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Old 04-23-2010, 09:50 AM   #1
Trailer Trash 2
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Traveling with the revrigerator on, with propane

Is there a topic on traveling with the Propane Refrigerator on the do and donts?
If there is can somebody out there point me in the right direction, I tried a search with the topic header, and got a big no can do.
I heard that Trailer Life Mag did a topic on this, if they did could I get the month and year to research it.

Thanks TT2

 
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Old 04-23-2010, 10:07 AM   #2
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There have been quite a few threads discussing this in detail. The consensus that I gathered from the MOC readings that I remember was that there was no consensus. Many travel with it on (we do) many travel with it off. Many advise to turn the propane off when fueling (I think this is good advise. We travel at times 9-12 hours a day and cannot do without the cooling working in the fridge. I will try a search and see if I can find a couple of the previous threads.
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Old 04-23-2010, 10:10 AM   #3
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Don,
Use the terms "propane on when travelling" in the search and be sure the archive box is checked. It turned up a few threads.
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Old 04-23-2010, 10:32 AM   #4
Bill-N-Donna
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I read on another forum once that someone lost their tanks from the front of the trailer causing them to drag a little. It damaged the hoses really bad. Had their propane been on it could have been disastrous. I like the way our tanks are fixed, I think this is much safer than having them on the frame out in the open in front of a trailer.
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Old 04-23-2010, 11:14 AM   #5
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We always travel with our propane on to cool the refrigerater and have for all the times we have travelled in our RV- We have been RVing since 1956- Don
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Old 04-23-2010, 11:37 AM   #6
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We always have it one when traveling. As for as fueling the truck, diesel is not much a problem, but gas is different story. When I drove a bus for church, diesel bus didn't have to unload first, gas engine, bus had to be empty. If the frig is around gasoline pumps, I would turn off.
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Old 04-23-2010, 11:41 AM   #7
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TT2, I think there are two schools of thought here; One) have been doing it forever and never had a problem (Don and Judy), two) Always turn it off as afraid something disastrous could happen (Me). When you talk to MOST, maybe not all, RV techs, they say it is a good idea to turn them off, just in case. We only travel, at most 6 hours a day and our fridge stays cool this entire time, IF we keep it closed. This is one of those things that is a personal preference. I definitely don't fault anyone for travelling with them on. I guess if something was going to happen it would take a large impact to do damage and if that happens you probably have enough other things to worry about.

When I attended the "Life on Wheels Conference" in Jul of '07 it was taught to turn them off, so that is what we learned from the start and those things are the hardest to change.

Perhaps someone has a personal experience to dictate one way or the other.
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Old 04-23-2010, 11:42 AM   #8
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Thanks for the replies I got what I needed, and will forward that to my niece, her neibors are scaring her to death on the running of the refrigerator while under way. I have always traveled with mine on and never had a problem.
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Old 04-23-2010, 06:40 PM   #9
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I'm not sure what the difference is between a current rv fridge, and one that is 10 or 15 yrs old. But I recall a news story about 10 yrs ago where a guy pulled into a gas station with his truck camper and his propane fridge was left on. He didn't start fueling his truck, but some one across the fuel island was and apparently the gas fumes floated into his fridge vent and there was an instant ignition. The truck, camper and entire fuel island was in flames before someone hit the emergency fuel shutoff. After seeing that news story we always check twice to ensure both propane tanks are turned off. Towing a trailer with a propane appliance runing is like towing a time bomb........you just never know when it is going to go off.
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Old 04-24-2010, 01:46 AM   #10
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I have no experience to relate on this but do have some thoughts to share.

I don't think there is an issue as to the safety of the fridge, or furnace for that matter, igniting and running properly when underway. They work in high wind don't they?

I agree about not having these things running at a fuel stop but I don't intend to fuel with the trailer in tow so no issue with this for me.

I'm not terribly concerned about catastrophic accidents either, like collisions with the gas on although it is certainly something to think about. What if your Monty is lying on its side with the gas on and running? It might make the difference between major damage and total loss.

The biggest concern for me is the exposure to vibration when underway. The most likely cause of a fresh leak is going to be a connection loosened by vibration. The most likely time you will not detect a leak is while you are in your truck and the leak is in your trailer. The most likely way to have an explosion is to have an undetected leak with appliances making open flames and electronics flippin' relays with significant accumulations of unexploded gas in the vicinity.

When I put all these likely things next to each other, my own instincts are to not run gas while shakin' and bakin' down the road. With my tanks off I can still develop a leak of course, but when I'm in the rig and the gas is first turned on I'm far more likely to detect it. I'll be running with mine off and then I only have to worry about a (shut off) tank exploding from impact. I figure if that happens it will be the least of my problems.

