Tankless Water Heater Option

[hankaye]

bdosborn, Howdy;

and those tanks, are they designed for horizontal usage or vertical ... there IS a difference.

Take another look at that picture and you'll see that Jerry is just a little photo challenged.

Bruce

Thanks I see that now... Still courious about any apparent lack of High Flow cut-off between the tanks
and the regulator. Especially since the tanks appear to be indoors.

hank

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Hey Bruce

Its Mike who turns my pictures 90 deg sideways ?
I don't know why and there is no option to turn them ??

Hank

I notice that you created your own plumbing system for the propane. Interesting.
Is there a High flow cutoff in the event of a leak? and those tanks, are they designed
for horizontal usage or vertical ... there IS a difference.

Not sure what you mean with a High Flow " propane " cut off ?
the current valve limits output to 125,000 Btu ....
I just built this as a test - demo model to see it work....
when i'm not using hot water I always turn the tanks - gas off

The water tanks are supper thick plastic, custom made about $250 each...
the empty tank must be about 30+ lbs each
no problem so far ...latter I will put some straps around them


Jerry

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Hank - Now I finally got it

a BTU guide.png (42.91 KiB) Viewed 2682 times

I see what your saying, since my Heater uses 180,000 Btu & a 5 gal bottle only holds total of 430,000 Btu ....
therefore I need a trailer full of gas to haul around for my heater
Good point...... I see your conclusion.....

as you can see (2) - 5 gallon Bottles are 860,000 Btu &
my heater at 180,000 per hour usage would produce 7.5 gallons per minute times 4.77 hours
that would give me about 2,431 gallons of hot water.....
but I estimate actual only 1800 gallons

So I really need a trailer to haul all the cold water around

BUT you made a really good point, thanks


Jerry

[hankaye]

OTTCT,Howdy;

Back to Propane 101;

Near the bottom of the page half-way thru the next to last
paragraph;
http://www.propane101.com/propanecylinderusage.htm
Flat out states that using/storing the bottles indoors is
ILLEAGLE as well as unsafe.
What I was referring to about the High flow cut-off,
is another of those ratty little Safety features...
In the flex-hoses with the big Green Knobs there is
a built-in function that if you turn on the gas to quickly
it shuts off the supply of gas until you turn off the gas and wait,
I don't know how long, until the shut-off feature relaxes and allows
the gas to flow once again. It's there in case the hose gets cut or
otherwise damaged it will shut-off the gas so you don't have any
kind of incident involving Red trucks and folks in bulky weird looking clothes
griping about missing supper, or leaving kids in the tub things like that...

hank

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Damn Hank

I must be breaking a bunch of laws as I don't have a flex-hoses with the big Green Knobs

I can already see when PoPo or LEO catches me it will be a $10,000 ticket
AGAIN - my set up ist to test & see how it could be done as there are no manuals how to
Install 180,000 water heater inside trailers.

The problem with having the propane tanks on the outside is that it does not work real well
when it's freezing cold like 0-32 deg. Which is when I sorta like the heat the most.
I get what your saying, but many folks including myself have been using bottles inside forever,
AGAIN YOU GOTTA KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING, as a dipstick can always find a way to kill himself,
Just watch 1,000 ways to die.

Using electric wire from a power line while fishing in a alum boat is my favorite

Jerry

[hankaye]

OTTCT, Howdy;

I live in an RV, and when I wintered in Central Utah (Sanpete County),
we experienced -40* temps. and during the winter of '10-'11 had a strech
where the temps didn't get above +10* for over 30 days. Never had a problem
with my propane neither do most folks that have propane for household usage.
My Gray tank ... now that another story .....
Just trying to be helpful and keeping you and the family safe, that's all.

hank

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Hi Hank

That's great to hear that you don't have any problems , what size tanks do you have ?
Do they still work well when 1/2 or more empty ?
The propane guy seamed to put the bug in my ear about tanks freezing over when it's so cold.
My water heater would only pull about 30,000 Btu Max at 1.2 GPM
Also I'm staying as close to stealth trailer as possible.

I have had bottles inside my house for 30 years now, no blow up yet

Next question at those low temps , don't you have one hell of a problem with condensation ?

Thanks Jerry

[hankaye]

OTTCT, Howdy;

Hi Hank

That's great to hear that you don't have any problems , what size tanks do you have ?
Do they still work well when 1/2 or more empty ?
I have 3 of the 30# (7.1 gal.), tanks, when I have one get empty
I swap it out for the spare and continue the cycle.... so-on and so-on. Never had a problem
when they got below 1/2. Only real problem was with my 'fridge, it didn't want to work
due to outside ambient temp's.
The propane guy seamed to put the bug in my ear about tanks freezing over when it's so cold.
Ever hear of home owners having problems with their propane systems ???
My water heater would only pull about 30,000 Btu Max at 1.2 GPM
Also I'm staying as close to stealth trailer as possible.
You can stay "STEALTH' by only hooking up the tanks at the campsite and transport the
tanks in the bed of your truck...

I have had bottles inside my house for 30 years now, no blow up yet
Knock on wood, ... knock ,on wood, ...

Next question at those low temps , don't you have one hell of a problem with condensation ?
Not as bad as you'd think. I tend to keep the overhead vents cracked (just a 1/2" or so),
and most of the moisture goes out the top... didn't eliminate it but a lot less then you'd think.

Thanks Jerry

Hope that helps

hank

[bdosborn]

Hmmm, here's an interesting propane story from Google news:

Linky

Bruce

[Rainier70]

Here is another recent propane bottle mess up that thankfully turned out ok, but could have been deadly.

http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gf ... ost=788178

Be safe.... change bottles etc outside.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Bruce

You guys are great coming up with nice stories of folks
Blowing themselves up .....

I'm very aware propane is very very dangerous
The worst part is you look like a burnt French fry -
After a propane explosion - and your damn UNLUCKY -
If you don't die , being 80% burnt in propane expolsion really sucks !!


http://www.rvbusiness.com/2012/05/4-bad ... on-at-koa/


http://mouliengg.com/reports/RV_explosi ... rsting.pdf

[hankaye]

OTTCT, Howdy;

Even burnt French Fries get blamed for things;

http://www.demingheadlight.com/deming-n ... source=rss

Reckon he was weeding one out of the bunch...
Then ya gots ...

http://www.google.com/search?q=Propane+ ... 07#imgrc=_

hank

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Here is another good one

http://kansascity.legalexaminer.com/def ... eid=280744