Thursday, Apr 26, 2012 at 21:23
Here is Bantam's ventilation
test.
If you where locked in and farted in the space in question, how quickly with the smell disipate.
If its not nearly as quickly as in open air its not quick enough.
I'd like to say I am shocked.....but I'm not.
The manufacturers and sellers of many of these vans must be completely ignorant of the risks.
They are all too keen to pander to the desire to have everything hidden away.
The gass bottles should not be in there at all.
If you turned up at CIG or Airliquid to fill or exchange bottles, they would not let you drive out their
gate with any gas bottle in any enclosed space
Gas bottles should be mounted where there is free and open ventilation and that means big holes as a minimum...big as ya head...better still on the drawbar.
What is realy concerning is you have LPG and petrol stored in the same compartment......the flamable liquids guys are realy concerned about this combination, it has been implicated in some serious accidents involving spontanious ignition.
NOW
consider that LPG cylinders are the fuel of choice for improvised explosives in many areas of the middle east.
A 9KG LPG bottle contains a very large amount of fuel and leaks must be expected.
Put bluntly gas bottles should not be enclosed at all.
Now the generator...it contains fuel......there is a reason you petrol tank is mounted outside the pasenger compartment of your car...in the past many cars had the fuel tank mounted inside the boot....fair enough it was vented and filled outside the car...but I doubt you will find a car with a fuel tank mounted inside the boot these days.......does that tell you something.
If you open the boot on ya caravan and you smell petrol fumes at all....you are dragging a bomb arround.......all it needs is a source of ignition.
Again we are talking free flowing ventilation....it may require forced ventilation from a bilge blower or such
The problem is that this has not been thaught about in the design....where else is there to put it.........OH BTW where do you carry your fuel supplies?
It is illegal to carry petrol in jerries mounted on the rear of a vehicle.
NOW to the battery.
Unfortunately many people labour under the misconception that AGM batteries are completly sealed......they are not and cant be.
But people persist in mounting them in unsuitable
places.
However the risk here is much lower than the other two.
ALL batteries can vent explosive fumes, even AGM if it is run at high temperatures and or overcharged...for some AGM 45C is above its recommended operating temperature.
But the fuems from AGM should be in small amounts.
SO it should be vented to outside air..a slotted vent at the bottom and the top of the space may be sufficient.
This whole management of flamables in caravanning and 4wding is something that is taken far too lightly and does not get given anywhere near enough thaught.
cheers
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