[C38] FW: RE: Propane locker

tdtron at earthlink.net tdtron at earthlink.net
Thu Apr 28 14:02:33 EDT 2011


2nd attempt to get the photo to go through.
Tom Troncalli






I have attached a low resolution picture of my helm seat.  It is a 3.5 kW air cooled genset in a sound enclosure I made from plywood and lead-foam sound insulation.  When placed and secured on the helm seat, the view forward is wonderful as well as very comfortable.

The two little slots seen in the lid over the left lift handle are a slot to hold the rope starter and the larger slot is to allow the fuel hose to exit the enclosure.  The little hole on the left side is the intake for the carburetor.  The large hole is for the air intake for the engine cooling.  Cooling air for the generator section is in the unseen right side of the enclosure and the engine exhaust is also on that side.  There is a 3/4" female pipe nipple welded to the exhaust outlet to allow a 90 degree elbow and an additional muffler to divert the exhaust upward when in use directing any residual noise and the exhaust up and away from the boat.

All hot air from engine and generator cooling exit through baffles on the bottom of the enclosure further reducing noise.  The contour of the back of the boat allows a slot for the hot air to escape upward and away from the cockpit.

You can't tell in the photo but there is a frame on the lid made from quarter round that holds a 6 gal outboard tank when the genset is in use.  When sailing, the frame holds a 2" custom made cushion making a very comfortable and tall helm seat when underway.

The picture was taken before the project was completed.  There are now covers over the carburetor intake and engine cooling intakes.  The twist out plastic port on the front of the enclosure is to service the oil.  The black button 10 o'clock from the service port is an ignition kill switch.

I have checked temperatures inside the enclosure when operating and at no place does the inside temperature get over 15 degree above ambient temperatures.  The efficient primary muffler was wrapped in exhaust wrapping to help insulate it which also reduced the sound.

I had thought of making this project a tech article but this design is not CG approved and due to the differences in potential design, someone could have tried to duplicate the enclosure and caused a fire which I didn't want to be responsible for.

The sound of this air cooled genset is so low that you can barely hear it from 20' away.  Even in a crowded anchorage most people don't know we are running it.

Since we only run the genset at anchor, the stern is always downwind so there is no chance for exhaust fumes in the cockpit or cabin.  Inside the cabin, you can't hear the genset at all when the crib boards are in place.

We connect the genset to the boat by a shore cord made the exact length to go from the genset to the shore  power receptacle on the boat.

Anyway, that is our advanced helm seat.  Our first helm seat was just a 2x6 board that spanned the girth of the helm seat and it sat on the coming which gave us an incredible better view with almost no weight or expense.   I don't have a picture of the board but you can use your imagination.  We had a rubber backed carpet glued to the bottom and chocks of the board to prevent gel coat marring.

I have other pictures somewhere of the genset enclosure conversion if anyone feels ambitious to try to make a similar project.  We use the genset for power loss emergencies at home also.  When my neighbors crank up their generators you can hear them all over the neighborhood.  Ours is so quiet no one can hear it unless they are already in our yard.  With the 3/4" nipple welded on the muffler, we can connect a piece of 3/4" conduit and feed it out under the garage door to protect from theft and further reduce any noise.  Since all of the exhaust is piped outside, there is no carbon monoxide threat in the garage.  Since we removed the original gas tank and only have the outboard tank, there is no chance for spilling gas when refueling, just hook up a second fuel tank by the OMC type fuel quick connect.

Tom Troncalli


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Gus Woods 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 4/28/2011 10:18:08 AM 
Subject: Re: [C38] Propane locker


Among the modifications we made to Love & Luck was raising the stern seat. I do not remember just how much but we find that to be a big improvement. The cover hits the backstay before it is vertical so it requires holding it open or hooking a line to the backstay if you need both hands for whatever you are doing in the locker.

We installed an off the shelf propane box in the sail locker; it is sealed except for the vent which exits below the waterline at times but I am not concerned about it because I think if there is real pressure in the box it will force the gas out the vent.

We will be back to the boat in a few weeks and I will post some photos of the mods we made.




On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 9:49 AM, Chuck Finn <charles at finn.ws> wrote:

Phil,
I really like the raising the seat idea and have been conjuring about this as well.  When cruising, I put a 2x10" board across the lower stern pulpit rails as the rear seat is way too low for me to comfortably sit or see.   I just have not figured out how I want to do this.
To answer Steve O's question about propane size, we go through almost a complete 20 pound tank a season.  Mine is aluminum and hangs off the stern pulpit, which makes me look just like what I am!  A cruiser!  By the way, it makes those folks I sail by even more upset in their sleek, new supposedly racing hulls that cannot point!
Right now, I keep my spare danforth, two fire extinguishers,  dock hose and electric cord in this locker.  I decided to move the life jacket bags to the port lassarette as they are more accessible by the crew when things get dicey.  I had not thought about the weight distribution issue in the stern.  I don't think I would want to install the propane in the anchor locker because I really do notice performance issues when the bow is heavy.
If anyone has modified their stern seat, I would love to see it!

Chuck Finn
Mighty Quinn #114
Great Lakes 


On 4/28/2011 1:32 AM, Phil Gay wrote: 
Steve O,

I have been thinking of using the locker behind the steering pedestal for propane storage.  I am currently hanging a 2.5 gal tank off the aft railing in a large fender holder.  It works pretty well but I?d like more tankage now that I installed a Dickinson propane fireplace.

My thought was that the seat behind the wheel is too low for me to sit on while I steer.  If I raised the seat about 8-10?, I could fabricate a sealed locker that would fit into/onto that space and house (2) 2.5 gal tanks and be high enough above the water level to drain.

What do you think of this idea?

Phil Gay
C38 049 Que Linda
Everett WA

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of S Orton
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 10:16 PM
To: Cat 38
Subject: [C38] Propane locker

Has anyone considered taking a portion of the locker fwd of the vee berth and making it into a sealed propane locker?  An access hatch would would have to be cut through the foredeck and the locker would be drained into the anchor compartment, which is drained overboard through the stem above the waterline.  To me, that fwd locker is rather useless except to throw the dirty clothes into.  I am presently in the process of building a FG airtight sealed locker for a 2.5 gal tank that would fit in the sail locker, which location I really don't like, because it is located below WL (won't meet CC building regs) and it takes up valuable space in the sail locker.  Even though I have spent many hours building the plug and I'm at the point of doing the FG layup, I think I will put the project on hold and investigate the fwd locker location.
Comments would be appreciated.
Cheers, Steve O
Santa Susanna (304)    

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