Storing gas cylinders on board

[CalicoJack]

1) Ibelieve that gas cylinders must be kept upright when in use on board. ie you cannot lay them in their side and use them. True or false?

The reason for asking is that I have been watching on YouTube a series called Acorn to Arabella where the gas cylinder is clearly shown laying on its side. Arabella is a newly built/commissioned yacht in the USA. Safe or unsafe?

 

[Daverw]

Could it be to keep gas vapour against the valve seals and they might not like be continually sat in liquid

 

[Kwik Decision]

1) Ibelieve that gas cylinders must be kept upright when in use on board. ie you cannot lay them in their side and use them. True or false?

You can store spare cylinders on their side, but the cylinder in use must be upright, or you'll get liquid gas coming through the regulator, and causing flare ups on the cooker.

Note that sometimes gas cylinders are liquid take off, eg for powering engines (forklift trucks often have gas engines). These cylinders tend to be used on their side. For normal boat use however, you need low pressure gas phase gas for the cooker, heater, water heater.

 

[Plum]

1) Ibelieve that gas cylinders must be kept upright when in use on board. ie you cannot lay them in their side and use them. True or false?

The reason for asking is that I have been watching on YouTube a series called Acorn to Arabella where the gas cylinder is clearly shown laying on its side. Arabella is a newly built/commissioned yacht in the USA. Safe or unsafe?

In the USA you can get cylinders of "liquified gas" or "compressed gas". If compressed gas then you can use any way up or on side. Liquified gas ones must be upright in use to ensure the outlet is above the level of the liquid.

 

[Sandy]

For goodness sake don't tell the thousands of companies who use gas powered fork lift trucks that they can't use the stuff on its side.

 

[snowbird30ds]

For goodness sake don't tell the thousands of companies who use gas powered fork lift trucks that they can't use the stuff on its side.

Fork lifts and such can use the gas as a liquid, not a good thing on a cooker when the fireball erupts.

 

[Plum]

For goodness sake don't tell the thousands of companies who use gas powered fork lift trucks that they can't use the stuff on its side.

Forklift gas bottles are liquid-takeoff bottles whereas the ones we use are gas take-off

 

[Stemar]

Septics do things differently. Given the amount of research Steve has done, I'd be astonished if he'd got something so basic wrong. I also rather think he'd have found out about the error the first time he lit the gas.

 

[lustyd]

Not this again! Forklift bottles have a tube in them and are marked as to which way up they must be mounted. All discussed and images shown recently on the forum. Gas Cylinder-Fuelled Fork Lift Trucks
Either way, the regulator doesn't have to be on the bottle. You could conceivably mount the bottle upside down and take liquid off somewhere else to evaporate and use. Whether that's sensible or not is a different question!

 

[Graham_Wright]

U believe (some!) fork lift trucks use special cylinders with the pick-up connection angled to the wall of the cylinder. Such cylinders have a "this way up arrow on the side".

 

[fisherman]

We were told in firefighting class that if a bottle on its side should leak it would be fluid, ie many times the volume of gas, and quickly fill the boat up. They use water powered fans to blow gas away.

There was a video of rioters somewhere in the far east, one holding a gas bottle upside down, the other lighting the gas. About twenty feet of flame.