How to: Gasit LPG Setup

Discussion in 'How To' started by JamesLey, Feb 10, 2018.

  1. JamesLey

    JamesLey Sponsor

    I was keen to fit an underslung LPG tank to our van to free up valuable interior space, and to me it seems safer keeping the gas outside the van. I've not found any detailed 'how to' topic on the forum so thought it was worth writing one.

    First off I owe a huge thanks to @Bertiebot for providing me with a lot of detail and pictures of his LPG tank install (he has the same tank as described below). I'd also like to point out that I'm not a certified gas engineer and so this guide should be read with that in mind. I will be getting everything checked over by an engineer when it's all done and for any bits that I'm not sure of, but fitting the tank is pretty straightforward.

    I opted for a Gasit 20L easyfit tank. This makes fitting the tank really easy as it comes with welded feet that simply need attaching to the underside of the van to ensure the tank is sat at the correct angle. This is the tank:
    [​IMG]

    It comes with all of the fittings pre-installed and pre-tested, with a heavy duty plate covering the valves:
    [​IMG]

    Gasit do sell mounting kits for other vans, and a generic mount designed to attach to the floor, but it seemed easier and cheaper just to make my own. I paid around £10 for a metre of angle iron and a meter of flat bar from my local fabrication shop.

    I made the mounts out of 3mm angle iron with a piece of 3mm flat bar lap welded underneath the angle iron (overlapped by around 3mm). Both the angle iron and flat bar were 25mm wide and cut down to match the span of the feet (180mm):
    [​IMG]

    I opted to lap weld to give a bit of clearance under the floor supports that the mounts will attach to:
    [​IMG]

    The mounts then bolt onto the sides of the 2nd and 4th floor support from the front with 4 M8 bolts:
    [​IMG]

    Hopefully in this picture you can see how lap welding the joint allows the mount to sit inline with the bottom of the floor support:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The tank then gets gently jacked into position and bolted to the mounts:
    [​IMG]

    As I still have the van on the rollover jig I also got some pictures with it rolled over:
    [​IMG]
     
  2. JamesLey

    JamesLey Sponsor

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Gasit also sell the fill point which I’ll be fitting just in front of the rear jacking point. I'll add a subsequent post when I fit it.
     
  3. 77 Westy

    77 Westy Supporter

    I like the idea of an underslung gas tank but these Gasit 20l tanks are scary low and vunerable. If they made one half the diameter I’d probably fit one – but I’d have to think of somewhere else to fit the water tanks.
     
    JamesLey likes this.
  4. Will be interesting to see the clearance when it's on its wheels. I have thought about moving to one of these tanks.
     
    JamesLey likes this.
  5. Aren't they 8" diameter the same as a westy tank. Some sort of skid plate like a westy would be a nice addition too.
     
  6. No pretty sure they are much bigger diameter than the westy one.

    The westy one only has a skid plate to protect the valves etc.
     
  7. JamesLey

    JamesLey Sponsor

    It’s 200mm in diameter. Here’s a pic courtesy of @Bertiebot of it compared to the westy tank.
    [​IMG]
    The cover for the valves seems pretty substantial. Not sure how it compares to the westy skid plate.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Bertiebot likes this.
  8. Top work James. Super clean bus underside too. Your bus is clearly going to be mint! I did measure the gap to the floor on mine and its 17.5cm or 7" in real money. I am happy thats safe enough though you wouldn't want to an underslung tank on a lowered van. Enough people drive around with their whole bus lower than that!
     
    JamesLey likes this.
  9. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    Very nice but watch out if you ever use a small ferry like the Isle Of Wight Lymington to Yarmouth ferry where the angle at the top of the shortish linkspan at low tide can make that kind of setup scary low..
    Hint.. make crossings that leave and arrive near to high water when the linkspan is more level.

    I once has a good larf watching to see how many Healeys would make it up the ramp at Yarmouth out of a group of about 7. One lost its exhaust and another two made a lot of scraping noises..
     
  10. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Are there any qualified gas bods on here who can confirm the regs regarding new installations of under slung tanks?
    It may be different for leisure vs propulsion lpg ???? but...I've always understood there are regulations that suggest a minimum ground clearance of 250mm , 25cm, for under slung tanks.

    It'd be interesting to see if a qualified Gas Safe engineer would sign this off?

    Not poopooing this, it's just that we've always had a safety first angle with gas and electrics on the forum so it'd be good to get the input from someone who has to work to regs?

    @Merlin Cat ???
     
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  11. Merlin Cat

    Merlin Cat Moderator

    Evening @theBusmonkey sorry I’m not lpg qualified.
    Hope you’re both fine :) x
     
  12. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    ,
     
  13. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    We are thanks A. Sorry we couldn't get your Ypres commemorative mug and fabby 70's camping chair back to you before we left. They're safe though! X
    Is there anyone on the forum who is lpg qualified as far as you know?
     
    Merlin Cat likes this.
  14. Merlin Cat

    Merlin Cat Moderator

    :) there are a few Gas folk but not sure if they’re LPG.

    Feel free to use my mug and chairs :) x
     
  15. JamesLey

    JamesLey Sponsor

    Hi mate, I've tried to be as cautious as I can on this install. @Bertiebot had his installed professionally using pretty much the same setup. I'll be looking to get this checked over by an LPG engineer when I'm done.
     
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  16. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Hi James. Your work on this looks great as does everything you've done to your bus so far.
    We had our T3 gassed for propulsion a couple of years ago and it was only because it's a syncro and has high ground clearance that we got away with under slung torpedo tanks.
    Otherwise we'd have had to have internal toroidal units.
    Insurance companies are so picky these days you wouldn't want to give them any excuse to duck out in the event of an incident.
    Let us know what the lpg man says. I'm sure he'll pass your work and connections, it's just the clearance thing...
     
    JamesLey likes this.
  17. 77 Westy

    77 Westy Supporter

    My bus measures 35cm from the bottom of the top hats to the ground. The tank is 20cm plus 2cm for the feet so ground clearance would be 13cm or about 5 inches. That’s static unloaded, loaded it drops 2 or 3cm and suspension travel in bump is about 5cm. I wouldn’t be happy having a tank full of pressurised gas that low although I agree with @Bertiebot people drive around with the bus lower than that.
     
  18. Hi all

    Mine was done at Gasure near Chester who are approved installers. Its not much different in terms of ground clearance to the original Westy tanks and seems significantly more robust. I measured my ground clearance as 7" for those interested. One thing I didn't expect is that you should have undersea/stonechip paint sprayed on the tank to protect it.
     
    theBusmonkey likes this.
  19. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    We drove our Westy for years with the og under slung tank and didn't give it much thought. It was only when I did the renovation and decided to replace the 40 year old stuff that I considered how potentially unsafe the old lines and seals were.
    The thing is the regs have changed since the 70's and now there are specific UK guidelines surrounding lpg.
    They may not apply to leisure, that's why I'm interested but honestly don't know for sure.
    It's the same on narrow boats. Gas is now positively discouraged on new builds but if the craft has an older installation it can stay. Provided it passes the Boat Safety Scheme inspection. If it fails, it has to go but can be replaced like for like.
    It may be that if the van had one originally you can get away with it?
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2018
  20. 77 Westy

    77 Westy Supporter

    But the Westy tank is much smaller than the Gasit with more ground clearance.
    As I said on another thread, I’d want skid plates to protect the tank, not a coat of underseal.
     
    theBusmonkey likes this.

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