Another, and what would you have done ...

[wizard]

Moored up in Cherbourg at the end of Q pontoon after a run from St Peter Port and starting to cook the evening dinner. After about 5 minutes the gas runs out. Right, I thought a quick changeover of the calor gas bottle (4.5kg) and we are back in business.

Remove said empty bottle and get spare from locker. So good so far. Started to unscrew the black plastic cover and bang the cover hits my hand and pushes it a foot from the bottle followed by a scream like a jet engine of the gas escaping from the bottle. Now find that the bottle valve is locked solid and cannot be turned. Suddenly heads pop up from everywhere at the sound and the smell of gas

What would you do ...

 

[nortada]

Moored up in Cherbourg at the end of Q pontoon after a run from St Peter Port and starting to cook the evening dinner. After about 5 minutes the gas runs out. Right, I thought a quick changeover of the calor gas bottle (4.5kg) and we are back in business.

Remove said empty bottle and get spare from locker. So good so far. Started to unscrew the black plastic cover and bang the cover hits my hand and pushes it a foot from the bottle followed by a scream like a jet engine of the gas escaping from the bottle. Now find that the bottle valve is locked solid and cannot be turned. Suddenly heads pop up from everywhere at the sound and the smell of gas

What would you do ...

Panic!

 

[Achillesheel]

Have a fag while I think about what to do....
Chuck it overboard?
Take it to the most leeward end of the pontoon/furthest downwind point I can get to, while it discharges?

 

[wizard]

Panic!

That was my first reaction!

 

[Angele]

Chuck it overboard?

+1

Then hide down below and pretend it wasn't me.

I'm sure that, if you had any Aussie blood in you, you would have had the biggest Barbie ever going in minutes.

 

[zoidberg]

There's an excellent restaurant just yards away......

 

[Mark-1]

What would you do ...

Does the bottle feel warm-ish? If so I think I'd experiment with the idea it was a bit over pressure and had vented a bit of gas. In which case I'd cool it with the marina hose or in the sea and try again.

That's what I'd do. I'm not suggesting it's the *right* thing to do.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

Same protocol if you run aground, fly a French ensign and go below?

 

[Giblets]

1. Chuck it o/b.

2. Put pair of grips permanently in gas locker! :encouragement:

 

[Sandy]

Moored up in Cherbourg at the end of Q pontoon after a run from St Peter Port and starting to cook the evening dinner. After about 5 minutes the gas runs out. Right, I thought a quick changeover of the calor gas bottle (4.5kg) and we are back in business.

Remove said empty bottle and get spare from locker. So good so far. Started to unscrew the black plastic cover and bang the cover hits my hand and pushes it a foot from the bottle followed by a scream like a jet engine of the gas escaping from the bottle. Now find that the bottle valve is locked solid and cannot be turned. Suddenly heads pop up from everywhere at the sound and the smell of gas

What would you do ...

Get the fitting on quickly to make sure the potatoes do not go off the boil.

 

[dom]

Peg it; then dial 112 or 18 and leave it to the experts :ambivalence:

 

[Uricanejack]

Evacuate the boat pronto.
Warn adjacent boats and clear evacuate area. What's French for 999 or 911
I would not use radio on boat ask some further down the marina to call. Its a gas leak risk of ignition high.

I would not recommend throwing overboard gas will still leak and come up and surround boats. with possible risk of ignition. from all kinds of sources. Although you can be sure it wont bleve.

If really ballsy put out in open area where it can vent and hopefully be dissipated by wind. If it ignites leave it lite. just keep bottle cool while it vents off.

Having said that I had a small burning leaking gas cylinder on board. I threw the dam thing overboard. So I would probably do the same again in the heat of the moment. It worked first time I did it.

So throw it overboard then evacuate boat and other boats in area, call French 999 and ask other boat to call Mayday Relay

 

[bedouin]

I would have made at least one attempt to connect it up properly. If that failed I would put it onto the pontoon and call for help.

 

[prv]

What's French for 999 or 911

112. Works throughout Europe including the UK.

just keep bottle cool while it vents off.

