Gas bottle in engine bay - is it allowed?

[bob_dee]

Hi all. I am having a re-fit of our 57" reverse layout semi-trad narrowboat at the moment. We have had a gas bottle container in the metal box in the corner of the stern deck above the engine bay (it's where your left hand would be if the person at the tiller reached down and forward i.e. forward of where the throttle is) since we moved on. A gas engineer came to check out set up and said that we couldn't have the gas bottle there as gas could sink down from there into the living quarters. For a quick check of the regulations, it seems to say that the positioning is fine, as long as it is in a container that is vapour-proof. Does anyone have any further information on what is and isn't allowed here, as I'd rather not spend the £1000 that gas engineer is quoting to reposition the gas bottle in a bow locker and re-run gas piping through the whole of the boat to get to the gas cooker stern?

[Guest]

Hi all. I am having a re-fit of our 57" reverse layout semi-trad narrowboat at the moment. We have had a gas bottle container in the metal box in the corner of the stern deck above the engine bay (it's where your left hand would be if the person at the tiller reached down and forward i.e. forward of where the throttle is) since we moved on. A gas engineer came to check out set up and said that we couldn't have the gas bottle there as gas could sink down from there into the living quarters. For a quick check of the regulations, it seems to say that the positioning is fine, as long as it is in a container that is vapour-proof. Does anyone have any further information on what is and isn't allowed here, as I'd rather not spend the £1000 that gas engineer is quoting to reposition the gas bottle in a bow locker and re-run gas piping through the whole of the boat to get to the gas cooker stern?

Do you have a current Boat safety certificate, and did it pass as it stands?

[Alan de Enfield]

It should be 'fine as long as :-

 

The gas 'locker' must be 'gas tight' up to above the height of the cylinder EXCEPT it must have a 'drain' (at the base of the locker) that runs 'overboard' so that when you change gas bottles (or have a regulator or pipe leak) any 'escaped gas' must be able to escape the boat and not sink into the bilges.

Edited February 8, 2017 by Alan de Enfield

[pete.i]

I would suggest you read this. Your gas installer is correct and you must have vents that vent to the outside of the boat and those vents must be below the level of the bottle as far as I can remember. But everything is there in that guide and you can even ring the BSS office for advice because on here you will get all sorts of conflicting advice.

 

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/180428/bss%20guide%202005%20complete%20web.pdf

[MtB]

Hi all. I am having a re-fit of our 57" reverse layout semi-trad narrowboat at the moment. We have had a gas bottle container in the metal box in the corner of the stern deck above the engine bay (it's where your left hand would be if the person at the tiller reached down and forward i.e. forward of where the throttle is) since we moved on. A gas engineer came to check out set up and said that we couldn't have the gas bottle there as gas could sink down from there into the living quarters. For a quick check of the regulations, it seems to say that the positioning is fine, as long as it is in a container that is vapour-proof. Does anyone have any further information on what is and isn't allowed here, as I'd rather not spend the £1000 that gas engineer is quoting to reposition the gas bottle in a bow locker and re-run gas piping through the whole of the boat to get to the gas cooker stern?

 

 

So is your gas bottle compartment over the engine bay vapour proof with a drain to overboard, or not?

 

I can't see this mentioned in your post.

[pete.i]

Oh and this and this.

 

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/contact-us/

 

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/boat-examination/private-boats/

[nicknorman]

Whatever the current situation, keeping the gas bottle where it is and installing a proper overboard drain if necessary has got to be easier and cheaper than moving the whole shebang to the bow. If any work does need doing, find another gas technician! (although any work on gas drains is better done by a fabricator than a gas technician who probably can't weld!). This one is obviously short of work - and perhaps for a good reason!

[Ex Brummie]

If you look into the existing gas locker, you will probably find that there is a 'drain' hole in the bottom to overboard. This arrangement is quite common, and there are many hire boats that have a similar arrangement. Who is the shell builder?

