Making the locker out of plywood, would be perfectly effective at preventing gas leaks from entering the living space, but would fail to protect the gas bottle from heat in the case of a fire. A steel box isn't going to prevent an explosion in the case of a serious fire, but it would certainly give you extra time. I'd fitted the locker door some time ago, but it just opened up straight into Jim's interior.
The first thing I did was fabricate the box out of sheet steel. I had a load of rusty 3mm sheet in the garden which I cleaned up with a wire wheel on an angle grinder, I then used my small plasma cutter to cut the pieces out, and welded them together. 3mm is excessive, 1.6mm would have been fine, but it's what I had to hand. It would also have been easier to fold the steel and save on welding, but I don't have a press brake and I enjoy welding. I welded all seams fully, but used some sikaflex anyway to be sure the enclosure was air tight.
I had a length of 30mm steel tube to hand, which I welded into the bottom of the enclosure to form a drop-out for any leaking gas. A bit of research has shown that the drop-out is too small to meet the regulations, but it's safe enough for now.
I also welded in a couple of pieces of steel to take a ratchet strap to restrain the tank.
I then painted the gas locker inside and out.
Finally, I fitted a regulator and solenoid valve in place, and passed the gas line to the interior using a bulkhead connector through the steel enclosure. The solenoid valve will be connected to a control panel inside the truck, which will allow me to disconnect the gas with a button, saving me having to get out and turn the tap on the bottle off. The control panel can also automatically disconnect the gas if it senses a leak of propane or Carbon Monoxide.
I still need to pressure test the plumbing that I've done but for now it's another small job crossed off the list.
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