Volvo Community Forum. The Forums of the Volvo Owners Club

Forum Rules Volvo Owners Club About VOC Volvo Gallery Links Volvo History Volvo Press
Go Back   Volvo Owners Club Forum > "Technical Topics" > LPG, CNG & LNG - General Info and Issues

Notices

LPG, CNG & LNG - General Info and Issues Share experiences and problems

Information
  • VOC Members: There is no login facility using your VOC membership number or the details from page 3 of the club magazine. You need to register in the normal way
  • AOL Customers: Make sure you check the 'Remember me' check box otherwise the AOL system may log you out during the session. This is a known issue with AOL.
  • AOL, Yahoo and Plus.net users. Forum owners such as us are finding that AOL, Yahoo and Plus.net are blocking a lot of email generated from forums. This may mean your registration activation and other emails will not get to you, or they may appear in your spam mailbox

Thread Informations

LPG removal

Views : 3293

Replies : 12

Users Viewing This Thread :  

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old Jan 25th, 2021, 18:41   #1
bimmer49
Always listen & learn!
 
bimmer49's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 13th, 2023 20:32
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Winchester + Malaga
Default LPG removal

My V40 BiFuel is nearing it's economical life end.
It needs and engine (burning oil) and the gearbox has a constant grumble (final drive bearings) and the ITV (MOT) is due.
Now I have a Motorhome under renovation (diesel) but has Propane/Butane gas bottles on board.
I was considering removing the tank and filler from the V40 and maybe bolting it to the underside of the MH and doing away with the bottles and then i can refill the tank on the road, saving a bob or two. My gas bottles aren't interchangeable outside of Spain and Portugal, whereas top up available anywhere.
Technically I can do it, my Vehicle Technical card (Fiche Tecnica) say I have gas supply on board but doesn't specify where or for what for.
My question is: In the tank mounted control box, does that reduce the liquid to a gas before it gets to the gizmo with the stepper motor mounted on it (gas distributor?) or is it liquid up to the distributor?
If it's gas from the tank then i'm onto a winner.
Looking at UTube for LPG fitments they all use oblong tank kits with additional gas valve to produce the gas from the liquid. Is the VOLVO one "built in"?
Just an idea......cos the car will probably go for scrap.
PS: Is it worth nicking the gas gauge out of the dash too?
__________________
264 V8 5.0L
V40 BiFuel, she's gone, she's dead......Oh well!
bimmer49 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 28th, 2021, 21:33   #2
bimmer49
Always listen & learn!
 
bimmer49's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 13th, 2023 20:32
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Winchester + Malaga
Default

OK so no one knows!!
Anyone got a components list for the VOLVO BiFuel?
WHERE is the vapouriser? Where it turns LPG into 38mBar gas? On the tank or at the distributor?
__________________
264 V8 5.0L
V40 BiFuel, she's gone, she's dead......Oh well!
bimmer49 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 28th, 2021, 23:51   #3
Clan
Experienced Member
 
Clan's Avatar
 

Last Online: Today 14:09
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: L/H side
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bimmer49 View Post
My V40 BiFuel is nearing it's economical life end.
It needs and engine (burning oil) and the gearbox has a constant grumble (final drive bearings) and the ITV (MOT) is due.
Now I have a Motorhome under renovation (diesel) but has Propane/Butane gas bottles on board.
I was considering removing the tank and filler from the V40 and maybe bolting it to the underside of the MH and doing away with the bottles and then i can refill the tank on the road, saving a bob or two. My gas bottles aren't interchangeable outside of Spain and Portugal, whereas top up available anywhere.
Technically I can do it, my Vehicle Technical card (Fiche Tecnica) say I have gas supply on board but doesn't specify where or for what for.
My question is: In the tank mounted control box, does that reduce the liquid to a gas before it gets to the gizmo with the stepper motor mounted on it (gas distributor?) or is it liquid up to the distributor?
If it's gas from the tank then i'm onto a winner.
Looking at UTube for LPG fitments they all use oblong tank kits with additional gas valve to produce the gas from the liquid. Is the VOLVO one "built in"?
Just an idea......cos the car will probably go for scrap.
PS: Is it worth nicking the gas gauge out of the dash too?
liquid LPG goes from the tank to the heated vaporiser under the bonnet then gas goes to the distributor then to the the injector valves .
__________________
My comments are only based on my opinions and vast experience .
Clan is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Clan For This Useful Post:
Old Feb 9th, 2021, 18:27   #4
classicswede
Trader Volvo in my veins
 
classicswede's Avatar
 

Last Online: Yesterday 23:41
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Anglesey
Default

Wrong kind of tank, you will need a vapour take off type tank
classicswede is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 15th, 2021, 20:46   #5
bimmer49
Always listen & learn!
 
bimmer49's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 13th, 2023 20:32
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Winchester + Malaga
Default

