10 Year LPG bottle/tank information

[Noots]

We’ve owned our 2008 Timberland for nearly 4 years and I’ve often looked at the underslung tank covered in blistering underseal wondering if it’s safe.
Well it certainly doesn’t look good, so it’s booked into Thirsk next month for whatever needs replacing. The cradle is very substantial so I’m hopeful that will be ok.
I must admit if I hadn’t been following this thread we would have set off for another 3 month jaunt to Spain and Portugal and not given the gas tank another thought. We use our oven and hob regularly .
So thank you for stirring me into action even if it means we may be on bread and water for a while

 

[BikerJon]

Made a mistake on this post and couldn't find how to delete it

 

[BikerJon]

We’ve owned our 2008 Timberland for nearly 4 years and I’ve often looked at the underslung tank covered in blistering underseal wondering if it’s safe.
Well it certainly doesn’t look good, so it’s booked into Thirsk next month for whatever needs replacing. The cradle is very substantial so I’m hopeful that will be ok.
I must admit if I hadn’t been following this thread we would have set off for another 3 month jaunt to Spain and Portugal and not given the gas tank another thought. We use our oven and hob regularly .
So thank you for stirring me into action even if it means we may be on bread and water for a while

Can you let us know how much it costs once you've had the work done?

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

I don't get the amount of people trying to find an excuse not to replace their cylinders/bottles at 10 years. For Christ's sake you are sleeping on top of a potential bomb surely you want to be safe. It's not just the cylinders the valves have a 10 year life.

For the sake of your our safety why not just change the rudy things rather than risk your own life, why spend hours arguing why you shouldn't, anyone who thinks like that must be bonkers.

Our Alugas cylinders were in pristine condition looked like new as the two vans they were in had internal gas lockers accessed from inside the garage.
I still replaced them at 10 years, there is no argument not to.

You also get the ones that bury their head in the sand, a few times on the forum I have suggested to people who have bought a used van with refillable cylinder or an underslung tank they check the age as it may need replacing. They appee you ar to ignore my post and don't even have courtesy to reply.
I don't get it, it's the most dangerous item in the van.

Completely agree with you Lenny The only other thing I would say is What shout other vans that are parked to close to you and a gas bottle went
Have you ever seen a gas bottle catch fire and seen the complete & utter destruction it does If not I suggest you look on YouTube at the videos of the fire service on gas bottles It will stop you in your tracks

 

[Lenny HB]

Completely agree with you Lenny The only other thing I would say is What shout other vans that are parked to close to you and a gas bottle went
Have you ever seen a gas bottle catch fire and seen the complete & utter destruction it does If not I suggest you look on YouTube at the videos of the fire service on gas bottles It will stop you in your tracks

Not seen one explode but I've seen a butane one with a leaky connection shoot a huge flame 4 foot in the air, I was the one who put it out, quite scary.

I can't believe anyone would contemplate buying a 10 year old van from a dealer who refuses to change the tank absolutely bonkers, dealer should be shamed a danger to the public.

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[Lenny HB]

We’ve owned our 2008 Timberland for nearly 4 years and I’ve often looked at the underslung tank covered in blistering underseal wondering if it’s safe.
Well it certainly doesn’t look good, so it’s booked into Thirsk next month for whatever needs replacing. The cradle is very substantial so I’m hopeful that will be ok.

Very sensible.
So when you bought the van, the tank was well out of date.

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Got to change mint this year before we go abroad As anyone tried the new lightweight plastic ones

 

[Noots]

Can you let us know how much it costs once you've had the work done?

Will do. Depends on the van and size of tank I guess, ours is 20litres

 

[Noots]

Very sensible.
So when you bought the van, the tank was well out of date.

It would appear so.
We bought it from a local caravan dealer and asked for a habitation and gas safety certificate. When they weren’t forthcoming we should have walked away but Mrs Noots had set her heart on it and put a chunk of her pension into it.
Must admit that whatever it costs I now realise it’s a sensible upgrade.

 

[Pausim]

Not seen one explode but I've seen a butane one with a leaky connection shoot a huge flame 4 foot in the air, I was the one who put it out, quite scary.

I can't believe anyone would contemplate buying a 10 year old van from a dealer who refuses to change the tank absolutely bonkers, dealer should be shamed a danger to the public.

If butane at 22psi pressure was scary I hate to think how much scarier propane at 120psi would have been. Perhaps some people only know of the gentle gas pressure found at the gas hob after the regulator. Propane gas bottle pressure is a vastly different beast.

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[Basildog]

If butane at 22psi pressure was scary I hate to think how much scarier propane at 120psi would have been. Perhaps some people only know of the gentle gas pressure found at the gas hob after the regulator. Propane gas bottle pressure is a vastly different beast.

Which is why Propane bottles should never be stored or used indoors.
They certainly shouldn’t be used in cabinet heaters indoors, we regularly get enquiries from people wanting to use refillable bottles indoors in cabinet heaters
We refuse to sell them and try to educate them.

