Best Practice Calor Gas Installation

6.1 GAS INSTALLER

Gone are the days of DIY installation. Skippers are advised to ensure that a Gas Safe registered engineer carries out the gas installation (see 3.1) which should complying with the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Compliance with these regulations is a requirement regarding vessels hired out or made available to members of the public in the course of business carried out from that vessel or a vessel used primarily for domestic or residential purposes.

6.2 LARGE CYLINDER LOCKER

The heart of the system should be a properly designed cylinder locker big enough to take a pair of the appropriate size of cylinder. (A range of gas lockers can be purchased from the Calor Marine Shop) For a 40ft boat that would be two 13kg Calor propane cylinders. ( Other smaller cylinders would be acceptable depending on the space available. Fit the largest cylinders you can) .Such a locker would also accept foreign propane cylinders world-wide. A 'best practice' installation would run on propane because, unlike butane, it will operate in freezing conditions and is widely available. It would have full safety and convenience features:

• Cylinder locker draining overboard and sealed from the rest of the boat.
• The propane regulator mounted on the bulkhead so it is part of the boat, not the cylinder - any cylinder can then easily be connected via high pressure LPG hose.
• Remotely operated solenoid (12v switch in the cabin) to switch the cylinder off in dirty weather. For a selection of suitable gas valves, fittings and solenoids visit the Marine Shop.
• Bubblier device to check daily the gas integrity of the installation. View the range of Alde Bubble leak detectors
• A simple manual turn-off tap by the cooker: flexible armoured hose to allow full movement in the gimbals.
• And lastly a cooker with flame failure devices to all the burners, not just the oven (to be a requirement of the new European 'CEN' Standard, effective 16.6.98). View our range of suitable marine cookers in the Marine Shop.

6.3 VENTILATION

Ideally the hot water would be generated by a calorifier on the engine thus avoiding the need to fit a gas water heater with its necessary flue. However, it is still necessary to ensure there is generous ventilation, as any gas appliance must have a good supply of air.

6.4 CYLINDER LOCKER POSITION

There are four places to fit the cylinder locker which will work:

1. Right aft as part of the lazarette.
2. As a sealed section within a cockpit seat locker.
3. Amidships in the side deck.
4. Forward in the chain locker.

Aft is preferred, as it is best for access and draining. Amidships is good but will fill with water when heeled (probably has the small advantage of a shorter pipe run). The same points apply to the cockpit seat locker. Cylinders and associated regulator etc in the chain locker may get damaged by the ground tackle.

6.5 CALCULATING GAS CONSUMPTION

Typically cooker hotplate burners each consume, on 'high' 160 grams of gas per hour (three burners 480g). Each 13kg cylinder contains 13,000g (x2=26,000g). Three burners can therefore be run for 54 hours. At say two hours per day, there is enough gas for 27 days (no allowance made for use of grill or oven, but use same method of calculation).

In order to give you an approximate idea as to how long your cylinders will last, the following table of use per appliance may be of help:

6.6 LEAK DETECTOR

In addition to the 'bubblier' which is a preventative device, it is advisable to fit an electronic (12v) gas sniffer with two transducers, one in the bilge area and one in the gas locker. It will give audio and visual warning of a leak before it becomes dangerous.

Read our review of electronic gas alarms, or purchase an alarm online from the Marine Shop.

6.7 SOME DO'S AND DON'TS

6.7.1 DO treat cylinders with care. Damaged valves could result in a leak with serious consequences.

6.7.2 DO transport cylinders upright. If a cylinder is carried on its side, liquefied gas could seep through the threaded top / valve and present danger from an accumulation of gas vapour in confined areas. Ensure they're properly secured.

6.7.3 DO use a cylinder upright. Horizontally, liquefied gas could get into the supply pipes with serious results.

6.7.4 DO NOT subject a cylinder to heat. Although cylinders should be protected from frost, snow and ice, never apply heat to warm it up as pressure inside the cylinder could build up to a point beyond the designed safety limit.

6.7.5 DO NOT store or use cylinders below deck, in bilge's or holds. Because LPG is heavier than air, the gas will collect at low level in the event of a leak and become dangerous in the presence of a flame or spark.

6.7.6 DO contact your local Calor Customer Service Department if you are in any doubt!

6.8

6.9 IMPORTANT DESIGN FEATURE

6.9.1 The high-pressure part of the system i.e.: the cylinder and regulator must be in a dedicated gas locker. The locker must have high level ventilation and a low level gas drain of not less than 13mm internal diameter to the outside (not the cockpit) for single cylinder installations and 20mm for twin cylinder installations (see diagram). There must be no possibility of gas getting into a deep locker, accommodation space or bilge's. Remember that LPG is heavier than air.

6.9.2 The regulator should be fitted higher than the cylinder outlet with the gas inlet at the bottom and the gas outlet at the top. This will ensure that any liquefied gas, or foreign matter, entering the hose/regulator when heeling, will later flow back down into the cylinder rather than entering the system.

6.10 CALOR CYLINDER APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM DIMENSIONS

6.11

ALL ITEMS SHOULD BE INSTALLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH MANUFACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS

6.12 PARTS LIST

Please note that most of the fittings listed here can be purchased at the Marine Shop

Note: All part numbers refer to items supplied by Calor