National Certificate of Gasfitting
US21897 Demonstrate knowledge of the gasfitting of LPG cylinder systems for gas installations

How far away must the (LPG) cylinders be from any heat source?

Note this is NOT source of ignition but HEAT source?  If you can answer it can you also provide the code/legilsation/standard that underpins it?

Linkback: https://www.plumbers.nz/plumbing-gas-fitting-and-drainlaying-apprentice-support/3/who-can-answer-this-question-from-apprentices-distance-learning/510/

I am sure its somewhere in AS/NZS 1596:2008 Storage and Handling of LPG - but I can't find that standard in my collection - and I am just a CP (with gasfitting experience) so thats my excuse if I am pointing in the wrong direction

How far away must the (LPG) cylinders be from any ignition source?

if you have the NZS 5261 code which you should have...i hope lol
The correct answer would be to reference: APPENDIX G......LPG CYLINDER LOCATIONS....G4 Clearances around cylinders...Figure G2-Minimum clearance to IGNITION sources.

In an exchange cylinder 500mm above top of cylinder valve a 500mm diameter circle to any ignition socrce At base of cylinder a 1500mm diameter circle to any ignition sources....
with an In-situ fill cylinder 500mm above top of cylinder valve a 1500mm diameter circle to any ignition socrce At base of cylinder a 3500mm diameter circle to any ignition source.

This info comes from the codes

Being that LPG is heaiver than air and will spill to the ground i guess is the reason why the base measurment to any ignition source is much larger.

Interestingly enough - the "model" answer is 6m which is what trainees have been told to put - even though no one knew where it came from. This info must have been pulled from there ARSE!(please god let me be right so i dont look like an arse as well!)

So there question is incorrect as there are two sets of clearances, being removiable change over cylinders and IN-SITU cylinders filled on site.

If i were you i would read the codes from back to front....i know there bloody boaring but i had this answered in 2mins and that includes travel time to the van to get the codes!...lol

Anyways i hope im correct and i hope this helps...and i hope like hell your craftman gasfitter has already pointed you to this section of the codes hehehe.

Thunderhead if you got back to the original question (at the top of the page) you'll see that the trainee was asked it was how far away the cylinders had to be from a source of HEAT - not ignition.  This was the question no one could answer - we all knew the clearances from source of ignition - but that wasn't what they were asking. 

We scoured 5261, 1596, codes of practice relating to LPG and even approached the LPGA.  This was the quandry.  Of course I would expect a first year apprentice to be able to answer the distance for an ignition source, but there is no such thing as "source of heat" covered in any codes.

Cheers

hi guys,yes when you think of it logicaly, the lpg cylinder would have to be in a frezzer to be away from any heat source,cheers

hi guys,buddy you are right even at 50below frezzing you can still extract heat thats how a heatpump works but you know where i was heading with it. This question from jax sure got some interest and that is what we need and eventually we got the correct answer so this forum really works. I don`t know if 6mtrs is the official answer but i have my old 1976 gas code that says 2mtrs from a sourse of ignition and the present rule is 1.5mtrs,cheers

The question which was in the distance learning was distance from source of heat - the model answer to this was 6m (according to the assesment schedule and model answer provided by the polytec and the ITO).  When challenged as to where they got this answer from (and after phone calls and emails) they have admited that:
1.  The question was a mistake
2.  The model answer of 6m was a nonsense - it had no basis in fact, no code, legislation or standard backing it up and when pressed it appears they have no idea how a measure of 6m got entered in as a model answer.

The question will now be changed to distance from source of ignition and the answers given on this page for that question (sourced from 5261) are correct.

The ITO don't call back distance learning papers so some poor bugger trainees may still come across the heat source question and scratch their heads and wonder where to look for this answer.  It's just a shame that they will waste many hours looking for an answer that doesn't exist.  My next question to the ITO is that this question has been in distance learning papers for the last year - how the hell did it get marked and what dumb ass has continued to mark it right without thinking that it made no sense.

Hey Robbo, Cheers for that - we have passed on to ITO - you are now officially famous in our office for finding any reference to the 6m!!