Propane installation?

[jimboaw]

Tanks are on aft deck.(centre cockpit boat) so I need to come through the transom to connect to the solid copper pipe that runs to the galley.
The current installation has the pressure regulator at the galley end? Comments?

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't live with that installation because you have high pressure gas runs. Propane and butane pressure on the low pressure side (after the regulator) is very low - a few tens of millibars - which is tiny and far less likely to leak. I would fit the regulator as close to the bottle as possible, or on the bottle itself.

David

 

[snowleopard]

go to a calor dealer and get their free booklet about boat installations. you will see that all the high pressure side should be in a locker with vents and overside drains. the prospect of a high pressure leak below decks is the stuff of nightmares!

remember that propane runs at many times the pressure of butane.

the essentials can be seen here see especially para 6.9.1

 

[Anonymous]

One other thought has come to mind - I believe that it might be against the law for anyone other than a CORGI registered fitter to work on gas installations. I'm fairly sure that it is on land, for mains gas, but I'm not sure of the law with bottled gas or on boats. Maybe someone can tell us the legal situation?

 

[pragmatist]

Corgi ?! On the previous boat we'd always done our own gas piping, cooker in/out each season and never a problem. Since then we have used 2 professional Corgi installers, including a very well-known & expensive yard, who have both left us with a leaking system. So even if it were illegal not to use a Corgi installer we'd never touch them with a barge-pole again. After all if it's your life on the line then you're much more careful than anyone else might be !

 

[snowleopard]

i don't think it's illegal to do any sort of work on your own boat. on the other hand if you pay someone else to do gas work they must not only be corgi registered but must have the additional marine qualifications. that makes them a rare breed and consequently expensive.

 

[castlevar]

I own a boiler service company Yes it is a legal requirment to be Corgi registered to do work on boats and the engineer must have the correct certificate as there are various types from power station boilers to gas fires.

 

[jimboaw]

Job done. Regulator now on the bottle. Passed through the transom with a 6 inch brass stud supported inside and out with 1/2 inch thick plastic washers glued to the transom with Sikoflex .
Please note my location. The only Corgis over here are dogs and they a thin on the ground!

 

[webcraft]

The first time I used a Corgi heating engineer the Calor central heating system he installed did not work properly and he refused for nearly a year to come and fix it. Eventually I complained to Calor Gas and a Calor inspector dropped by, condemned our gas central heating system and shut it down, saying we were lucky to be alive.

The second time - in the same house - I used a different Corgi registered gas engineer to install a propane cooker. After he left I looked behind the cooker and had to phone the firm up and ask if it was normal to have a 'pilot flame' coming out of a join behind the cooker!

I don't care if it's illegal, I would rather do my own work or get someone I trust - the Corgi thing is an excuse to charge and not worth the paper it is written on in some cases. If you live anywhere in the UK other than the South Coast the chances of finding a Corgi person to come to your boat are less than nil anyway.

I don't believe it is illegal anyway - that's just a marketing ploy. I think the problem is that if your boat blows up in a gas explosion and it turns out not to have been a Corgi approved installation then the insurance might not pay up. In this case just tell them that the certification was destroyed in the explosion!

It is now (Jan 2005) 'illegal' to do any serious electrical work in your own house in the UK as well. This sort of nonsense needs to be resisted . . . I suggest printing out nice little stickers to put on any future electrical installations you may undertake saying 'Installed November 2004'

- Nick

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
It is now (Jan 2005) 'illegal' to do any serious electrical work in your own house in the UK as well. This sort of nonsense needs to be resisted . . . I suggest printing out nice little stickers to put on any future electrical installations you may undertake saying 'Installed November 2004'

[/ QUOTE ]Someone else on the forum mentioned this new 'law'. Do you know the name of it - I want to read it for myself to see what can and cannot be done.

David

 

[castlevar]

Now that you have installed your new system please do a leak test connect a pressure gauge to your new pipe work pressureise the system now close the valve on the bottle and the valve on the cooker the pressure should hold up for 30 min.
If not you have a leak check all the joints with soapy water.
I have worked on Industrial boilers for over 40 years and have seen some serious incidents please dont work on any gas equipment unless you have training in gas.
Yes I am sure there are some bad engineers out there report them to corgi we dont need them.

 

[snowleopard]

the document you want is Building Regulations Part P.

the new rules apply to any work started after 1 jan 2005. i rushed forward the start of my 2 brojects so they were registered as starting before the end of last year!

you will be able to do your own work but will have to pay for it to be inspected by a qualified electrician. minor work like the odd new socket is excluded.

 

[snowleopard]

leak test

if you fit a bubble tester you can check for leaks each time you turn on the gas. turn on but don't light all the burners (so the only thing stopping the gas getting out is the flame failure valves) then press the button on the bubbler and no more than 1 bubble should escape.

 

[jimboaw]

Done. Fitted a pressure guage before the regulator. Nifty bit of kit. The original question that I wanted some advice on remained unanswered.What is the correct method to pass through a bulkhead? I think my use of a brass stud is a safe solution?

 

[snowleopard]

there is an 'official' fitting designed for the purpose. it is a compression coupler with a flange that fastens to the bulkhead. in practice some fitters prefer not to make an extra joint so use a rubber grommet or a plug of sikaflex in a generous-sized hole. pipe going through a bulkhead must be copper, not flexible.