Leak from new lpg filler install…by specialist..

[PaulW2]

They're referring to the bracket, see post #6 for a picture of the bracket by itself, I would have added triangular supports to each side as there is no support at the filler end, so the bracket can flex at the fold where it is bolted to the body which will cause work hardening (metal fatigue) ultimately leading to a fracture. The filler nozzle, the stainless tube to which you refer is quite heavy so every time it is attached it will be pulling the bracket downwards and every time it is removed it will spring back up.

Seems unlikely to me.

I've fitted one. It is 3mm galvanised steel which, even with the bracket being 15cm long, is impossible to flex by more than a few mm. Under the pressure of a pump hose every few months, causing it to flex maybe 1 or 2mm out of true for the few minutes while the bottles are being filled?

(With it being steel, it seems quite likely to me that it is in use well below the threshold where metal fatigue would occur.)

 

[ChrisL]

Under the pressure of a pump hose every few months,

So what about people who may be filling up every couple of weeks through the winter?
What I'm trying to explain, from my experience as a Lloyds and ASME coded welder in my earlier career, is that the design is inherently poor, I saw plenty of fabrications that failed due to stress fractures and had been tasked with repairing them, the first question you ask yourself is why did it break, how can I prevent it from breaking again, does it have a design flaw? Just my opinion, based on my experience.

 

[PaulW2]

So what about people who may be filling up every couple of weeks through the winter?
What I'm trying to explain, from my experience as a Loyds and ASME coded welder in my earlier career, is that the design is inherently poor, I saw plenty of fabrications that failed due to stress fractures and had been tasked with repairing them, the first question you ask yourself is why did it break, how can I prevent it from breaking again, does it have a design flaw? Just my opinion, based y experience.

It may not be clear from the pictures what the relative dimensions are. It's a pretty chunky bit of kit. And it takes really no weight at all.

Considering that 3mm mild steel may have a yield strength of about 200 MPa (about 2,000 kg per cm2), I think in practice (while driving around) any deformation under load must be quite trivial - I guess it can't be taking much more than 1% of its yield strength even taking account of the length of the thing?

While being filled a bit more, maybe 5% or 10% of the yield strength for the 0.05% of the time it's being filled (if done weekly)?

I understand that one would, conventionally, expect a ferrous metal to have an effective unlimited life under such modest stresses?

Of course I could be completely wrong on all of this. And it could break off. I would have thought the more likely culprit would be the actual bolt that it is attached to. Or that it could somehow get snagged. That would, I would have thought, be unfortunate but not yet the end of the world as it doesn't have a 'live' connection to the main gas supply.

 

[seasideBill]

Mine is the same filler but mounted in the bumper, first fill was ok, but second created a little iceberg under the van! I was in a petrol station attached to a small garage and a helpful mechanic tightened the join between the pipe & fitting. I had it checked and pressure tested by a certified gas engineer when I got home, all seems ok now.

 

[ianto999]

Thanks for all the comments and help from my original post.
My learning is:
1) Get an installer with lpg pump. Ironically the place that did mine has an lpg pump a couple of miles away, and he said in retrospect could have tested, but never had a leak before (there is always a first time). If can’t find an installer with lpg pump, then find one and fill asap before heading away from installer.
2) The bracket seems solid to me, I only need to fill a couple of times a year, but I get the concerns about the structure, and if I was filling more often (like I did with lpg car) I’d get something more integrated to solid bodywork.
3) Forum is awesome for generating conversation about obscure topics.
Thanks!

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