Is an LPG skoolie a bad idea?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Any based on GM 8.1L?

ive seen quite a few with the 454, they were slow but reliable.. just whether you could find filling stations in an area or not..



the schools that ran those GMCs had their own filling pumps for their fleet..

[cadillackid]

that roush injection system is cool in its concepts. you can run copius amounts of ignition timing with the liquid injection, as long as you have the 6.8 new enough to not spit spark plugs at you then its pretty cool setup.



I just like being able to drive my bus anywhere and not be concerned about where my next fuel stop is.. alas why i dont even travel to way-out type places like wyoming or montana etc..

[demoman]

I have a gasoline 6.8 and it is very thirsty. Even if propane is cheaper than gasoline they will both be more expensive than diesel to fuel. I think the decision should be based on how many miles do you expect to drive each year. The fewer the miles the less difference the operating cost makes. Then how often will you be in unfamiliar areas where you might need to take extra time to find a place to fuel at a time when places might be closed for the day. Next do you plan to ever sell it? Skoolies never get their whole investment back but selling one with the added limitation of propane only might make it harder to find a buyer. I think the ideal case for a propane bus is where it is a minimal conversion used locally like for tailgating or minimal camping where the initial cost and condition makes it attractive compared to a diesel bus. What is your expected usage?

[LargeMargeInBaja]

How often do my propane twenty-pounder/five-gallon bottles require certification?
I think re-cert is required every dozen years.
.
How often do LPG-powered vehicle tanks need inspection... and who is certified to issue a cert?
I have no clue, I have zero-zero-zero inclination to investigate, so we stick with diesel.

[o1marc]

Recert is anywhere between 5 and 12 years. Around here, once it's been recertified, it needs to be done every 5 years after that.

[s2mikon]

Here this spells it out. https://www.propanetankstore.com/dot...k-differences/

[peteg59]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Recert is anywhere between 5 and 12 years. Around here, once it's been recertified, it needs to be done every 5 years after that.

If it's that important to recertify these tanks, you'd think the fed govt would set those parameters?

Never heard of this happening but if an incident with a tank happened in a state that requires 5 year inspections, but someone stopped by from a neighboring state with 10 year intervals and the tank failed, what would happen legally???

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by peteg59

If it's that important to recertify these tanks, you'd think the fed govt would set those parameters?

Never heard of this happening but if an incident with a tank happened in a state that requires 5 year inspections, but someone stopped by from a neighboring state with 10 year intervals and the tank failed, what would happen legally???

The refillers are suppose to check expiration date of tank before filling it. Everywhere aroundhere does that inspection. The filling stations are Federally regulated by rules. They are not 10 year intervals. It's 12 from date of manufacture and 5 after that.

[peteg59]

Originally Posted by o1marc

The refillers are suppose to check expiration date of tank before filling it. Everywhere aroundhere does that inspection. The filling stations are regulated by rules. They are not 10 year intervals. It's 12 from date of manufacture and 5 after that.

Right, I get what you're saying about tanks in your state, but in mine it is 10 years.
Most people here chuck em after expired, as it's a royal pain to get an old tank re-certed in NH.

But what I was looking for in quoting you originally was what, if any, is the penalty for having an "expired" tank in a state with 5 yr. re-certs vs another state with 10 years interval IF god forbid something catastrophic happened on the 10 year tank in a 5 year state...

[john61ct]

They just refuse to fill them.

The one and only thing the swap vendors are good for is taking your about to expire bottles and giving you a newer one.

That's for the stock 20# ones only of course, DOT regulated.

The permanently fixed bigger autogas tanks are ASME and legally never require inspection.