Installing my propane stuff now

[Oregonconversion]

I plan to make a metal case with floor vents for my 2 40# tanks (OO) in the center of my middle bay (towards the front wall).
This is also the same bay as my inverter and 120V breaker box [X].
Is this OK to put propane and electric in the same bay? Or is this a hazard?
Also where do I get all the fittings and tubing to go from my regulator to my hot water hearer, furnace, and range?

Thanks in advance!

here is a nifty diagram of my bays.
X=inverter and 120V breaker box
oo= tanks





-----------------------------------------------   
|        |[X]    |       |              Drivers[ ] seat
|        |      O|       |             
|        |      O|       |
|        |        |       |
-------------------------------------------door---
                                                   

[Sean]

You need to vent the LP compartment to the outside at both the top and the bottom.  The vents need to be at least 6 square inches each for the two 40# cylinders.  The compartment also needs to be "vapor tight" to the inside of the rig, which would included anything else in the bay such as your electrical gear.

Frankly, I would not put an LP cylinder in the same bay with switchgear, no matter how good I thought my compartment-sealing skills were.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[Oregonconversion]

Ok thanks for the info, I will put them in the front bay then. Better safe than sorry!!!
I live next to a metals shop so having an air tight box made won't be too hard. Making the door sealed will be the hard part.


What about running pipes thru the electrical bay? What would you suggest?

[desi arnaz]

sean must be out the door and on the way to dinner.... that is the shortest reply i have ever seen him make   .  merry Xmas  Sean and Louise.

[Sean]

... What about running pipes thru the electrical bay? What would you suggest?

The pipes should not be a problem -- just make sure any fittings in there are well sealed.

sean must be out the door and on the way to dinner....

That was exactly correct, Tom.  Hey, it's Christmas Eve ya know

that is the shortest reply i have ever seen him make  

Hmm... So what are you saying?

Happy holidays, everyone!

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BogSpot.com

[chev49]

i have used the fluid coupling place to make up hose ends mainly cause i have them do all the equipment hoses and they have a whole room of different fittings, and so forth... a real gold mine of stuff to use for all kinds of things..
welding some 18 ga sheet metal in for a compartment, n vented low and on the door, should work, although i see nothing wrong with separating the compartment with framed in plywood and properly sealed. 
n i wouldnt put anything in the same compartment i made with the propane tank, unless its something like my gloves...

[Uglydog56]

I grew up with propane tractors, propane heat and appliances, and my race car is propane powered, so i am not scared of propane, but I still recommend making a discreet compartment for the storage bottles.  Breakers will make small arcs when opening and closing under load.  I don't have the NFPA 58 in front of me any more, but I'm pretty sure it requires a bulkhead as well.  I will look for the instruction but it's written in bureaucratic so it takes some time to decipher.  NFPA 58 is like the NEC's of propane.

[luvrbus]

I notice some of the RV's use electric change overs and electric gauges on propane bottles, I notice on the newer RV's they also use polyethylene pipe on the inside with steel in exposed areas on the outside for propane who knows lol 

Like UglyDog I see old tractors here with propane tanks mounted on top of spark fired engines running every day even on new fork lifts

[Sean]

...  NFPA 58 is like the NEC's of propane.

NFPA 1192, not 58, governs LP on RVs.  The requirements I listed above (vapor-tight compartment, with specific venting sizes top and bottom) are straight from NFPA 1192.  I suppose I should have mentioned that.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[gus]

The big difference is those old tractors are operating in free air, not in confined spaces.

I would also recommend you have a shut-off valve for each appliance so if one leaks or fails it can be isolated from the rest of the LP system.

[Iceni John]

Do people here run individual lines from a manifold to each appliance, or do you run a single black-iron pipe along the bus and branch off it for each appliance?   Also, does anyone here used stainless corrugated flexible gas line instead of hard piping?

John

[dougyes]

Run hard pipe to the area then SS flex to the fixture.

[Uglydog56]

oops, sorry for misinformation.  Does it really say you can't run copper pipe?  My whole bus propane is copper.

[Oonrahnjay]

oops, sorry for misinformation.  Does it really say you can't run copper pipe?  My whole bus propane is copper.

    I have seen posted a number of times that it is against the law in California to use copper pipe (RV, home, industrial) for propane.  I've never checked it out but that's what people have said.  Apparently CA is worried about corrosion in the copper.  (An equal number of people have posted "my daddy put copper pahp in ower '37 WobbleMobile purtt near 30 year ago and it ain't never give no trouble".)  So the whole issue is clear as mud.

[Sean]

...  Does it really say you can't run copper pipe?  My whole bus propane is copper.

My copy of NFPA 1192 says that threaded copper pipe is allowed as well as annealed copper tubing which must be Type K or L conforming to ASTM B 88 or ASTM B 280.

I could find nothing in the California Vehicle Code further restricting RV LP systems (as distinct from LP systems for motor fuel), so perhaps Bruce can cite a code section for this.  I do now that California demands the LP compartment be clearly labeled "LPG" in contrasting letters not less than 2" in height (CVC 27909).

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com