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Raising gas locker floor


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25 minutes ago, 36national said:
  • David Mack
  • Patron Donate to Canal World
  • Gender:Male
  • Boat Name:Belfast 115

I'm sure that in the past I have come across low-decked tug style boats with the gas bottles in the bow locker, where the only way to fit the bottles in below the deck hatch was to have the locker floor well below water level, with a long vertical slot for the drain, and the bottles permanently sitting in a few inches of water.  Not sure the BSS would allow that now!

 

 

I think The BSS  would for a couple of reasons. there is nothing in section 7 of the BSS to prevent it. And (dont start a sentence with a conjunciton) it is not actually dangerous from the point of view of gas build-up  and explosion. Of course it does mean that if the floor of your wet locker corrodes (as it will) and then rusts through (as it will without careful maintenence) then there is a direct route for water to flow from the canal, into your bilge thus lowering the boat in the water enabling more water to flow from the canal, into your bilge and then guess what youre sunk. However that is not a BSS issue and if youre aware that the botom of  your wet lockers is below the waterline then it is a copeable with issue. Frankly if I was designing a boat then wet lockers would be banned verboten and to all extents done away with but lots of boats have em. Isnt there a BSS examiner on here who can settle this ? I got a pound of flesh spare ( more than one actually)

Perfectly allowable to have a large quantity of water in the locker. Its the bottles that suffer, the bottom skirts rust.

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I had new floors welded in my lockers to raise them by 1" because I was not happy that under certain circumstances of load etc the floor was on the water line. The consequence of a slight leak in the floor when the boat was unattended would have been a sunken boat. Then I had to repeat the exercise after having the boat overplated because that put the floor below the water line again. Then the bottles wouldn't fit and I had to have the sides raised too, but the end result was 100% satisfactory.

 

Our arrangement is slightly unusual, with one bottle either side at the stern so a high pressure pipe (not hose) passes through the engine bay inside a conduit. I have had BSS inspectors try to fail this arrangement, based on their own made-up interpretations of the rules, but I also have a letter from the BSS people giving their approval to it so I have always gained the required pass.

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41 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Perfectly allowable to have a large quantity of water in the locker. Its the bottles that suffer, the bottom skirts rust.

Gas bottles sat in water may or may not be acceptable to the BSS , but I do wonder if doing so would put you in breach of your agreement with Calor Gas.

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10 hours ago, Katie said:

 Or if height of vent is ok, will just put the cylinders on some plastic grate to protect paintwork and allow gas and water to drain. 

thoughts? 

 

My gas locker vents are about 3" above the waterline and the bow wave means the floor gets wet when underway at any speed.

 

I got in there with an angle grinder and wire wheel a few years ago and got rid of ALL the rust including down to the bottom of the pits. Then I applied 4 coats of Jotamastic 87 epoxy paint. Then when that had cured I laid down a large rubber scraper mat (the type with holes) to protect the paint from being scraped by the bottles.

 

There's no need to raise the floor of the floor hasn't rotted through if you can prep the steel properly and paint it with an appropriate two-pack paint that can cope with long term standing water.

 

Ideally your vents should be at the same level as the floor so that it can drain properly - water and gas

 

 

 

 

Edited by blackrose
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2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Perfectly allowable to have a large quantity of water in the locker. Its the bottles that suffer, the bottom skirts rust.

 

The floor tends to suffer too and that's a bit more important to most steel boat owners than the bottles.

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9 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

My gas locker vents are about 3" above the waterline and the bow wave means the floor gets wet when underway at any speed.

 

I got in there with an angle grinder and wire wheel a few years ago and got rid of ALL the rust including down to the bottom of the pits. Then I applied 4 coats of Jotamastic 87 epoxy paint. Then when that had cured I laid down a large rubber scraper mat (the type with holes) to protect the paint from being scraped by the bottles.

 

There's no need to raise the floor of the floor hasn't rotted through if you can prep the steel properly and paint it with an appropriate two-pack paint that can cope with long term standing water.

 

Ideally your vents should be at the same level as the floor so that it can drain properly - water and gas

 

 

 

 

Thanks this was my original idea but realise the vent is too high above the floor. Rather than extend the vent causing more water to enter the locker more often, I think I will raise the floor since I have the height in the locker already to allow this. 

 

have just painted with a rust proof metal paint but realise if now going to fill with latex self levelling compound I may need to treat the surface differently? 

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6 hours ago, 36national said:

and to complete the circle 

 

if you fill with compound you will never be able to inspect this area in the future which may be to your great disadvantage

or as Elvis put it WTF i dont care 

Yeah I’ve just been thinking about this. I’ll have no idea what’s happening underneath and if any little ask are getting through. So back to the temporary floor idea. Now thinking tile backing board might do the job 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi thought I’d update you all on what I ended up doing…. 
 

- 3 coats rust proof metal paint after a good clean and got rid of loose rust

- couple of grass stabilisation grids on the bottom to help raise the height but also so it can all breathe

- water resistant tile backing board on top and silicone sealant around the edges

 

this made the perfect height so the vent meets the new temporary floor and gas bottles just fit in snugly. 
 

have just been out on a cruise for couple hours and it is all bone dry, letting no water in so far even when going at ‘speed’ 

 

pretty pleased with the results and will allow me to take it out and keep checking on condition of the metal from time to time 

 

thanks for all help and advice as always ✌🏼 

06AA800E-86F2-4D11-9A7C-564ED3E391A7.jpeg

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Can’t remember what they once were but the one on the left is sealed off and one of the right is part of the vent “slot” 

 

the gas locker is at the stern so guessing was once at the bow and got moved and this compartment repurposed at some point over the years 

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33 minutes ago, Katie said:

Can’t remember what they once were but the one on the left is sealed off and one of the right is part of the vent “slot” 

 

the gas locker is at the stern so guessing was once at the bow and got moved and this compartment repurposed at some point over the years 

 

It is difficult to get the perspective.

On the LH side pipe, does it go thru the locker wall above, below, or at the same height as the regulator or the top of the cylinder valve (when the cylinder is sat in the locker)

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18 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

It is difficult to get the perspective.

On the LH side pipe, does it go thru the locker wall above, below, or at the same height as the regulator or the top of the cylinder valve (when the cylinder is sat in the locker)

It’s below the regulator kind of midway up the wall of the locker. Surveyor did investigate it I just can’t remember what he said it was. 

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7 minutes ago, Katie said:

It’s below the regulator kind of midway up the wall of the locker. Surveyor did investigate it I just can’t remember what he said it was. 

 

The regulations say there should be no 'hole' in the side of the locker - although from the picture it doesn't look adequately sealed, he must have decided it is.

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