Propane gas regulators. Low pressure acceptable on boats?

[pedroinlondon]

The automatic changeover regulator I have on my boat does not work and I would like to fit a plain single regulator so I can have a shower soon! Very very very soon!

I need a high pressure propane with a 8 mm outlet for a hose.The problem is that no one seems to jave them in stock at the various calor stockists. They do have low pressure ones which I think are for babecues but not for Morco 61b heaters.

Can I use a low pressure one for a few days until a high pressure one arrives or is that a no no? Another thing: do I need to buy an adjustable high pr regulator or a plain one is ok?

If anyone knows of a shop which stocks them in London please let me know where it is!

[Phil Ambrose]

Cannot say for sure but High Pressure reg is for use with Propane while Low Pressure is for use with Butane and the 2 should not be swapped in fact I am not sure that gas bottles will accept the "wrong" regulator. As far as an adjustable regulator is concerned I do'nt think such a beast exists for the purpose you want it for.

Find a Calor depot in your locality and ring them, they will have regs valves, pigtails etc.

Be safe and do'nt mess with it.

 

Phil

[MtB]

Cannot say for sure but High Pressure reg is for use with Propane while Low Pressure is for use with Butane and the 2 should not be swapped in fact I am not sure that gas bottles will accept the "wrong" regulator. As far as an adjustable regulator is concerned I do'nt think such a beast exists for the purpose you want it for.

Find a Calor depot in your locality and ring them, they will have regs valves, pigtails etc.

Be safe and do'nt mess with it.

 

Phil

 

Phil, please don't guess gas replies. It is not helpful to the OP.

 

Best advice to the OP is get a qualified gas bod in. I Don't have time to address all the misunderstandings and misinformation in the OP and the the first answer posted. I need to sleep in an hour or so!

 

 

MtB

[pelicanafloat]

The automatic changeover regulator I have on my boat does not work and I would like to fit a plain single regulator so I can have a shower soon! Very very very soon!

I need a high pressure propane with a 8 mm outlet for a hose.The problem is that no one seems to jave them in stock at the various calor stockists. They do have low pressure ones which I think are for babecues but not for Morco 61b heaters.

Can I use a low pressure one for a few days until a high pressure one arrives or is that a no no? Another thing: do I need to buy an adjustable high pr regulator or a plain one is ok?

If anyone knows of a shop which stocks them in London please let me know where it is!

As I understand it from going onto the Morco website, the device you have is lpg. I also note from the installation guide they request a minimum 10mm supply pipe, and 15mm if the distance too far. As the heater is conventional flued and requires proper ventilation, and assuming there is more to this than just a dodgy regulator, I'd strongly advise you use a qualified gas fitter to sort it all out unless cost is an issue and you starting to smell a bit too much in which case a bit more detail might help. GL (and keep your distance )

[Bill]

The automatic changeover regulator I have on my boat does not work and I would like to fit a plain single regulator so I can have a shower soon! Very very very soon!

I need a high pressure propane with a 8 mm outlet for a hose.The problem is that no one seems to jave them in stock at the various calor stockists. They do have low pressure ones which I think are for babecues but not for Morco 61b heaters.

Can I use a low pressure one for a few days until a high pressure one arrives or is that a no no? Another thing: do I need to buy an adjustable high pr regulator or a plain one is ok?

If anyone knows of a shop which stocks them in London please let me know where it is!

 

 

For a boat you need a low pressure regulator 37mbar for propane, 28mbar for butane. The high pressure regulators are used for the likes of big blow torches and furnaces which use massive amounts of gas and are generally manually adjustable for pressure.

This is a no no for BSS (77.6 R "LPG regulators must not be of the manually-adjustable type.").

[Phil Ambrose]

Mike, my misguided efforts in replying to the OP were intended to tell him nicely not to mess with it and get the Pros in (see last line of my post) it was late and I did'nt word it very well. Soz

Phil

[Charlotte Burnett]

http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/woman_speaks_of_dramatic_regent_s_canal_boat_blaze_rescue_1_2205683

[smileypete]

If it's been installed quite recently by a gas bod there should be some sort of guarantee there, failing that contact a gas bod via the Gas Safe website using the advanced seach facility, and selecting the boats option.

 

In the meantime why not use the shower in a nearby leisure centre? If you want to learn a bit more about LPG installs then a good starting point would be to read of the relevant bits of the BSS.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[pedroinlondon]

Thanks a lot guys. Sorry not to reply earlier but been too busy with stuff and this lpg nightmare.

1. I did go to the gas reg website. I called three local guys it turns out none of them do lpg anymore. Btw it was through that website that I found the useless idiot who installed my gas in June at Roydon/Broxbourne.

