20# portable propane tank

I didn't want to have a high-pressure propane hose lying the the grass between the MH and the BBQ on the picnic table. Also, I bought a 10-pound "squatty" propane tank that has the same base ring as the 20-pounder, as I didn't want to be lugging the heavier one around.

I also bought a "gas cylinder base stabilizer" at Camping World. I positioned it close to the forward wall of the stow-bin next to the rig's propane cylinder bay and bolted it to the floor. That bin has a 4" removable plug in the floor which I left open when the tank was stored there. I was planning to add bungee cords to hold the tank in place, but the base stabilizer was such a good snap fit on the tank, it wasn't necessary.

The set-up worked fine for the four years we had the MH. The "squatty" stayed with us when we sold the MH and I use it on the Weber Q100 grill on the patio at home. The base ring went with the MH when it was sold.

Depends..........

Standing up/vertical. Put it on a milk crate, a sturdy box etc. Sure OK

Horizontal...........never! The relief valve should not be in 'liquid' only in 'vapor' section. Laying it down is a NO-NO

Raist11 wrote:
You won't find too many people here that say it's okay. Legally speaking it's probably a No-No. My FIL always kept his in the storage compartment for who knows how many years. That's where mine sits as well. I thought about strapping it to the roof for better ventilation but for some reason I didn't like that idea. My second option was to get my daughter to hold it on her lap.. again, seemed bad. My wife didn't like the idea of it taking her place in the co-pilot seat. I've considered putting some anchor points on the floor and strapping it down.. but to be TRULY ventilated I need to run with the windows open.. and again my wife frowned when I suggested some big anchors in the middle of her linoleum.

I will admit I just finished reading Dennis' post - Mods completed today which explains some of my response.

Honestly, it's not ideally the safest thing. But I put mine there and I make sure it's secure and won't roll around at all. It also sits inside an old plastic milk crate.

Tell the wife you need to buy a boat to tow behind you to carry the propane tank. Problem solved.

I did it for a couple of years, but I put a vent line from the bottles to outside. Each bottle has an over pressure/bleed valve just under the handle directly opposite the part where you draw propane from the bottle. I put a piece of automobile water line on the valve with a hose clamp and ran the other end of the hose through a hole in the floor of the basement.

The reason I did this was that after filling, if there is a significant temperature rise or reduction in air pressure (such as caused by climbing a mountain), it can cause these bottles to bleed out some propane. With all the electrical relays, switches, lights, and other ignition sources in an RV basement, I didn't want propane and an ignition source together in a closed compartment.

It's also illegal, but the propane checkers hang out with the mattress tag checkers, so there's not too many checks done.

I'd put it in one that was not close to the exhaust of engine. Well "IF" I was going to do it at all.

Fine by me. What do you do with the little ones for grills?

Put in milk crate. Works great for me.

You won't find too many people here that say it's okay. Legally speaking it's probably a No-No. My FIL always kept his in the storage compartment for who knows how many years. That's where mine sits as well. I thought about strapping it to the roof for better ventilation but for some reason I didn't like that idea. My second option was to get my daughter to hold it on her lap.. again, seemed bad. My wife didn't like the idea of it taking her place in the co-pilot seat. I've considered putting some anchor points on the floor and strapping it down.. but to be TRULY ventilated I need to run with the windows open.. and again my wife frowned when I suggested some big anchors in the middle of her linoleum.

I will admit I just finished reading Dennis' post - Mods completed today which explains some of my response.

Honestly, it's not ideally the safest thing. But I put mine there and I make sure it's secure and won't roll around at all. It also sits inside an old plastic milk crate.

Make sure the compartment has at least a couple of drain holes in it, 3/8 inch or larger. That isn't ideal ventilation, but it is barely adequate. Propane vapor is much heavier than air, so it will collect in the bottom of the compartment, and drain out the holes. You could add to the ventilation by boring a couple of 4 inch holes in the top of the door and putting screen over them, and do the same in the bottom of the compartment.
It isn't difficult to put enough "stuff" in the compartment to keep the propane cylinder from moving around.
I have carried a one gallon refillable propane cylinder in a basement compartment for years, along with a 16 oz. cylinder and a butane cylinder for filling lighters and such.
I am still here to talk about it.

I can't tell you it is ok or not ok to store a cylinder in a compartment, but putting it in a milk crate makes it more secure, IMHO.