I would say a gas tank is a gas tank, it's the fittings that are different. I can't use the car vapouriser but a remote gas bottle type vaporiser as used by Gas-it for refillable bottles or the gas conversion fitters (as seen on U tube).
There is an ideal gap for the tank up between the chassis rails at the front of the MH.
__________________
264 V8 5.0L
V40 BiFuel, she's gone, she's dead......Oh well!
bimmer49 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 19th, 2021, 00:42   #6
classicswede
Trader Volvo in my veins
 
classicswede's Avatar
 

Last Online: Yesterday 23:41
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Anglesey
Default

gas tank is not a gas tank

Car tank takes liquid, camper tank takes vapour

Step away before the blow someone up and I am not joking.

Keeping an eye out for newspaper headline now
classicswede is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 19th, 2021, 09:32   #7
XC90Mk1
Premier Member
 

Last Online: Feb 16th, 2024 14:43
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Na
Default

I have been in a stack of LPG vehicles. Not one ever worked reliably, usual was engine management lights, spluttering under full throttle etc etc. Less usual was burnt out valves and engine issues at low miles (less usual but not rare).

Junk it. It’s just not worth the hassle.

Now, if you can buy a professionally equipped one that actually works granted maybe.
XC90Mk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 20th, 2021, 20:12   #8
bimmer49
Always listen & learn!
 
bimmer49's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 13th, 2023 20:32
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Winchester + Malaga
Default

classicswede: All gas bottles (home/vehicle) take fuel in liquid form. See the Gas It website where they sell a kit to refill household gas bottles at a fuel station in MH's.
There are plenty of videos on UTube showing gas installation on campers etc for heating/cooking.
All of those installations have a chassis mounted gas vapouriser mounted near to the tank.
I have found the vapouriser on my V40 and as said previously it's not suitable.
So for my MH it's a round VOLVO tank instead of a gas bottle shoved into a cupboard behind my seat!
XC90Mk1: My V40 BiFuel is nudging 240k miles. The only reason i am junking it is because it's now consuming a bit of oil (because some spark plug ceramic fell into a bore and I couldn't get it out) and the diff. is noisy requiring a gearbox. Apart from a stutter at exactly 1500 rpm on gas (a nuisance but not grief) it has never missed a beat, ran forever on Denso single point plugs at £10 for 4! Cost me £100 in fuel to get from southern Spain to the UK each way. My diesel Kangoo couldn't match that.
All on a car I bought for £600 6 years ago.
I've had my monies worth out of it.
Replacement is a Skoda diesel.
__________________
264 V8 5.0L
V40 BiFuel, she's gone, she's dead......Oh well!
bimmer49 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 21st, 2021, 14:20   #9
pinballdave
Member
 

Last Online: Yesterday 13:57
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Brighton
Default

The difference between an automotive tank and a camper tank is simply the position of the gas take off pipe.

I've seen motorhomes fitted with 4 hole tanks and two take off pipes, one for the engine, and one for the cooker.

In an automotive tank the takeoff pipe takes liquid from the bottom of the tank. In a camper tank, the takeoff pipe takes vapour from the top of the tank. There also needs to be some extra apparatus to trap any liquid coming out of the pipe if the tank is shaken around, and a pressure regulator (which is probably what you are referring to as a vaporizer).

If the Volvo tank is a single hole tank, then you're stuffed, as I don't think you'll find a multivalve with a vapour take off.

If you're reusing an old tank (over 10 years old), then it will need to be inspected and pressure tested with a certificate to prove this, or you'll invalidate the insurance on your motorhome.

By the time you've found someone to do this, and then bought the new valves and fittings for vapour take off, you'll have spent most of the cost of a new tank. So it's only a job to consider for the people who are terminally cheap, or don't care about the safety of themselves and/or others.
pinballdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 23rd, 2021, 20:23   #10
bimmer49
Always listen & learn!
 
bimmer49's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 13th, 2023 20:32
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Winchester + Malaga
Default

pinballdave: At last someone with a definitive explanation. I've not looked as to the VOLVO LPG arrangement. Neither have I looked at an after market LPG installation on a camper that JUST feeds the camper internals and not the engine too.
Surely a liquid filled LPG bottle is still running thru a pressure regulator reducing liquid to a gas no matter how much is in there. Granted the regulator is always at the top of the bottle, hence what you say, needs to be at the top of the tank.
So to put your mind at rest, on second thoughts, it aint worth the stress.
I've room for 2 bottles on the side of the MH and they will probably last forever.....without spending £500 on a GasIt conversion to save 25€ every 6 months!
Anybody want some BiFuel parts before it goes to the scrappy?
__________________
264 V8 5.0L
V40 BiFuel, she's gone, she's dead......Oh well!
bimmer49 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 19:40.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.