Maritime News

Urgent Safety Notice - Belling Gas Hobs

Belling Gas Hobs have issued an Urgent Safety Notice for ten of their LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) hob models all manufactured after May 2019; some of them having been fitted to boats. The fault has been identified in the flexible elbow joint, the seals of which can fail resulting in significant gas escape. This poses a range of risks from low risk of poisoning, medium risk of burns, high risk of fire and in extremis, explosion.

A replacement gas elbow is available and any User with one of the affected appliances should:

1. Isolate the gas supply to the hob by turning off the isolation valve.

2. Contact Belling to arrange a free of charge modification via:

• Email: [email protected]

• Tel: 0343 212 1088

For more information, find the link to the notice below.

Boat Maintenance Tips

LPG Installations in Small Craft

LPG systems are commonplace on boats most typically with one or more of the following appliances: hob, grill / oven, water heater and occasionally fridges. New LPG installations should comply with British Standard 54823:2016 ‘Guidance for the design, commissioning and maintenance of LPG systems in small craft’ published on 31st March 2016. On older vessels the system should have complied with previous standards when installed but many will have been modified and ‘upgraded’ since fitting.

LPG is predominantly supplied as either butane in a blue cylinder or propane in a red cylinder (butane is often known as ‘bluetane’ to help remember which is which). Both gasses are heavier than air, are colourless and odourless in their natural state (an odourising agent is added before distribution) and their volume reduces significantly under pressure. Being heavier than air LPG is often described as a ‘seeking gas’ and will look to find its way out of any system and into the lowest part of the structure into which it escapes.

The installation, modification and testing of LPG gas systems is always best left to a registered professional (in the UK that means the Gas Safe Register). A useful reference regarding LPG safety for Boat Owners is the Boat Safety Scheme handbook; the ‘rule book’ for inland waterways vessels in the UK. This gives numerous standards and parameters that will allow boat owners to conduct their own visual assessment of their LPG installation to help inform when a professional is needed. The checklist for can be found here and the BSS website is below.

The build up of escaped gas in the bilge of any vessel should be avoided at all costs as this can pose a very high risk of explosion. Most students on sailing courses are taught to manually pump the bilge every hour until it runs dry and then for a further 20 pumps to help remove any escaped gas from the bilge. Of course, without a manual bilge pump this is not an option.

A bilge leakage tester or a gas alarm are both very useful additions to any vessel to help alert Owners to gas leaks and the build up of gas in the bilge.

In summary: “DON’T CUT CORNERS WITH GAS”.

Surveyor’s Top Tip

Unless you are a Gas Safe Register accredited surveyor, a visual inspection of the LPG installation is all that can be undertaken during survey. That said, a good working knowledge of the BSS (free to access) or British Standards (expensive to access) will help you recognise good practice from bad and to make sensible recommendations to your Client. LPG systems are often neglected and typically much of the system is hidden from view.

Whilst regular checks by a professional are mandatory on inland waterways craft, there is no such requirement for private vessels on the coast and it is astonishing how badly set up or dated many systems are.

Basic checks to look for: corroded or non-marine regulators, cracked or out of date flexible hoses (hoses should be BS3212-2 with a 5-10 year service life), rusted jubilee clips, poorly supported copper pipework, loose connections and cookers lacking flame supervision devices.

Advanced checks: all appliances should have their own labelled gas tap, gas lockers should always drain overboard with a minimum internal pipe diameter of 19mm (12mm on pre-2000 boats with <15kg LPG), the drain hose should be fire retardant (BS EN ISO 7840), chafe protection should be fitted where pipework passes through bulkheads / lockers and copper pipe should be at least 8mm diameter for simple systems and 10 or 12mm for multi-appliance systems.

Where needed, recommend upgrades to the system and regular checks by a qualified person.

Product Review

LPG Leak Detectors

The ability to test for gas leaks in the LPG installation every time you use it is a most useful feature and can be enabled by fitting a gas leakage tester, also know as a ‘bubble tester’. The Alde gas leak detector is a tried and tested system, best fitted alongside the gas cylinder. With the gas system pressurised and all appliance stop cocks open but appliances not turned on, pressing the large red button tests the system for leaks. If any are present, bubbles will be seen in the liquid filled inspection glass; simple yet effective every time you turn on the gas.

LPG Gas Detectors

The most common fixed gas alarm I find on yachts and motor boats is the Pilot Mini Mk2 Gas Alarm made by UK company Envin Scientific Limited. It has a sensor head for fitting in the bilge and a control panel for mounting by the chart table and also comes in twin channel and multi channel variants for larger vessels.

For surveyors, a pocket sized gas detector is an essential piece of kit to keep you safe by confirming the presence of gas in the bilge or in any confined space. I have been a fan of the TopTes range of gas detectors for a while now and am currently using the TopTes PT199. It is an inexpensive piece of kit that is a really useful addition to your toolbox.

More Great Kit Ideas

For more great kit ideas for your boat, bookshelf or surveyor’s toolbox have a look at our page on Kit.Co

Boaty Terminology

Bilge - Internally, the compartment or space at the lowest point of a ship’s hull from where collected water (and gas) must be pumped. Externally, the part of the hull that would come to rest on flat ground when the tide goes out.

Links To Further Reading

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