Gas leak

[Speedwell]

Best gas detector I know of is a match

Not sure how that relates to my post but you can smell it long before it reaches flammable proportions (assuming you have a normal sense of smell of course).

Arthur

[chris w]

Well, that is technically possible. I'm starting to wonder if it could have been a faulty bottle / screw thread though, as I do remember having a bit of trouble when I connected that bottle - the screw thread didn't "catch" like normal. Once it started to screw in though it seemed fine :s

 

I think the only way to know for sure is to get a bubble tester or similar.

 

I really recommend bubble testers and use them always on my boat. However, a bubble tester will only test the pipework that comes after it not before it, as would seem to be the likely cause of the leak in your case.

 

Chris

[Dylan]

I really recommend bubble testers and use them always on my boat. However, a bubble tester will only test the pipework that comes after it not before it, as would seem to be the likely cause of the leak in your case.

 

Chris

I once intended fitting a bubble tester, then I discovered that they use glass for the window, and have been known to crack. I changed my mind.

[blackrose]

I once intended fitting a bubble tester, then I discovered that they use glass for the window, and have been known to crack. I changed my mind.

 

I'm sure someone else said the 'sightglass' was made of plastic on another thread.

 

Still, they're supposed to be installed in your gas locker and if the plastic cracks and leaks you'll soon know about it because the fluid will leak out. Even if you have to replace it every 5 years it still seems like £45 well spent to me.

Edited February 11, 2008 by blackrose

[Dylan]

I'm sure someone else said the 'sightglass' was made of plastic on another thread.

 

Still, they're supposed to be installed in your gas locker and if the plastic cracks and leaks you'll soon know about it because the fluid will leak out. Even if you have to replace it every 5 years it still seems like £45 well spent to me.

Quite possible that it has been modified. I am 99% it says glass on the website though. True it is outside of the cabin, but as someone else pointed out some time ago: on diesel installations we aren't allowed plastic on fuel filters and the like (my brand new Vetus engine failed the Boat Safety on same). Why are we encouraged to use plastic (if indeed it is plastic) on a gas fitting? Sorry that has gone a bit but relevant as it is a safety issue IMHO.

 

Edited to add:

Quote "Alde gas leak detectors, aka Alde bubble leak testers, should be installed on any LPG system. Press the red cap and watch the glycol fluid inside the glass chamber. If there is a leak in the system, the fluctuating gas pressure will create bubbles in the fluid."

Edited February 11, 2008 by Dylan

[blackrose]

Quite possible that it has been modified. I am 99% it says glass on the website though. True it is outside of the cabin, but as someone else pointed out some time ago: on diesel installations we aren't allowed plastic on fuel filters and the like (my brand new Vetus engine failed the Boat Safety on same). Why are we encouraged to use plastic (if indeed it is plastic) on a gas fitting? Sorry that has gone a bit but relevant as it is a safety issue IMHO.

 

Edited to add:

Quote "Alde gas leak detectors, aka Alde bubble leak testers, should be installed on any LPG system. Press the red cap and watch the glycol fluid inside the glass chamber. If there is a leak in the system, the fluctuating gas pressure will create bubbles in the fluid."

 

I think they call it glass as in sightglass, but I'm pretty sure it's plastic. I would be happier if it were glass because it's been reported that the glycol fluid tends to disintegrate the plastic after several years.

 

As for why we are using plastic on a gas fitting, it's the same as people using rubber hoses - as long as it's inside the gas locker I think it shouldn't be an issue as any escaping gas will vent overboard. Your plastic fuel filter housing is a slightly different matter. If it cracks and and spills fuel it could contribute towards a fire in the engine space.

Edited February 11, 2008 by blackrose

[nigel carton]

The bubble tester should be fitted in the gas locker, the only other items allowed in there are your bottles. If the bottles are secure,(as they should be) then there is no way the glass can be damaged. If by some chance a bubble tester gnawing critter got into the locker and ate a chunk out of the glass bit, the gas will leak over board, out of your locker vents at the bottom (that should be there) In my oppinion as an examiner, they are a good idea, and any good examiner will knock you £30 or so off your examination if you have one fitted, I do!

I would imagine the ones that have been known to crack will have had a helping hand, like mooring pins, windlasses, insecure bottles etc.

Edited February 11, 2008 by nigel carton

[Bob the welder]

Hi! Have you examined the brass seating on the regulator, to see if it has been damaged by it dangling loose while changing bottles in the past, because if they do bang around the gas locker, it can form small flat areas, which will prevent a good seal on the bottle.

 

I have experienced several so called full bottles of argon and other welding gases from BOC only to find that, on returning to the workshop the bottle is well down on pressure and content. This may well have happend with your gas bottle.

 

Yours,

 

Bob the Welder.

[chris w]

I have the Alde bubble tester and the sight glass is definitely plastic not glass.

 

Chris

[RobinJ]

It could be a faulty gas cylinder and might not be a leak in your gas system at all / badly connected cylinder. Have you tried connecting a different cyclinder?

One occasion last year (luckily moored next to someone who smelt it) there was a bad leak and it was coming out of the drain hole in the gas locker. There was muck on the nozzle that screws into the bottle, some are just brass, some have an 'O' ring, its worth cleaning it and checking (even if only with washing up liquid) when you connect a new bottle.

When I was in dry dock before Xmas, another boat had the same problem and the surveyor was about to fail it!

[BeckyJC]

One occasion last year (luckily moored next to someone who smelt it) there was a bad leak and it was coming out of the drain hole in the gas locker. There was muck on the nozzle that screws into the bottle, some are just brass, some have an 'O' ring, its worth cleaning it and checking (even if only with washing up liquid) when you connect a new bottle.

When I was in dry dock before Xmas, another boat had the same problem and the surveyor was about to fail it!

Thanks for all the tips everybody! Where my gas went is still a mystery, as the new bottle which I've put on seems to be doing fine, it's still feeling pretty full when I lift it... it *could* have just been a problem with the last bottle or dust in the connection or something. Next time I get back to the boat yard I'm going to have them fit a bubble tester for me so that I can check it out properly, but until then I'm just turning the bottle off all the time except when I cook / use the hot water. The system seems to be keeping gas in it when the bottle is turned off, i.e. Paloma pilot light / cooker light immediately when I turn the bottle back on and light them, even when they've been off for a day or so, so I doubt that it's leaking any more. Perhaps the last bottle just wasn't as full as it was supposed to be?

 

Am interested to see what happens when I get a bubble tester fitted.

[Bones]

Thanks for all the tips everybody! Where my gas went is still a mystery, as the new bottle which I've put on seems to be doing fine, it's still feeling pretty full when I lift it... it *could* have just been a problem with the last bottle or dust in the connection or something. Next time I get back to the boat yard I'm going to have them fit a bubble tester for me so that I can check it out properly, but until then I'm just turning the bottle off all the time except when I cook / use the hot water. The system seems to be keeping gas in it when the bottle is turned off, i.e. Paloma pilot light / cooker light immediately when I turn the bottle back on and light them, even when they've been off for a day or so, so I doubt that it's leaking any more. Perhaps the last bottle just wasn't as full as it was supposed to be?

 

Am interested to see what happens when I get a bubble tester fitted.

 

Hi Becky - all those are possible, excellent that the new bottle is working well!