Just Gas

[DeLam]

I read of someone who did not want gas on board so had a parrifin cooker,
but did not use meths for pre heating but a DIY gas blow lamp. This seemed crazy to me because a gas blow lamp could be more hazardous than a
properly installed gas cooker.
This lead me on to think what other small gas appliances do we have on board-
a cigerette lighter ,a gas match, a rope cutter,maybe even a refill canister.
All of course kept in the dedicated gas locker!
Question for you experts -supposing a gas cigarette lighter got into the bilges and broke spilling it´s contents , would a catastrophic explosion occur if ignited.
Should we have a seperate inside drained overboard locker for these things? do the boat safety checks address this subject
I will await replies with interest.

 

[Trevethan]

Just selling my gas cooker and buying a parafin job. Then I'll be all diesel/parafin. When I bought the boat the gas cylinder was in the heads and not even secured. Really not a safe solution.

I once saw an "empty" camping gaz cannister, (you know the ones that you pierce, catch fire and do a great impression of a tornado armed with a flame thrower and wreak havoc at a campsite and really don't want gas aboard in any quantity.

I don't have a gas locker, so I think I will likely build a mini gas locker for blowlamp, or buy one of those super lighters. I reckon that will kick out enough heat to heat burner and should it leak, the volume of gas is so small it believe it will disspiate through out the bilge to the point where it doesn't pose an explosion risk.

I use the lamp from time to time onboard, but always light it outside so I never have unburnt gas inside the boat

When not on board I take the blow lamp home with me and never leave it inside. When the cannister starts to look even slightly rusted I dispose of it and buy a new one.

I am fitting a little blower for the bilges that should take care of things if gas does leak from the lighter.

Regards,

Nick

 

[Trevor_swfyc]

Don't try this on the boat but if the gas is butane C4H10 MWt 58 then if 1gm mole gives 22.4 litres then say 25mls of butane which is about 20gm will give 20/58 x 22.4 litres = 7.7 litres. So I would say not enough to give a catastrophic explosive mix unless you have a very small boat.
What goes WOOF and blows all your hair off.

Trevor

 

[peterb]

The explosive concentration is less than 10%, so you'll have 77 litres (about 3 cubic feet) of explosive gas-air mixture. Sounds just about right for a small bilge.