Propane Heater Installation

Well, now that I have committed to the propane heater, my next question concern the installation. Specifically, how much clearance do I need around the heater to avoid damaging materials near by?

The way it looks right now, my poly water tank will be only 4 inches away from the LG heater, am I asking for trouble? Do I need to install a heat shield between the two?

I wanted a metal tank, but the size is an odd one and couldn't find one that would fit except maybe the butler tank. Actually, if I could find a butler fresh water tank, I would probably use it. I have up to 84 inches in height to play with, but only 18" x 42" at the base. Finding something that narrow seems to be difficult in metal tanks.

The poly tank that has been sitting at Dultmeier since October is an 80 gallon poly tank that fits those dimensions. It is a little smaller than the 110 I'm used to, but plenty for the residential work that I do and I normally just run directly off the building on commercial jobs.

I would do a heat sheild to be safe. Also always carry a fire extinguisher for safety as well....It seems back when I had the propane heater (loved it) I would keep things back at least a foot BUT it will vary for different heaters im sure. Just clear everything back and test as you go....safety first. have any pics of your set-up?

Sound advice, I do have some spare aluminum panels that I could use to build a heat shield. I can't get any extra space with the tank size though.

It looks like everything will be installed by end of business Thursday....well, the important things anyway.

I plan on posting the end results and maybe even a walk-around video.

just dont let any cardboard get close by, the outside of the LG doesnt get that hot

I can touch it with my bare hands while its running

ACpower1 wrote:just dont let any cardboard get close by,   the outside of the LG doesnt get that hot

I can touch it with my bare hands while its running

That has a lot to do with how well your heater is working, I could touch mine with hand also, and a plastic bucket was pressed up against it for a long time. Then once I fixed it and it was back to heating the water to 240 deg., the bucket melted to the outside where it was touching, and I can no longer touch the outside of it without a sever burn. .......and before you say it, my heater is insulated really well on the inside, it's how a keep it from rattling.

I don't think you need to worry about radiant heat from it really, but you don't want anything that isn't metal touching it.

ya its not a big hazard just use common sense and dont leave anything touching it,  I keep everything clear of it and always have.    

a water tank 4in away would prob be just fine its not going to melt it,   the outside of the #4 is not very hot when running.. only near the bottom right by the flame.

you can touch the outside up higher when its full blast

Good to hear, I think I will still look at putting a shield up to protect from the lower area.

This should be fine this week!

Oh, does anyone ever use a bottle on the ground? How do you protect it from falling over?

I just hope the heater doesn't leak on its maiden voyage. I upgraded the components and cleaned the jets, but have not fired it up yet.....fingers crossed on that one.

I did keep the heater in the house during the winter, so I know it didn't sustain any freeze damage since it got here, but who knows about before that.

Ive only used ones that mount under the van....im not a big fan of a loose bottle in the truck BUT with a good lead away from the heat source you should be fine....we dont worry when we grill and the bottle is just inches away from the flame. I would have a strap for it near the back corner if its free space now....lol

American van.  

I hook up and use BBQ tank when I'm out on my belly tank, it happens every once in awhile, and just set it on the ground.......and I've never worried about it falling over, and it never has. Seems they aren't likely to fall over easily unless empty.

Okay, probably worrying about nothing then. The BBQ tank is just an experiment to run the "shakedown cruise" once everything is installed.

Milspec....those guys in California have no clue how roads are out here....its gunna tip over if its not strapped...or, the racks Mo shows are cool.

I do like those tank cages Mo listed....will look at those.

Propane is safe until its not. I had a fire and there were 3 full tanks that are bigger than those grill tanks blow up just 15 feet from me....I have damage to my left ear from that explosion. Did $40k damage to my shed and inventory....insurance wont cover business equipment at your home FYI unless your adding that.

Devon07 wrote:Propane is safe until its not. I had a fire and there were 3 full tanks that are bigger than those grill tanks blow up just 15 feet from me....I have damage to my left ear from that explosion. Did $40k damage to my shed and inventory....insurance wont cover business equipment at your home FYI unless your adding that.

Did the tanks start the fire or did they just get caught up in a fire?

As for covering business equipment at the house.....good to have an umbrella policy to cover it or things can get ugly.

I don't want to worry too much about the propane tanks, lots of things can go wrong in life. I was standing outside my family's auto repair shop when a 100 gallon air compressor blew up and took out a brick wall. The pressure relief valve didn't function and it kept building pressure until it blew. I couldn't hear anything except ringing for 3 days, but at least the wall kept me from getting scrambled.

I think we are far more likely to catch fire due to the TM then the propane heaters yet we don't spend much time talking about that. Ask yourself, are you using a metal gas tank or a poly tank? Ask anyone who has owned a boat about poly tanks and they will tell you that the poly tanks tend to stink over time as the fuel seeps through the shell. That is a death trap just waiting after a few years.

Go metal for your tanks or at least replace the poly tanks once they start to allow some vapor permeation.

They got caught up in a fire....I had a shop for my equipment but kept some air movers and a couple dehu's at the house for possible late night calls to save me the drive to the shop.....On the poly tanks for fuel was another issue at the very same fire....I had a ZTR mower (new) with the poly tank on it and when the fire got warm enough it melted the poly igniting gas and jumping the fire to a new level of "oh he77" I was also trying to stop an old man from helping me put out the fire....he was about to get hurt, the water hose had melted in the middle and he couldnt figure out why the water was on, but not coming out the end....3 ring circus! As far as insurance....I never thought about needing it there for equipment but realized real fast I should have...was an oopsie

The last LG fire I knew of was a cleaner that ignored an engine leak and he oil was hitting the LG heater and combusted and caught fire

Wow DeYon, that does sound like a horrible situation. The great thing about these boards is that somebody just learned something that might save their bacon one day.

When I was in school for Haz-Mat, the first thing they asked us to do was identify all the safety hazards in the room. There were about 10 of us and we managed to identify about 23 things in the room that posed a safety risk.

The instructor proudly told us that we were off.....by 10. People are often the biggest safety hazard in a room and the one we really need to keep an eye upon.

There is a great video of a propane tank blowing up in the bed of truck on youtube. What you notice is that the tank was not tied down, he drove like a maniac, stopped suddenly, the tank rocked over and the valve snapped off, it vented and blew up.

The video was posted to show people how unsafe a propane tank was, but if you paid attention, you would realize that it wasn't the tank that was unsafe, it was the person.

Yep...just secure it and check it periodically, you will be fine. The last thing you want is a small fire non related to the tank and no extinguisher....it will become related.

milspec6 wrote:
There is a great video of a propane tank blowing up in the bed of truck on youtube.  What you notice is that the tank was not tied down, he drove like a maniac, stopped suddenly, the tank rocked over and the valve snapped off, it vented and blew up.

The video was posted to show people how unsafe a propane tank was, but if you paid attention, you would realize that it wasn't the tank that was unsafe, it was the person.

Good point.  Yep the tank didn't do anything wrong, or wasn't unsafe, it was the owner that did things wrong.