a few questions about onboard propane...

[Itsavanman]

So going to have propane for the stove, heater and water heater, now on rv's they all are a horizontal tank bolted to the frame with usually lots of shields and such, and on trailers its vertical on the tongue and not very guarded, anyone know where i can find DOT rules and regulations regarding placement of propane tanks and required safety equipment? since I am having trouble locating a horizontal tank from an RV I am thinking about mounting a camper style vertical tank on the a back shelf that i am building to house the generator and a few other doodads.

 

[nely]

http://www.mantank.com/products/rvproducts.htm

They make rv tanks. Most rv stores can get them for you aswell

 

[Itsavanman]

yeah but they are big money.. 4-500 for a 30 pounder.. if i can use an upright tank, way cheaper, just need to find out what i have to do to make it legal and safe...

 

[Itsavanman]

yeah should have said that, having trouble locating an affordable horizontal tank.....

 

[dhally]

Call Sportsmobile West. They had a good price on their tank as well as their custom access cover. The outlets on the RV type tanks point down at an angle but on the van you want them to point horizontally. Also the guard for the RV tank is too big to fit, and the Sportsmobile one has been trimmed down. It is expensive but it doesn't reduce ground clearance or hang out on the bumper waiting to get hit. It also locates the weight further forward and these vans need as much weight forward as possible.

The 120v shore power inlet is also behind the access cover.

Parts

Cut hole

Finshed installation

 

[SWbySWesty]

What about having a simple connecting port for a 20lb bbq tank? Transport securely in vehicle and install when parked. Rain isn't an issue because you have to get outside to turn on the attached ones, too. Also, check GoWesty for their tank for Vanagons...small and my Westy propane lasted forever. But with my van, I'm seriously debating the 20lb independent tank also for filling at locations which you can't drive up to. Pull the tank and take it in. Or pull the tank and attach it to a bbq. Less hardware.

 

[dhally]

We had an older camper van that had a loose 20lb propane system. On one trip we filled the tank with cold propane (it was cold outside). As the tank heated up inside the van, the pressure relief opened up and spewed propane gas into the van. The RV type tanks are designed to be for mounted on a motor vehicle. The home BBQ ones are not. The RV type have thicker steel and a special internal check valve that will prevent them from dumping all the propane even if the valve is broken off.

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

can you revalve a bbq tank?

 

[dwh]

The official propane codes for RVs are in NFPA 1192 (NFPA are the same people that maintain the National Electrical Code):

http://www.nfpa.org/catalog/product.asp?pid=119211&cookie_test=1


Quite a bit of what's important can be found in this document:

http://www.cityofchicago.org/conten.../MobileFoodVndRulRegsDraftPubComNov202012.pdf