The expanding gas will be doing plenty of cooling all on its own

Pete

 

[sarabande]

Does the bottle feel warm-ish? If so I think I'd experiment with the idea it was a bit over pressure and had vented a bit of gas. In which case I'd cool it with the marina hose or in the sea and try again.

That's what I'd do. I'm not suggesting it's the *right* thing to do.

The bottle will be substantially cooled as a result of the escaping gas (Boyle's Law). It's evident something has gone wrong, so repeating the action without modifying the physical bits is probably not a good idea.

I used to deal with plans for big BLEVE leaks, and a scenario was that the gas formed an invisible cloud at surface level until it met an ignition point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSKRubSu8T8

My office was a few hundred metres from Buncefield .

 

[Heckler]

112. Works throughout Europe including the UK.



The expanding gas will be doing plenty of cooling all on its own

Pete

Ok, taking at face value, get it in open space and let it evacuate itself, it wont vent for long. Standing on the aft end and as high as possible and point at open space preferably down wind. The noise will be frightening for a few secs. Again easier said than done. The instinctive thing to do is sling it in the water and perhaps from a personal point of view not a bad idea.
The bottle will have ice rapidly forming at the liquid gas area as it is expanding in to a gas and will not be comfortable to hold and another reason to sling it. As the YM team found out, gas in a boat is not easy to ignite in to an explosion. The video is still on Youtube? The LEL has to be pretty close to its level for it to go bang.
Having said all that, I cannot see the plastic bung in a Calor bottle holding back bottle pressure or allowing you to undo it under pressure so I find the scenario slightl unbelievable! Sorry!

 

[Mark-1]

The bottle will be substantially cooled as a result of the escaping gas

I thought the valve was seized closed, re-reading it I think you're right and it's seized open - in which case I'm 100pc with bedouin. Also quite sceptical about the situation.

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

The valve will reach significant sub zero temperatures almost instantly, on no account put unprotected flesh in the way of the escaping gas and do not touch the valve, you will stick to it.
If you really want to save the gas then get a towel, or strop and use that to try to turn the valve off. Otherwise chuck it overboard, 4.5kg of butane will be about 4m cube, spread across a marina, that's not a whole lot of gas. Any wind will disperse it nicely.



Almost similar, kind of...
I was called to a leaking 49kg propane bottle. Some one thought it would be good to put bottles nose to nose in order to fit more on a trailer, slotting the cowl of one into the cowl of its facing partner. Somehow, whoda thunk it a valve got opened... This where the towel as a strop to turn the valve closed came in. Took nearly a week before the smell of gas faded.

 

[wizard]

Bearing in mind the wind is blowing from the North down along the pontoon and everybody can smell it. There is nearly always someone walking around smoking (especially the French) also generally cos people are not allowed to smoke in the boat.

What I actually did was force the plastic cap back on and wrap a rag around to deaden the sound of slight leak and in a loud voice said to the wife ‘all sorted now’ and sat in the cockpit nonchantly.

As soon as the heads disappeared back into their boats I put the bottle in a large shopping bag walked calmly down the pontoon and up the ramp and went to the railing facing the channel into the rear harbour. Checked that nobody was around and no boats were coming or going and released the black plastic cap. Jet engine sound starts again 4.5kgs of liquid butane is going to take some time to blow off and someone might notice so I tipped the bottle upside down and the liquid butane jetted across the water with no noise at at all and finished in under a minute. Bottle back in bag and walked back to the boat.

Grips and stilsons failed to dislodge the valve. On return to England even the gas agent couldnt shift it.
The question is how could a bottle be filled, sent to the agent and sold with that fault.

 

[Stemar]

Many years ago, when camping with my parents, we got a dodgy Camping Gas cylinder. The ball valve stuck, so my Dad gave it a quick poke to free it. Free it, he did. The ball shot up past his ear, closely followed by the contents.

As for the OP, I'd want to get the bottle out into the open air ASAP. I wouldn't worry about it catching fire, it's not a huge amount of gas and a flame or fag would need to be pretty close to be a risk. Once all the fun's over, I'd go round the bilges with a sensitive gas detector (Mk1 nose - better than most "mechanical" detectors), just in case.