[MtB]

Whatever the current situation, keeping the gas bottle where it is and installing a proper overboard drain if necessary has got to be easier and cheaper than moving the whole shebang to the bow. If any work does need doing, find another gas technician! (although any work on gas drains is better done by a fabricator than a gas technician who probably can't weld!). This one is obviously short of work - and perhaps for a good reason!

 

 

I'd agree with this.

 

In addition the bow locker probably doesn't have a drain as it wasn't fitted out as a gas locker, so provision of a drain will be necessary anyway!

 

I suspect either the current set-up has no locker drain, in which case how did the boat ever get a BSS in the past, or more likely, the OP emplyed a domestic gas bod who is not qualified for LPG on boats and is working out of scope.

 

I suggest the OP looks up the bloke's qualifications on the Gas Safe Register website.

[Alan de Enfield]

Hi all. I am having a re-fit of our 57" reverse layout semi-trad narrowboat at the moment. We have had a gas bottle container in the metal box in the corner of the stern deck above the engine bay (it's where your left hand would be if the person at the tiller reached down and forward i.e. forward of where the throttle is) since we moved on. A gas engineer came to check out set up and said that we couldn't have the gas bottle there as gas could sink down from there into the living quarters. For a quick check of the regulations, it seems to say that the positioning is fine, as long as it is in a container that is vapour-proof. Does anyone have any further information on what is and isn't allowed here, as I'd rather not spend the £1000 that gas engineer is quoting to reposition the gas bottle in a bow locker and re-run gas piping through the whole of the boat to get to the gas cooker stern?

 

The 'new' BSSC focusses on the condition of the gas locker more than the 'old' test - I wonder if the 'gas engineer' actually said that the bottom of the gas locker was corroded so it could 'leak' into the living area ?

[dor]

My semi-trad has the gas locker in the stern, in one of the lockers on the side. This is of course fully sealed with a vent to the outside of the boat. This is far from unusual, and is far more sensible than struggling with a gas locker in the bow, especially if you have a cratch.

 

It would of course fail if there was any hole or corrosion through the bottom of the locker or through the side into the boat's interior.

 

You can even have a bolt going through the bottom of the locker. I have a guard for the regulator which is bolted through the bottom. I also have a note from BSC office confirming that this is acceptable as long as the bolts are tight with washers to prevent any possible leakage.

[David Mack]

Hi all. I am having a re-fit of our 57" reverse layout semi-trad narrowboat at the moment. We have had a gas bottle container in the metal box in the corner of the stern deck above the engine bay (it's where your left hand would be if the person at the tiller reached down and forward i.e. forward of where the throttle is) since we moved on. A gas engineer came to check out set up and said that we couldn't have the gas bottle there as gas could sink down from there into the living quarters. For a quick check of the regulations, it seems to say that the positioning is fine, as long as it is in a container that is vapour-proof. Does anyone have any further information on what is and isn't allowed here, as I'd rather not spend the £1000 that gas engineer is quoting to reposition the gas bottle in a bow locker and re-run gas piping through the whole of the boat to get to the gas cooker stern?

 

Does your "gas engineer" hold a Gas Safe certificate including tickets for LPG and Boats? And is he familiar with the Boat Safety Scheme requirements in relation to gas? If not then he will have difficulty in demonstrating that he is "competent" to pronounce on the safety of your current setup or to modify it.

 

And if the mere presence of a gas locker on the stern deck could cause gas to leak into the living quarters, how is a gas locker in the bows any less likely to do so?

 

As others have said it is perfectly possibly to have a compliant gas locker on the stern deck, and this is quite a common arrangement.

[ditchcrawler]

Last trip I called at Kings Lock in Middlewich and there was a chap there, upside down, hanging by his toes, welding a new bottom in a gas locked above the engine hole on a boat because the old one had rusted through.

[Neil Smith]

I have 2 gas lockers on the stern deck with drains, no problem with bss.

 

Neil