Your mileage may vary of course but you only get to have one bad experience with this to ruin your remaining day(s).
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Old 04-25-2010, 02:00 PM   #11
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We always travel with the propane (and fridge on, water heater off) and I never worry about it.
On mine, the fridge is toward the rear of the 5er and on the opposite side from my truck fill tube. And diesel is not explosive like gasoline. I use it as a starter for starting brush pile fires when doing some clearing on some land I own. You basically have to hold a match to it much like charcoal lighter fluid to get it started.
Secondly, I don't ever recall being in a station, even one that was not a truck stop, where that area of the 5er was near where anyone would be filling with gasoline. And gasoline fumes are heavier than air so are naturally going to sink. And the likelyhood of wind blowing the fumes up and into the fridge vents and into the ignition zone enough to reach the lower explosion limit are extremely remote.
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Old 04-26-2010, 09:54 AM   #12
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I turn mine off is if I am crossing in a ferry (It's the law in Canada and probably also in the USA) and other times except on really hot days and long tows. The flame for the refrigerator is very small and its control requires a reset if it blows out and re-fails to ignite. The water heater and the furnace are much larger flames and I always make sure both are off. Propane requires a higher content in air (2.4 %) than gasoline (1.4%)to explode. In crash tests and reviews of accidents both the NTHSA and Transport Canada found propane powered vehicles less like to explode/burn primarily due to the robust nature of the containers, the automatic free flow control valve in the tanks and because propane requires an ignition temperature of 920F+ degrees compared to gasoline's 495+F degrees. All that said I agree that turning it off is an additional step that adds to the overall safety of your RV.
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Old 04-26-2010, 06:55 PM   #13
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When refueling a gas powered vehicle the tanks should be turned off and the appliance should also be turned off if it has a self ignitor. It only takes one tiny little spark.
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Old 04-27-2010, 07:04 AM   #14
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Remember, if the tanks are turned on and you break the hose or line, the safety valve in the tank is there to shut the tank off. Try it. Take your hose off the tank and open the valve. Little or no gas should escape. The tanks are designed to where they need to experience some resistance to the flow of gas or they shut down.
Mind you that is the intended result, anything can fail.
Fridge on, water heater and furnace off for us. should always shut everything off at a GAS station.
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Old 04-30-2010, 07:58 AM   #15
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Oh my, the old infamous story about can I travel with my fridge with the propane on.
First of all why would you? If you leave your fridge shut, the contents will stay chilled for
8 to 10 hours unless you are in 100+ temps. Then maybe your Ben and Jerry's ice cream in the freezer may go soft. We had a case in our home town where an owner of a VW camperized fan was fueling up his rig, and they fumes found the pilot light/flame on the
fridge. fortunately it blew the fuel nozzle out of his hand, and in doing so it shut off. The flash was instantenous, and it also blew itself out at the same time. His wife is now living with a man who doesn't look quite as cute as he previously did.
If you ever have an accident and you and your rig blow up, your insurance will not cover
your "incident". Then of course God will be saying why are you here now, this isn't your time.
I really hope you and I are never in the same fuel stop fueling up while your fridge is on. A trick my wife does is she has a couple of those little blue freezer bags, and if we have a long day she will stick them down in the fridge part and it will help to keep the temperature down.
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Old 04-30-2010, 08:09 AM   #16
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Couldn't have said it better myself
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Old 04-30-2010, 12:34 PM   #17
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Just yesterday I watched the Mythbusters television show where one of their experiments concerned a propane tank. They took a 20 lb. tank and put it in a fire. Then they waited for it to blow up or do whatever it was going to do.

The first tank with the safety control valve in working order simply opened the valve when the pressure hit a certain level. Since the tank was still sitting in a fire when the valve opened the propane that came out was instantly ignited. But the tank would not blow up. The safety valve worked just as it should and relieved the pressure before it could blow up.

Of course they then disabled the valve and again exposed the tank to the fire. The tank then blew apart when the pressure got high enough.

So even if our RV propane tanks are exposed to a direct fire the safety valve should prevent any tank from blowing up. I don't want to ever find out but do feel much safer knowing that the tanks should not explode even if sitting in the middle of a fire!

Travel safely.
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Old 04-30-2010, 02:03 PM   #18
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http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing...d/trailer5.pdf
Above is a quote from the BC Drivers license manual.
We do travel with it on sometimes, why? I dunno never had a problem yet!
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Old 04-30-2010, 02:35 PM   #19
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This is one of those topics that has been beaten to death. Many will say turn it off and they will give their reasons. Then there are others that will say that they leave theirs on while traveling. I for one leave mine on while traveling. Now the question, has anyone ever seen or read of a problem in any service station where there was a fire or an explosion, or even a close call. I for one have not, but would love to here from those that have and then maybe I will change my mind.
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Old 04-30-2010, 04:39 PM   #20
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How's this?
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20...CLES/100329598
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