This submission is an update on my post about 7 weeks or so ago.
Concern No.1: LPG compartment door sealing and venting Adequate airflow through/down,between & across stored LPG cylinders is essential.An installation without airflow is prohibited. AS5601-2004 required airflow! The Standard rules obviously are not enforced stringently enough by the relevant Authorities.
As a member group how about we recommend to Canberra that future Standards include LPG compartment door construction requirements? Even similar to Thetford toilet cassette doors with the door edge overlap sealing against the compartments edge is better than some. AND, for safety the doors must be hinged on the forward edge/side.
Those lift-up/clipped up open doors are an accident risk.(Refer Telstra stickers).
(NB: AS5601-2010 was NOT adopted in Victoria. So AS5601-2004 remained the only reference until AS5601-2013 was published in September 2013).
The best option to provide adequate airflow across/down between cylinders is to install an airvent size based on the m3 volume of the compartment - in the top of the compartment door and a 25mm diameter tubular drain - with a champfered end - in the rear corner of the compartment base.
The tube must face away from the forward direction of travel and be directed away from and
(a) be at least 1 metre from any opening into the caravan and
(b) be at least 1.5 metres from any source of ignition, eg. a HWS flue.
(NB: AS5601-2013 suggests two(2) questionable options in my opinion:
1. two airvents (top and bottom). But, any LPG leakage will not dissipate satisfactorily until the compartment is actually full because both airvents will be sucking air in(venturi effect)
2. bottom tubular drain only with no airvent in top of door. Air will NOT be sucked in and through the compartment and any LPG leakage will not dissipate satisfactorily!)
Motorhome builders Australia-wide should immediately review their LPG cylinder compartment construction techniques. Complying with AS5601-2004, AS5601-2010 and AS5601-2013 is a good start!
Concern No.2:
AS5601-2004 shows compliant location of Hot Water Service (HWS) flues. They must NOT: (1)be closer than a minimum 500mm below an openable window and, (2) be located within a 500mm x 500mm square exclusion zone from a LPG cylinder valve. The squares hypotenuse measurement gives a swinging 700mm radius separation distance between the HWS flue and a cylinder valve. This 700mm requirement has NOT been 100% complied with.
Concern No.3:
AS5601-2004, AS5601-2010 and AS5601-2013 all include definitions and interpretations of COMPLIANCE. One very significant sentence is:
Where no requirement is given, "good/best practice" is to apply.
Good/best practices certainly exist within the Australian RV Industry BUT why arent such practices included and worded specifically in the Standards??
For example, it has been a long-standing good/best practice for over 40 years in RVs that the lower LPG airvent is installed in the bottom of the entrance door level with the first step riser - the lowest point in the vehicle - or in the rear side wall of the entrance stairwell with a slanted coverplate on the outside to avoid dust and road grime splashing in etc. (eg. Avida/Winnebago)
NB: Positioning the lower airvent - at the lowest point in the vehicle - is a dual purpose safety aid. It provides both essential air for human habitation/ventilation but also provides a dispersal point for LPG leakage.
NB:AllAustralia-wide RV builders and owners must demand Canberra instruct Australian Standards to include specific wording in the next Standard publication for this good/best practice.
In conclusion, it was quite misleading and deceptive in my opinion for the above three(3)LPG non-compliances to be displayed at both the October 2015 Sandown Motorhome Show in Melbourne and the November 2015 Bendigo Show.
E. & O.E.
Attachments(no order):
*Telstra stickers for lift-up doors
*Drain Brochure (disregard comments re Avan!)
*Flue photo
*vent hole in floor! Avan's lower LPG airvent is built as a vertical shaft "hole through the floor"!!??
-- Edited by sheeds on Saturday 5th of December 2015 04:08:42 PM
