Gas Explosion

[DeepFrz]

hellosailor, great way of describing the power of gas.

[sabray]

One thing I noticed before having my tanks serviced reinspected. If the valve was cracked open gas came out of the valve stem. If cranked full open and seated no leak.
That's a little scary even for those of us that shut the valve every time. It was very obvious so not such a big deal I guess.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

..................

One gallon of gasoline can "throw" a VWBug weighing one ton, thirty miles down the road. And it does that in a series of small explosions in the engine.

Something to be said about cold dinner.

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

hellosailor, great way of describing the power of gas.

While great at describing the power of gasoline, HS is totally incorrect with his reference of explosions in VWBug engine - unless it is very badly tuned. In the case of the engine, the fuel is burnt and not exploded.

But I understand his intent

Just like what should happen when cooking on-board

[DeepFrz]

Yes you are right Wotname, they are controlled burns and not explosions and so common that people very rarely think about the process or the power. Except when we watch a drag or F1 race.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Reading this LEL stuff, I believe the placement of out propane sniffer is too high. Mounting near cabin sole seems more logical.

I set ours about 1" below the cabin sole. I want to know about the stuff before it starts entering the area of the boat we inhabit. Although, by the time it reached the sensor I would still have around 18" of the stuff in the bilge. Give or take a bit for mixing.

Also, I treated the gas as a liquid in my mind when trying to work out where it would collect in the case of a leak. That logic dictated that it would most likely gather in one particular part of the bilge which is where I put one of the sensors, the other is close to the kitchen for obvious reasons.



Matt

[Blue Crab]

This is from the article CS cited above:

"The odor in propane can be faded in brand new cylinders. In a survey of 1-pound cylinders purchased in retail stores, the odorant was found to be significantly depleted in six of nine cylinders."

I inherited a gimbaled Kenyon elec/modified for propane. In use for 9 years per the PO. I put on a new 1# cyl one day, made coffee. Returning later, it was empty at dinnertime. No smell. I got down on the sole, still no smell. I didn't have a spare handy so it was leftover frigid gruel and a stale crust that night.

Removing the cylinder next day, I found the bottom had been crushed in one spot revealing an inner cylinder. 2nd scariest part was I hadn't noticed that spot or heard or smelled the apparent leak when installed. Scariest was that there is/was a pound of gas in the bilge. It must have dispersed during the day or I'd be a steamed crab by now, I guess.

Here's what I received in the email this a.m.:

eBay <ebay@ebay.com>
10:47 AM (23 hours ago)



to me



ETA: Tue. Dec. 17 - Fri. Dec. 20

SHIPPED: NEW ORIGO Alcohol Stove Model 1500

I've been too lucky too long.

[Emmalina]

Guy is stable and they rekon he will be in the ICU for about 2 months... Very lucky guy !!!

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

Guy is stable and they rekon he will be in the ICU for about 2 months... Very lucky guy !!!

That has to be a definition of lucky that I wasn't familiar with, until now.

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by Tony B

Gord

If you have a propane leak, you can smell it way before it hits it's LEL.
...

Unless you cook with a lot of garlic.

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by SVRapture40

The Mythbusters did an episode a few years ago trying to blow a room up with methane. They found that it is VERY difficult to get a room (boat) to blow up with methane (propane). That was confirmed in the youtube video that 2 people posted here - it took 2 tries to get it to blow, even with measurement instruments. So as the last post just said - don't know the exact details of the original post, but it is very difficult to get this to happen.

I've seen people use propane as a fuel for a potato gun. That thing went boom, pretty much every time they pressed the little red button. They didn't seem to have any trouble getting it to ignite.

[captain58sailin]

I am really glad the man made it through, I had feared the worst. I was once at fuel float and a charter boat got towed in, out of gas. He filled up and then tried to start the boat, Chevy 350, and flooded it, then tried one more time and it caught, and then exploded, blew the engine hatch off, blew his hat off, and went up through the bilge and blew the forward hatch off. The Capt. was okay, he turned around and hit the engine with the fire extinguisher. The fuel dock peed his pants, and I was hollering for them to cut my lines off, as I went to turn the keys on my engines, my hands were shaking. Thankfully no injuries, and no real damage other than to all of our nerves. Gasoline scares the bejesus out of me.

[Richard_W]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

Gasoline scares the bejesus out of me.

Me too ... and I have a gasoline powered power boat. You should see me going thru the engine starting routine ... blowers ON, engine hatch UP, sniff test, etc. Especially at the fuel dock when the gas people customarily spill some gas which, on a new boat, used to find its way from swim platform to engine room ... not anymore, all sealed and leak proof now.

Next boat ... DIESEL!

[Ocean Girl]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

I am really glad the man made it through, I had feared the worst. I was once at fuel float and a charter boat got towed in, out of gas. He filled up and then tried to start the boat, Chevy 350, and flooded it, then tried one more time and it caught, and then exploded, blew the engine hatch off, blew his hat off, and went up through the bilge and blew the forward hatch off. The Capt. was okay, he turned around and hit the engine with the fire extinguisher. The fuel dock peed his pants, and I was hollering for them to cut my lines off, as I went to turn the keys on my engines, my hands were shaking. Thankfully no injuries, and no real damage other than to all of our nerves. Gasoline scares the bejesus out of me.

Sobering story.

I'm glad the guy will live, two months in ICU means he did some serious damage, kidneys and lungs to name a few. Please PM me if there is a collection going for him.

Anyone from clear lake, Texas will eventually hear about a legendary Captain called Captain Wicks. In his latter years he owned a big boat yard. One day I was working on a boat in his yard and we started chatting away. He is a man of few words so when he speaks, you listen. He told me about a shrimper catching fire at a fuel dock. Captain Wicks leaped aboard after getting the injured owner off, and tried to get the vessel away from the fuel dock. He got about 50-60 yards( he was pointing to show me where) when the shrimper blew up. It threw captain Wicks at least 50-75 yards( again he was pointing at the spot across the way) and he landed in the middle of a paved road. Amazing he lived, but walked with a pronounced limp ever since. I think he saved many lives that day, had the old fuel dock caught fire, gulp.

[Synesthesia]

Propane scares me. When I get my boat (paying off debt and saving now!) I plan to rip out whatever stove is there and install a 2 burner induction cooktop and toaster oven. I like the idea of those appliances a lot better than propane, kerosene, or alcohol inside a limited space.

[hpeer]

By comparison kero is quite safe.