Propane Stove

[Doug]

Do any of you have a propane stove on your 32+2 CB? If so, where is your propane tank located?

[Veebyes2]

Bought my 96 32 with an electric stove, no genny onboard. Our overnighting is exclusively on the hook. No marinas to go to. I imedeiatlely took the electric stove out & installed a propane unit.

My propane tank install won't meet ABYC standards but it works for me. Albin used to put a small tank in the anchor locker. I put mine, a 20# tank, in the port side bin under the cockpit. I sealed the drain & bottom half of the bin so gas cannot drop into the bilge & ran a vent hose from near the top to through the transom exiting just below the platform.

When not onboard I am in the habit of turning the gas off at the tank & when onboard turning the gas on by switch only when needed.

[joe.baar]

Sorry but goll darn it, propane tank lockers need to have a direct overboard drain from the bottom of the locker - just as the chain locker or the transom lazarettes have. Otherwise propane can fill the enclosed space up to the vent and bang!

[Doug]

Our propane tank (a 10#) is in the port side of the anchor locker, and it appears it came from the factory that way. I have had 2 different surveyers tell me this is not safe and the tank needs it own seperate compartment. Unless some of you have a better idea, I plan on having a "wall" built in the anchor locker that will seperate the propane tank from the anchor locker and bottom of the windlass. There is already a small hole on the bottom of each side of the anchor locker to drain any water that might get in the anchor locker. I would like to increase the size of this hole, to be sure any escaping propane can get out.

I have heard 2 different theories about whether the locker should be "sealed" or whether there should be an air intake at the top, which would allow any escaping propane to be exhausted by the fresh air coming in at the top. This theory seems to make more sense, as it seems to me a sealed compartment would also seal in the escaped propane. Any ideas?

If I try to put some type of a vent in the top (maybe in the port anchor locker door), I have to be carefull to install some type of vent that does not allow much water to come into that compartment. I looked at some of the solar powered vents, but most are exhaust only and none seem to be ignition protected. Does anyone have any ideas of how to vent this area with out it looking too bad?

Thanks,
Doug

[Mariner]

A propane locker should have an overboard drain in the bottom, but the top does not need to be sealed. If a leak occurs, it will generally drain out the bottom before it overfills the top. The sides and bottom should obviously be completely sealed. The only electrical components in the propane locker should be the remote switch, and even that is a tradeoff. It improves safety if it get you to turn off the system when not in use if you otherwise might not. But it introduces a potential ignition source into the location most likely to have propane in it, and where a small fire could turn catastrophic.

This is not an unrealistic posibility. The solenoid valve on our boat failed last summer and was so hot to the touch I received a burn when I touched it. A few more minutes and it would have burned through the insulation on the wires and could have generated a spark.

We've already lost one boat to a fire, and I don't want to lose another, so I remvoed the solenoid and it's wiring and religiously turn the valve on and off manually as needed.

[jruesr]

I installed a sealed box in the port cockpit locker. It encloses a 20# horizontal tank with a solenoid valve. I had to revise the hatch top to eliminate the rib that provides some structure to the long hatch top and move the handle mechanism, then refinish the hatch top. My propane compartment is on a glassed in shelf that sits level with the compartments offset sides (about a foot up from the bottom of the compartment). The tank is 13 inches high. There was room for a drain in the compartment bottom that could gravity vent out just above the waterline under the swim platform. I have a seal all the way around the propane compartment that seals against the hatch lid. My surveyor thinks its good in all respects.

I too had a solenoid valve go bad, get hot enough to smoke. I still use a solenoid valve and sniffer that controls the valve and keep a close eye on the system. I also have a pressure gage in the line, inside the compartment. I shut off the gas stove and the tank valve (with the solenoid on) and then check the gage to see if there is any loss pressure. This is a fairly good leak test.

Always shut off the tank valve when not in use.

John Rue
Passages III
1990 Albin 32

[jruesr]

I would like to add a picture of my propane locker. I neglected to mention that it has two hoses venting out below the swim platform. One is from the bottom of the locker and the other is from the divider wall. This happened because I did not have a through hull fitting low enough for the bottom drain when I built the locker and later added a through hull just above the water line ( at haul out time). The bottom drain now connects to the lowest through hull fitting and the upper one is a fresh air vent I guess.

I considered the anchor locker but decided that I might want a electric windlass someday and the sparks that come with it would not be desirable near the propane tank

John
Passages III

The web site needs a place where boat owners only can have frank discussions without the general public viewing what we post. I lost a sale of my last boat because of comments made on our web site (not this web site) viewed by my perspective buyer.

August 2010 - I have been using this for a while now and am pretty happy with it except sometimes water comes back into the propane box through the drain. It drains back out but salt water in the compartment is not a good thing.

January 2013 - This compartment works great. Water never comes into the compartment now. I am not sure what happened back in 2010 that made me think water came in through the drains but it has not been a problem.

November 2014 - I have now found one gallon vertical propane tanks that will fit in this locker instead of the large 20 pound tank. I can fit two of the small tanks in the locker. I normally keep one small tank in the locker unless I am going on a long trip. I can also store the large 20 lb tank in the anchor locker if necessary. I have a manual windless with no ignition sources forward. I have never done this but thought it might be useful If I go to the Bahamas for a long trip.