Propane Tank Mounting

[AresCha0s1]

Hey y’all I’m looking at getting a freightliner skoolie where do i mount the propane tank? Pictures of your designs would be wonderful!

[o1marc]

I mounted mine under the right rear corner of the bus. 29.3 gallon, access door in the side. I had to shorten the exhaust pipe that went straight out the back to go out the side behind the rear wheel.

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I mounted mine under the right rear corner of the bus. 29.3 gallon, access door in the side. I had to shorten the exhaust pipe that went straight out the back to go out the side behind the rear wheel.

Nice job. I can't find a horizontal 30 gal tank anywhere and I've been looking. There seems to be a global shortage

[Rucker]

Propane tanks are not supposed to be located in front of the front wheels or behind the rear wheels.

Yes, I know that food trucks do it all the time. Yes, I know that 'hundreds of us have them mounted on the rear bumper'. Yes, there are no RV police out there enforcing the rules.

It's in the fire code.

Here's one forum link to the relevant documents.

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/w...anks-6338.html

[Rwnielsen]

The whole underside of the bus is either in front of or behind the rear wheels

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

The whole underside of the bus is either in front of or behind the rear wheels

fixed the text.

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by Rucker

fixed the text.

I was just kidding anyway. What you're saying makes perfect sense though, that could be pretty exciting in an accident

[musigenesis]

Containers shall not be mounted on the exterior of the rear wall or the rear bumper of the vehicle.

Tanks mounted behind the rear axle of a motor home or chassis-mount camper shall be installed in such a manner that the bottom of the tank and any connection thereto shall not be lower than either the rear axle (excluding the differential) or any section of the frame immediately to the rear of the tank, whichever is higher.

NFPA 1192 appears to say that behind the rear axle is OK.

[flattracker]

Mine is mounted between the front and rear wheels, below the floor, but attached to it. It is a tank specifically designed to be mounted horizontally.

[Danjo]

Here’s what I did .

[Rwnielsen]

Thats a pretty practical approach. I'm leaning towards a pair of tanks myself, easier to just swap them out than maneuver the bus around a fill out station.

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

Thats a pretty practical approach. I'm leaning towards a pair of tanks myself, easier to just swap them out than maneuver the bus around a fill out station.

If your demand isn’t too high it makes sense. You can swap at almost any gas station, hardware store, grocery store, convenience store. You can probably get it 24 hours a day.

[BeNimble]

The portable tanks have expiration dates, but the permanent mounted tanks don't.
The swap tanks may not have current dates (they get away with it because they test them every refill), so if you swap a tank and then try to get it refilled with expired date they won't refill it. So be annoying and check the dates at the swap place, I had to look at bunch of them to find a valid one. The secret is you can swap expired one for current one..

You cant use the portable ones sideways, and can be too tall to fit in some vehicles.
And of course they are limited to 5 gal for swaps. One thought is have a permanent tank and a portable one, and can fill up the fixed tank with the portable if needed, and store it flat, they can be too tall to fit into a lot of vehicles.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

You cant use the portable ones sideways, and can be too tall to fit in some vehicles.

How tall are the portable ones?

[Oscar1]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

The portable tanks have expiration dates, but the permanent mounted tanks don't.
The swap tanks may not have current dates (they get away with it because they test them every refill), so if you swap a tank and then try to get it refilled with expired date they won't refill it. So be annoying and check the dates at the swap place, I had to look at bunch of them to find a valid one. The secret is you can swap expired one for current one..

You cant use the portable ones sideways, and can be too tall to fit in some vehicles.
And of course they are limited to 5 gal for swaps. One thought is have a permanent tank and a portable one, and can fill up the fixed tank with the portable if needed, and store it flat, they can be too tall to fit into a lot of vehicles.

They should never be in vehicles!
Recently saw a company that was doing van conversions promoting their galley module and they had a bbq tank mounted in the kitchen cabinet directly under a stove. This is really stupid and will make you dead.

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

NFPA 1192 appears to say that behind the rear axle is OK.

Just not on the exterior wall or on the bumper, and must be higher than axle or other substantial part of the vehicle

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by Oscar1

They should never be in vehicles!
Recently saw a company that was doing van conversions promoting their galley module and they had a bbq tank mounted in the kitchen cabinet directly under a stove. This is really stupid and will make you dead. Attachment 59415

I thought there was some rule somewhere about those 5lb tanks being OK. I could be wrong

Edit: I’d never do it. If anyone has ever witnessed tank pressure relief they would probably agree

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

How tall are the portable ones?

The Internet says 18 inches. I thought I measured 19

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by BeNimble

The portable tanks have expiration dates, but the permanent mounted tanks don't.
The swap tanks may not have current dates (they get away with it because they test them every refill), so if you swap a tank and then try to get it refilled with expired date they won't refill it. So be annoying and check the dates at the swap place, I had to look at bunch of them to find a valid one. The secret is you can swap expired one for current one..

You cant use the portable ones sideways, and can be too tall to fit in some vehicles.
And of course they are limited to 5 gal for swaps. One thought is have a permanent tank and a portable one, and can fill up the fixed tank with the portable if needed, and store it flat, they can be too tall to fit into a lot of vehicles.

The good part about the swaps is I’ve never had a tank refused. I’ve brought in rusty ones, ones with pre-OPD valves, painted with house paint...

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by Danjo

Just not on the exterior wall or on the bumper, and must be higher than axle or other substantial part of the vehicle

Great clarification! There is a lot of verbiage in that section, and we would benefit from an article about propane tank placement.