2. Got a gas regulator in the end for an extortionate £38 at Willesden Lane and installed it. Fitted a 15mm valve and tried the gas hob.

3.The gas is coming so strong that the knobs cannot shut it off properly, even with the regulator set to minimum. I suspect the reg is dodgy! As I tried to light it there were flames where there shouldn't be!!!!

4. Shut off the gas at the cillinder and won't touch it again. Cold showers until I find an engineer!

5. Recomendations for lpg eng in west/north London please.

[bizzard]

Thanks a lot guys. Sorry not to reply earlier but been too busy with stuff and this lpg nightmare.

1. I did go to the gas reg website. I called three local guys it turns out none of them do lpg anymore. Btw it was through that website that I found the useless idiot who installed my gas in June at Roydon/Broxbourne.

2. Got a gas regulator in the end for an extortionate £38 at Willesden Lane and installed it. Fitted a 15mm valve and tried the gas hob.

3.The gas is coming so strong that the knobs cannot shut it off properly, even with the regulator set to minimum. I suspect the reg is dodgy! As I tried to light it there were flames where there shouldn't be!!!!

4. Shut off the gas at the cillinder and won't touch it again. Cold showers until I find an engineer!

5. Recomendations for lpg eng in west/north London please.

Sounds like you bought a high pressure industrial adjustable regulator, not allowed in boats or for private domestic use either I think.

[system 4-50]

Thanks a lot guys. Sorry not to reply earlier but been too busy with stuff and this lpg nightmare.

1. I did go to the gas reg website. I called three local guys it turns out none of them do lpg anymore. Btw it was through that website that I found the useless idiot who installed my gas in June at Roydon/Broxbourne.

2. Got a gas regulator in the end for an extortionate £38 at Willesden Lane and installed it. Fitted a 15mm valve and tried the gas hob.

3.The gas is coming so strong that the knobs cannot shut it off properly, even with the regulator set to minimum. I suspect the reg is dodgy! As I tried to light it there were flames where there shouldn't be!!!!

4. Shut off the gas at the cillinder and won't touch it again. Cold showers until I find an engineer!

5. Recomendations for lpg eng in west/north London please.

I am a plain speaking person who will dump his pen'orth in where others are too kind to tread, so here goes.

Some people just don't have what it takes to work with gas, and you are one of them. You don't even know enough to know how little you know (about gas). Please don't do any work on gas either now or in the future, no matter how desperate you are. This will stop you getting burnt.

[Phil Ambrose]

In my first post I did say, "get the pros in and be safe, do'nt mess with it" by the sound of things that was good advice.

 

Phil

[smileypete]

Thanks a lot guys. Sorry not to reply earlier but been too busy with stuff and this lpg nightmare.

1. I did go to the gas reg website. I called three local guys it turns out none of them do lpg anymore. Btw it was through that website that I found the useless idiot who installed my gas in June at Roydon/Broxbourne.

Very sorry to hear that what was wrong with the work the gas bod did?

 

With the website advanced search it best to select boats and *don't* select LPG; the LPG means land based LPG, so selecting both will return much fewer results. Maybe next time try to get a personal recommendation too, and cross check them with the website.

 

Doing a safe DIY install is not impossible, but needs lot of reading up and research beforehand and it helps to have some experience in related areas, it really is no place for trial and error. If it's not possible to put the time in beforehand then it's by far the best get a qualified gas bod to do it instead.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited September 23, 2013 by smileypete

[pedroinlondon]

Very sorry to hear that what was wrong with the work the gas bod did?

 

With the website advanced search it best to select boats and *don't* select LPG; the LPG means land based LPG, so selecting both will return much fewer results. Maybe next time try to get a personal recommendation too, and cross check them with the website.

 

Doing a safe DIY install is not impossible, but needs lot of reading up and research beforehand and it helps to have some experience in related areas, it really is no place for trial and error. If it's not possible to put the time in beforehand then it's by far the best get a qualified gas bod to do it instead.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

He left me with a leak only later found by the bss guy. He then returned and took h three hours to find it (a compression joint behind the hob!) not before calling threeates for advice and telling me that it was very likely the brand new morco he had fitted a few days earlier. That together with insufficient bracketing of pipe, an auto changeover reg (which I don't know if it was his fault).

[pedroinlondon]

In conclusion, what happened is that I used a high pressure instead of a low pressure regulator. That high pressure was reccomended by the hardware shop guy who claims to have a gas cert. In the end Will Tarzian who is a boater and a gas fitter (and also Manflu's drummer!) sorted my gas out.

[Dottyshirl]

Have you had a shower yet ? Glad things are sorted smelly