LPG Drop out holes Forums

GeorgeTelford

Please can we all keep our civil heads on. This Place is called Motorhome Facts and the statement below is a FACT and relevant.

FACT : German Vans do not have drop out holes for Gas.

Do bear in mind that they are one of the most stringent countries with safety regulations and motorhomes.

Reason : CO from vehicles and traffic entering the vehicle is far more likely to cause injury or death. Risk of an LPG build up is negligable.

IT was implied in the last thread that I was advocating blocking up the holes, I did not and am not saying you should do that.

I believe you should be furnished with the fact to make your own decisions.

BTW I have dug a little deeper on the following point.

Most motorhomes never see a corgi gas fitter (with or without the extra Mobile LPG qualification)

Annual habitation checks on gas are done by service techinicians basically motorhome service personell with their heads screwed on. Normally they are not Corgi registered ((99.99%) the only reason I say Normally is because someone will Know of an X Corgi gas fitter who is now a service technician !)

So when they are built no Proper gas Fitter
When commissioned, this is a strange one everyones keeping Mum I have no Idea at the moment.
On service No Corgi

Anyone found one of these mythical gas safety certificates yet ? Other than in a hire vehicle which must (Should) have one. This is a point that leads me to conclude that in reality they are not even commisioned by a Corgi either.

The Above is not argumentative it is a round up of facts, by all means comment, discuss or ignore.

George

GeorgeTelford

"Reason : CO from vehicles and traffic entering the vehicle is far more likely to cause injury or death. Risk of an LPG build up is negligable."

Edit

The above should include CO from heaters ie Eberspacher, Carver, Truma, propex etc not Just from Traffic, or from the chap in the next van running his engine to charge batteries or heat the vehicle.

Geo

Merlin2

[b:393eb0180c]George for once I agree with you but on the SBMCC it states this [/b:393eb0180c]

[quote:393eb0180c]GAS STORAGE: The BS 1646 standards state (in simple terms) that gas bottles must be stored in a purpose built locker, this means accessible only from outside or in a completely sealed locker, if accessible to the interior. It must also be able to resist fire for a minimum of 20 minutes which means it has to be constructed from Steel, NOT Aluminum as aluminum would melt under these conditions. It also must have a 'Drop-out' hole at the lowest point. The Gas bottles must be connected with a flexible hose to a coupling outlet running to the outside of the box sealed from the outside with a gas tight sealer. The shut off valve must be outside the box.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MUST ANY ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT BE STORED IN THE SAME BOX.
GAS APPLIANCES: Must have a dropout hole at the lowest point and have a shut off valve to service each one independently.
ALL GAS INSTALLATIONS MUST BE CONNECTED AND CHECKED BY AN LPG CORGI SPECIALIST.. [/quote:393eb0180c]

I did try and discuss this with them along with other matters but got nowhere

Merlin2

If the gas bottle is in a sealed locker then exhaust fumes cant enter the van through the gas locker. However if you put drop out holes everywhere this may cause a problem.
If you have a sealed locker wouldn’t it be better to keep any escaping gas in the locker rather than having it pouring out of the drop out holes like a fuse!

Dishmop

As is ever the good George must prove his point, but he is right.

If any of you wish to believe that what he says is incorrect, then that is up to you and there will be no harm done.

Nobody anywhere said anything about blocking up drop out holes. I would imagine that if you did, and there was a fire, the makers would wriggle around it by saying that it was your fault.

I have never been able to understand what makes the makers the experts. Is there a degree or special training course that qualifies one to be a qualified motor caravan maker? and therefore an expert. Nope there aint. Only experience. There are no rules as to how a van has to be built. No rules about gas cylinders being in a sealed lockers... No rules about if the drinking water pipe/tank must be food quality, no rules saying there must be an earth leakage circuit breaker in the 240v system.

If I buy a van and convert it to a motorhome and sell it for a profit, I am a profesional motorcaravan manufacturer.

If you need to ask then you don't know. If you don't know then why do some disbelieve what the answer is.

nukeadmin · Site Admin

ok glad to see this thread is much more civil Wink

I do agree that this is def a problem with mh design and construction, yet another to add to the list.

Are there any other oversights that are known of, i.e. i seem to remember some issues with furniture material being flammable etc as well. ?

It would be good to collate all this sort of information into a datasheet and then present it to someone with enough power to legislate somehow on it.

Comments welcome

GeorgeTelford

ha, the SBMCC

They have been told no end of times that it is not BS 1646 (actual Number is EN something or other. the one they refer too relates to Technical drawings or some such.

But bear in mind in a recent thread on there the boss reccomended using a Halfords bench charger (£30) permenantly wired in. This is a dangerous thing to reccomend as it is not designed to be used like this, it turns your charger and battery into a potential time bomb, the worst part is that a porper solution that fully charges the batteries is available at only £20 more.

I put up a polite response pointing out the dangers, which they already know as I have pointed this out before, which was promptly deleted.

Do also bear in mind that the committee decided that testing RCD's at a meet up was dangerous (because of the possibility of future claims) fair enough you may think, but then they go on to organise BBQ's at the same meet, which as anyone can see is far more likely to cause litigation from Burns, Fires, Food poisening.

George

nukeadmin · Site Admin

ok, George, we know your opinion of the SBMCC, any thoughts on this aspect of mhing though i.e. what parts of a motorhome makeup arent legislated enough, what aspects are dangerous either in their design or lack of professional overseeing at installation and routine inspections ?