HR352 Propane / Anchor Chain Locker

[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by normanm

I have a Rasmus model HR. My 20# tank is in the anchor locker. I have converted to American gauges, regulator and solenoid vale. hose is connected to the original copper gas tank. I keep the chain off the Aluminum gas tank by placing a piling cone cap on top of the tank

Our Rasmus came similarly equipped. The locker was set up to hold a standard 20lb US tank inside it securely, and the tank was plumbed back with hard copper tubing to the stock 2-burner stove-oven that came with the boat from new. There was a solonoid panel cut into the bulkhead to the hanging locker facing the galley, and had wiring going up to the anchor locker but the solonoid was long since missing.

The pre-purchase survey basically listed this setup as a ticking time-bomb and STRONGLY suggested it be upgraded, which our insurance company then insisted on before they would underwrite any policy for us.

I made a stern-rail bottle mount for a standard 20lb tank and regulator, and installed all new listed marine LP hose to a new Force-10 stove. I also installed the deluxe Xintex control panel and a sniffer in the bilge to control the new solonoid at the bottle on the stern rail. This upgrade alone cost 10% what we paid for the boat, although the stove was a large portion of that.

There is still room in the anchor locker to store a spare sealed unopened 20lb bottle in the factory mount. While it is not exactly kosher to modern ABYC specs, this boat sailed all over the world for 40 years in the original configuration with a tapped open bottle up there, much of that time without even a solonoid. An unopened bottle has to be an order of magnitude safer. The biggest danger would be of it rusting out and springing a leak.

We use regular steel 20lb BBQ tanks and simply exchange them when they get empty here in the US. They last 2-4 months depending on how cool it is outside which drives our cooking/baking behavior. That is not nearly enough time to make even a noticeable increase in surface rust in a saltwater enviorment hanging off of the stern rail. So far we have gone through a half dozen exchange bottles purchased all through the Great Lakes and the East Coast down to Florida..

The last owner used steel tanks in the anchor locker and crossed many oceans like that. The tank that came with the boat was still serviceable after doing the Atlantic Trades route and spending 2 years in it and then again a couple more years laying in a marina before we bought the boat. I feel steel is fine, especially near the US where the exchange system is everywhere and getting a fancy expensive marine-grade tank filled is a PITA. A new steel BBQ tank is only $50, worst case scenario even if we kept a tank for 4-5 years without exchanging it.