get my liferaft serviced though.

 

[rotrax]

It has just cost me around £100 to replace all my gas locker to cooker stuff. Boat was built 2007, launched UK 2008, Low pressure line from locker to solenoid - 5 metres - was dated 2006, US Coastguard approved.

It is not rocket science, but the right gear should be used and care must be taken. I used 1.5 turns of the correct PTFE tape for gas on the threads as recomended by the regulator manufacturer. Previously I have used a liquid sealer. I also have pro crimp tools for making proper joints with the pipe and hosetails. Only one union was re-used, the cooker joint, an NPT hosetail with a nut and cone particular to the US supplied cooker.

The whole system was carefully tested with soap bubbles at every joint and the residue washed clean with fresh water. There are eight joints but all are neccessary.

Two for each bottle/regulator, making four, three for the regulator/solenoid/outlet to pipe and the final one at the cooker.

While I was doing it I cleaned behind the cooker, a job that was really needed.

Got some brownie points there?!

 

[Graham376]

Our gas is turned on at the bottle when we arrive and turned off when we leave several months later. Bubble leak detector checked when I change bottles, roughly 3 weekly. Cooker has flame failure cut-offs.

 

[LadyInBed]

On a previous thread about gas safety, it surprises me that quite a few people turned their gas off at the bottle either after use or before bedding down.

 

[Sandy]

At home after a fantastic few days sailing and I was lighting the gas hob to make a cup of coffee. A sudden thought: 'did I remember to turn off the gas on the boat?'

I recommend you make a "Leaving boat checklist". This will stop those sudden senior moments.

 

[JumbleDuck]

A friend of mine was aboard the sail traing vessel Lord Trenchard when there was a gas explosion on the boat and the skipper lost a leg.

Edit: covered already

 

[LittleSister]

I recommend you make a "Leaving boat checklist". This will stop those sudden senior moments.

Yes, but how do you make sure you check the checklist before leaving the boat?

 

[Sandy]

Yes, but how do you make sure you check the checklist before leaving the boat?

That I cannot help you with. Perhaps placing it where you hang your car keys?

 

[mjcoon]

I recommend you make a "Leaving boat checklist". This will stop those sudden senior moments.

Do they seem sudden? To me, more insidious!

 

[rotrax]

Do they seem sudden? To me, more insidious!

We have had two boating Senior Moments, both involving buying expensive - for us - vessels.

Really enjoyed the first one, seven terrific seasons of waterbourne travel, still enjoying the second and hope to for a few years yet.

Roll on the 22nd June when we slip the mooring lines.......................... ?

 

[pvb]

A friend of mine was aboard the sail traing vessel Lord Trenchard when there was a gas explosion on the boat and the skipper lost a leg.

Another friend of mine was killed in a gas explosion aboard a yacht in the Caribbean a few years ago.

I tend to take yacht gas installations a tad more seriously than most. I don't for one moment advocate mandatory inspection but use of common sense and if in doubt get a qualified person to help.

What do you recommend based on your experience?!

I recommend using common sense and taking care. Common sense would include asking for professional help if in any doubt about one's own competence.

The Lord Trenchard explosion is often quoted as an example of a serious gas explosion on board a boat, but many people aren't aware of the gross incompetence which contributed to the explosion.

 

[TernVI]

An annual 'professional' gas system inspection is like your car's MOT. It says everything was OK on that day.
Two weeks later, stuff could have got knocked or damaged.

My habit is to turn off the gas at the tap upstream of the cooker hose when the cooker is not alight.
I think that has a little merit on a boat, because there are 5 burner taps which each might leak slightly, and also there is the slight possibility that the cooker can be wrenched off its hose in a knockdown, or the hose fail or something.
Off at the bottle when leaving the boat for more than a 'run ashore'.
That's my habit of 30 years.

But it was noticed when we changed boats how the new one 'used less gas' despite making tea for more people.


If you get really bored motoring across the channel, try working out if the gas you get through adds up to the amount you use the cooker....

 

[Graham376]

I recommend you make a "Leaving boat checklist". This will stop those sudden senior moments.

I always have one on a note pad. As each of us shuts something off, it gets crossed off the list. Too easy for one to assume the other has done something.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Yes, but how do you make sure you check the checklist before leaving the boat?

There used to be a joke in the gliding world that members at Lasham (a big and rigidly organised club) were so reliant on checklists that they had a checklist for following checklists. Well, I think it was a joke.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The Lord Trenchard explosion is often quoted as an example of a serious gas explosion on board a boat, but many people aren't aware of the gross incompetence which contributed to the explosion.

Absolutely.

 

[MoodySabre]

I have phoned the marina and asked them to turn the regulator off. It’s in their interest not to have a boat fire! I have also rung friends with boats on the same pontoon. Most of the time I just shrug - I’ve spent a month on the boat without turning the gas or the seacocks off.

 

[capnsensible]

I recommend using common sense and taking care. Common sense would include asking for professional help if in any doubt about one's own competence.

The Lord Trenchard explosion is often quoted as an example of a serious gas explosion on board a boat, but many people aren't aware of the gross incompetence which contributed to the explosion.

So you agree with my previously posted recommend then. Well done. ?

You will note also my remarks about the link I posted to the Trenchard report. Happy to see you catching up! ??

 

[johnalison]

I always have one on a note pad. As each of us shuts something off, it gets crossed off the list. Too easy for one to assume the other has done something.

We don't have a check-list but usually rely on reminding each other. Years ago YM issued a check-list. I think it was a give-away item. It amounted to a dozen or so things to check. I made my own list for our then Sadler 29 and it came to about thirty entires, at which point I gave up in disgust.

 

[Neeves]

Our stove is not gimballed - so we have fixed lines, copper pipe (except for the feed from the bottle to the regulator - located outside). Previous boats did not have gas.

Purely academic question - How do you feed the gas to the gimballed stove - is this a weak point in the system?

We also have a gas hot water heater (vented to the cockpit), again copper pipes throughout. We turn the pilot light off, or turn the gas off, when not in use.

Interestingly the stove/oven is not vented but the boiler is....?

Both boiler and stove/oven have been certificated.

We turn the gas off at the bottle when leaving, and we are on the boat, virtually, every week.

Jonathan