| Author | Message | ||
| Brian Elfert
Rating: N/A |
I will be putting a 6 gallon water heater, 42,000 BTU furnace, and 3 burner stove running off propane in my bus. Do I need to be using 1/2" lines for this, or will 3/8" be good enough? It appears that the furnace and water heater only have 3/8" fittings. What is the best material to use for lines? Is copper acceptable like used in many motorhomes? Brian Elfert | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A |
Hi Brian, Hopefully without igniting another "code says" war, I'd advise you to use 1/2" (at least). It's more robust than 3/8" and even if 3/8 was big enough, running all appliances at once or adding things later on would probably find it not big enough. Personally I'd use 3/4" and then you'd be ready for anything. Neck it down to the appliance size at the last possible points on the piping, where you should have individual shutoff valves for each appliance. Copper is not my material of choice for gas in an RV (or anything for that matter) but it is used. It tends to work-harden with vibration and wiggle, and eventually it will crack, at least sooner than other materials in the same application. I like good old black iron pipe with pipe dope (not teflon tape because dope tends to not leak if the joint is wiggled, teflon tape may leak later on. Loctite makes a really good pipe dope that thickens a lot when it finds itself inside the threads... making even a better seal than standard pipe dope, that will not leak. And on RV gas piping, I like to use two 90 degree fittings when going around a corner instead of one, at least every so often... ie so instead of "turning left", you first turn "down" with one 90, then "left" with a second one which gives the joint a lot more degrees of freedom to twist and flex than a simple 90 would as you drive down the road. And RV's do twist & flex... Last, instead of using all 90's, every once in a while use a Tee instead,with one end plugged. That way you can add to your system later on without having to totally disassemble it, by unscrewing the plug and adding from there. | ||
| motorcoach1 Rating: N/A |
I agree with Gary on the 3/4 pipe and install. You might want to put in a shut off solenoid to turn off the gas manifold from the tank. | ||
| Len Silva (Lsilva)
Rating: N/A |
Personally, I think 3/8" copper will work just fine. It's been in my 30 YO conversion without any problems. What I would suggest however, is a home run from each appliance back to a manifold near the propane source with a valve for each line. That will eliminate a bunch of hidden fittings and joints and if something does leak, it will be easy to isolate it. Len Silva | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A |
Len's idea, especially the "home run" part of each appliance to a manifold close to the source is fine. And... Just so there isn't any question, here's the rules... read em, and then do as you wish..  http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/ROP/1192-02-rop.pdf (Message edited by boogiethecat on May 01, 2006) |