 

[DBK]

As promised I have revised the Gas It information on our knowledge base , I will add more as I am still awaiting further clarification.
Interestingly the use of the word must implies that there is actually a legal requirement.

What is the life span of GAS IT refillable gas tanks & GAS IT bottles? 10 Year inspection / replacement

www.gasit.co.uk

Why have you specifically referred to GAS-IT tanks as it seems this applies to all refillable tanks?

 

[wireman]

I always do my own gas work in the house, having seen some professionals at work I ain't letting them near my gas pipes.

A few years ago my daughter kept thinking she could smell something so to keep here happy I called the Gas safe line. Guy who came round did a very good job of checking everything, then said to me do you do your own plumbing as its a jolly site better than most of the professionals.

I used to be a gas-safe certified installer. For reasons that remain, I had a four-hour grilling by a gas-safe person to get my certificate. This is long gone, but I still do my own gas work, and all my paid work was done correctly and according to relevant gas-safe recommendations, at least. However, the only gas work I do/would do is checking my MH periodically. I would not risk doing work for other paid or unpaid.

 

[CazPaul]

At 9 years 9 months old your tanks are a wonderful addition to your Motorhome, a few weeks later you are told you have a potential lethal bomb under the van.

It wasn’t a lethal bomb a few weeks ago though.

 

[Markman]

The last calor bottles I had were tagged with an inspection date and the date for next inspection - 15 years as stamped on the tags between the dates

I worked with Calor to do the consequence modelling for the COMAH reports of their storage and distribution sites (the ones storing more than 50 tons LPG in the large bullets). They have enough small cylinders in service to be able to "demonstrate" the actual failure rate of them. They can then set the inspection interval to ensure the risks from the tanks leaking reduce the probability of a user's death to As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP), definitely lower than the probability of you dying on a car crash, and probably less than "Broadly Acceptable", which is 1 in a million years). Guess their current figure for inspection is 15 years.

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[Garry - June]

Had a in depth discussion last week on the Gaslow stand at the NEC on this very subject regarding recertification as my two tanks will not be too far off 10yrs old...
Gaslow used to do an exchange service for recertificated tanks... they no longer offer this...
The guy on the stand said the company they used to do the recertification told them unless they were going to send tanks in the hundreds it just wasn't financially viable to do a few at a time.... hence why they have stopped it and now just offer a 10% reduction on new tanks.
He also explained there were probably countless van owners who were driving around completely oblivious to the age lifespan with their fitted tanks..
In his words "The tanks should actually be fine for double that 10 yr period but you can bet your bottom dollar should the worse happen if an insurance company discovered those tanks were out of date they would probably drop your claim in an instant"
So the gist was its up to individuals if they take that risk... they should be fine in theory ... just as long as folk are aware of the facts of those risks they are taking and the possible implications.

 

[Markman]

Perhaps we should go the directions of the Germans where a gas safety check every two years is mandatory.

The UK operates a risk-based safety culture rather than a compliance-based safety culture. This means it is the "duty" of companies to ensure the safety of their employees, users of their services and neighbours (as per best piece of UK legislation, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974*). If someone gets hurt (because of a leak of gas on a van they sold, or inspected) then they are guilty until they prove they are innocent by demonstrating they have taken "All Measures Necessary", which you can prove if they followed all ACOPS.

* the UK has the lowest rate of workplace fatalities globally (better than France, Germany, USA, etc) because, I think, everyone/every employer looks after their own safety, doing risk assessments, rather than leaving it to "them"

 

[Basildog]

I worked with Calor to do the consequence modelling for the COMAH reports of their storage and distribution sites (the ones storing more than 50 tons LPG in the large bullets). They have enough small cylinders in service to be able to "demonstrate" the actual failure rate of them. They can then set the inspection interval to ensure the risks from the tanks leaking reduce the probability of a user's death to As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP), definitely lower than the probability of you dying on a car crash, and probably less than "Broadly Acceptable", which is 1 in a million years). Guess their current figure for inspection is 15 years.

My understanding was that the exchange cylinder operators like Calor , Flogas etc could apply for an exemption from the 10 years and extend it to 15 years under ADR ?
I believe this exemption is no longer available but not sure.
The reasoning behind this would have been that the cylinder operators would be regularly refilling the majority of their cylinders and therefore they would be subjected to regular inspections before filling .

Cylinder Testing - BCGA

Gas cylinders contain large amounts of stored energy. It is mandatory that they are made to appropriate standards and are then periodically inspected and tested to ensure the safety of those who transport, fill and use them. All gas cylinders used for the transport of gases by road in the UK are...

bcga.co.uk

 

[Pausim]

So the gist was its up to individuals if they take that risk...

That might be ok if they weren’t sharing that risk with other site users, people on the filling station forecourts, ferry passengers and the emergency services.

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Can I ask the question again please are there any motorhomes use the Gas tank lightwait cylinders

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