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Is the under-body propane tank a hazard?
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kgold708
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Location: Genoa IL
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What he is describing is not that the tank exploded! Its not like someone put a blasting cap in the thing! Even if you did there's no O2 in the tank so the fuel HAD to leave the tank BEFORE it came into contact with air and could possibly burn. He described a ruptured tank, the fuel left the tank in a liquid state and boiled off mixing with air and burning in the process. Hard to understand?
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noganav
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hard to understand? No. I get what you think happened.
Neither of us has the information needed to resolve this.
But, thanks I guess for reiterating your story.

These tanks are not dangerous. The fuel tank and lines are vastly more prone to rupture and fire. Getting rid of the propane tank because of some speculation about one accident doesn't really make sense. Hard to understand?

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kgold708
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm just sayin that grknvgn's story seems pretty credible. To say he doesn't know the details of what destroyed HIS van and nearly took HIS life is pretty incredible. I've been in fear of my life before and remember every minute detail with incredible clarity. IOW listen to the man, HE knows the details of his near death experience.
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noganav
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it did rupture, go hug your kids because you are very lucky to be alive. If it was the relief valve going off then your tank did it's job as the vast, vast, majority do. I'll be leaving the propane system on my van where it is. Not sure what more there is to say about it. This one incident, even in the worst case, doesn't condemn the system. Propane is very low on the list of hazards of driving a Westy. Probably right up there with sneezing while driving.
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Muskrat
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

for those of you who think i'm advocating removing the propane tank, i'm not.
i started the other thread to let people know that having a seat belt cutter in my pocket saved my life.
while i doubt i will get another van with a propane tank, it's not because i feel they're unsafe, it's because my family are never going to feel safe in one again. weather that feeling is scientifically justifiable means nothing if they can't enjoy themselves due to fear of being burned after seeing what what i went through.
so again, get a seat belt cutter and enjoy your propane tank.[/b]
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kgold708
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think anyone should remove their propane system either. I think this was a very rare occurance, the combination of ruptured tank and upside-down westy.
My father-in-law is a retired electrical engineer for a company that did electrical systems for the RV market, he used to fly all over the country partisipating in total loss investigations. I've seen plenty of pictures of $200k-2M RV's that didn't fair any better and talked to him at lenght about the ways people almost or do kill themselves dozens of times per year. Almost always maint/ operator error/ stupidity/ or all of the above. So it is what it is, is there SOME risk, yes.
As much risk as slipping and falling in your own bathroom, not even close!
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