New underslung gas tank fitted.

Had the underslung lpg tank change out yesterday by Propex of Ringwood, filled up with gas at West Wellow just off M27 on way home.

All running as it should, now have the level gauge with a solinoid cut off supplied with power from the leisure battery, located over the sliding door. Not allowed the fit the gauge where you can reach it while driving. It seems regs now mean you have to have a means of isolating the supply when moving, might stop me forgetting to switch gas fridge over to 12v. Will be handy at the Tunnel.

Only down side I can see, if leisure battery fails, cannot switch on gas

Very pleased with Propex and after a 8 week wait we are off to France next Tuesday

Richard

Hi rgermain, can i ask why you had a new gas tank fitted. And also you said the gauge had been moved my gauge is just a row of lights just inside the drivers door and as far as i know i only have 1 isolator valve that is in the cupboard to gas getting to the fridge, cooker and heating. Any more info please only just got my first van conversion always had caravans before so no under slung tank. Thanks Kevin

There is an isolator valve on the tank itself. It’s the green button.
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Oh right i have had a quick look under mine and it looks like a cover at the back of the tank is it under that caver. Kevin

Ah just looked closer at your picture and that looks like the regulator the same as on caravan. Kevin

All I can say is what the fitter told me. It is now new regulation that you can shut off the flow of gas from inside the cab via a solinoid system. New gauge has green led's but has to be mounted where you cannot reach it while driving. That's what he told me. It does not auto switch off with the ignition, so still needs an input by driver etc.

New tank also has a cut off button on the tank like the old one.

Richard

kevjan wrote:Hi rgermain, can i ask why you had a new gas tank fitted. And also you said the gauge had been moved my gauge is just a row of lights just inside the drivers door and as far as i know i only have 1 isolator valve that is in the cupboard to gas getting to the  fridge, cooker and heating. Any more info please only just got my first van conversion always had caravans before so no under slung tank. Thanks Kevin

The old tank, 7 years old had a very small pin prick of a hole where the end was welded up, so thought is was better to replace it rather than use cold weld stuff my Grandson suggested.

Been told it now does not meet gas regs, be interesting to see what AS now do with the gauge if what I was told is correct.

Will make life easy at Eurotunnel next week!

I am not like others on here, I am not going to say AS are C**P as they only fit the tank and not manufacture it.

Richard

Thanks for the info and must agree i would replace if i had a leak better to be safe than sorry. Can i be really nosey and ask how much it was and how long it took them to do the job. Kevin

kevjan wrote:Thanks for the info and must agree i would replace if i had a leak better to be safe than sorry. Can i be really nosey and ask how much it was and how long it took them to do the job. Kevin

No problem, cost inc vat was £810 and it took about 5 1/2 hours. We went for a walk about in Ringwood, so don't know if they worked on another and how many tea, phone, lunch breaks they took. They removed the old tank, fitted new one, ran a 12v feed to the back under van to leisure battery. Fitted new gas/cut off gauge above door and hid control box behind over head bulkhead. No wires to be seen, unless you look under the van and cable in flex conduit really well secured, clips and screws not cable ties. Only thing is I have a nice bright red tank which I will get my Grandson to underseal for me. New regulator etc came already on tank and they even put a new feed to the gas taps in cupboard under the sink.
Richard

That's excellent price, AS quoted me something in the region of 1300 Inc vat.

Did they screw to the chassis? If so I hope they sprayed the screws with a water proofing to protect from going rusty at a later date, if not I would be underneath applying a coat of body under seal

FreelanderUK wrote:Did they screw to the chassis? If so I hope they sprayed the screws with a water proofing to protect from going rusty at a later date, if not I would be underneath applying a coat of body under seal

New mounting with s/s bolts and s/s straps, so I was told. Don't intend to keep the van that long at my age.

Fitter said old fixings good as new, 7 years old!
Richard

rgermain wrote:
New mounting with s/s bolts and s/s straps, so I was told. Don't intend to keep the van that long at my age.

Fitter said old fixings good as new, 7 years old!
Richard

I ment for the conduit where you mentioned no cable ties , they may have used self cutting screws

I would have thought that was a good price for supply and fit. Kevin

FreelanderUK wrote:

I ment for the conduit where you mentioned no cable ties , they may have used self cutting screws

Time will tell

I thought the green 'button' on the regulator was to prime it with gas. If you turn off all the gas and leave the van a while the gas in the pipes will slowly leak out (over a few weeks). When you turn the gas back on, the regulator sees no back pressure  so doesn't know if there is anything connected or not, so won't allow gas to flow. Once you press the green button momentarily it allows the gas to flow, pressurising the system. With that back pressure the regulator is happy and let's the gas flow. Its a safety feature so if the pipe was damaged - in an accident - the gas flow is shut off as the back pressure suddenly goes.

MM, I related what I was told by the dealer - Marquis. They also took the photos 

Try it. Press the button and see if gas still flows. It's the taps that stop the gas.

Sold it several years ago, MM 

matchlessman wrote:I thought the green 'button' on the regulator was to prime it with gas. If you turn off all the gas and leave the van a while the gas in the pipes will slowly leak out (over a few weeks). When you turn the gas back on, the regulator sees no back pressure  so doesn't know if there is anything connected or not, so won't allow gas to flow. Once you press the green button momentarily it allows the gas to flow, pressurising the system. With that back pressure the regulator is happy and let's the gas flow. Its a safety feature so if the pipe was damaged - in an accident - the gas flow is shut off as the back pressure suddenly goes.

Why would the gas leak out unless you have a leak somewhere in the system

Over a few weeks! The gas is contained by numerous valves and seals, all the way from the tank / bottle, to the fridge / cooker / heater / barbecue point. The solid pipe and container are OK, but the flex tails? How many compression joints from end to end for each appliance? If just a couple of parts lose 0.01% pressure per day, over a few weeks it will drop quite a bit. You would not be able to detect the gas and it is certainly not dangerous in the sort of concentrations we are talking about. This is why there are always vents in the floor of gas bottle cupboards and under the cooker, heater, fridge etc...

I haven’t looked under my van in detail as yet but you may be talking about the UPSO/OPSO valve that is commonly incorporated in a bulk tank regulator. These are safety devices which Shut Off automatically in Under Pressure or Over Pressure situations. They usually have a reset button which can also in some cases be used as the isolating tap.

Any gas system will leak to an extent. Flexible pipes are of open molecular structure and thus permeable. Cooker taps very often rely on grease to seal them, which can dry out. Compression joints should remain tight, but that might depend upon how well clipped the pipes are.

AS vans are fitted with crash sensor regulators, either black or silver. The black have yellow reset buttons, the silver have green. I've never come across a mention of resetting due to leakage. 

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