I always travel with the "gas" on for the fridge. I keep it on electric until just before pulling out to save on consumption. As with most travel trailers, the rig is far enough behind the tow vehicle at fuel stops that it would be nearly impossible for the pilot light to ignite gasoline fumes. Good idea to check the fridge from time to time on a long trip. Sometimes mine kicks off during transit and requires resetting. Would be foolish to run your propane and still spoil your food. (or warm your beer)
QUOTE(John Blue @ Aug 23 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]8133[/snapback] Disaster telling will be around forever, like RV person making coffee on the I-5 in LA. Ok, I'll bite... As someone who travels the I-5 regularly, I've got to hear that one...
I turn it off and put the food in a "5 day" cooler. Also, if you are travelling on a ferry, you MUST shut the propane tank off. At least, that's the rule on the Washington State Ferry system. JJ
QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Sep 10 2007, 02:34 PM) [snapback]8284[/snapback] QUOTE(John Blue @ Aug 23 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]8133[/snapback] Disaster telling will be around forever, like RV person making coffee on the I-5 in LA. Ok, I'll bite... As someone who travels the I-5 regularly, I've got to hear that one... I'm still dyin' to hear that story Blue...
QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Aug 22 2007, 07:00 PM) [snapback]8103[/snapback] Ok, common sense and most people (myself included) say not to run down the road with your propane on. Others are from the camp of "Awww shoot. You ain't gonna' hurt nuthin'". I always err on the side of caution, but it'd be nice to run the fridge during an 8 hour drive across the desert. So which is it?
QUOTE(dmsscs @ Aug 23 2007, 09:07 PM) [snapback]8132[/snapback] We always travel with the gas on the fridge, we were told that as long as the fridge was level for 24 hours before we turned it on, we could travel with the gas on, no problem. We have been doing it in our last two motor homes. I haven't heard any horror stories, yet. We sit around a lot of campfires, I'd think some one would have mentioned it by now!
QUOTE(dmsscs @ Aug 23 2007, 09:07 PM) [snapback]8132[/snapback] We always travel with the gas on the fridge, we were told that as long as the fridge was level for 24 hours before we turned it on, we could travel with the gas on, no problem. We have been doing it in our last two motor homes. I haven't heard any horror stories, yet. We sit around a lot of campfires, I'd think some one would have mentioned it by now!
We always run our propane on went we drive. We turn off our hot water tank. We do not drive with our furnace on, we have a heater and air condition on the dashboard that we turn on. We travel in the off season. I would be afraid to turn off my Refrigerator and fridger. I spent alot of money on food to throw it away ever day. The conversations we have with the dealers went we buy a new RV is the refrigerator run on propane went we drive. I'm alway run back to check if the refrigerator is on or not. My vote is to drive with propane on.
QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Oct 15 2007, 06:42 PM) [snapback]8691[/snapback] QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Sep 10 2007, 02:34 PM) [snapback]8284[/snapback] QUOTE(John Blue @ Aug 23 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]8133[/snapback] Disaster telling will be around forever, like RV person making coffee on the I-5 in LA. Ok, I'll bite... As someone who travels the I-5 regularly, I've got to hear that one... I'm still dyin' to hear that story Blue... Well... the one I heard was the guy who put the motorhome on cruise control and went back to make himself a sandwich.... (or was it make a pot of coffee?) :lol:
Sorry to bring this up again, but I just read an article by Joe and Vicki Kieva who have written several books and who are considered to be very knowledgeable about RVing. They address the question of whether or not it is safe to travel with the refrigerator operating on propane. The article started by saying that generally you are permitted to drive with the propane on, but there are certain areas and times that require the propane to be turned off such as tunnels, some bridges, ferries, fuel stations, etc. They say that today’s refrigerators are built to be operated while moving and that they may even work more efficiently that way. Then they address safety. They cite instances that could be a hazard such as collisions, road vibrations causing a propane line to rupture, open flames igniting fumes at a gas station, but they also state that incidences of propane fires are relatively rare because of the safety devices installed on today’s RVs. They conclude by saying that it is likely that many RVers do travel with their propane turned on. Can this be done? Yes. Should it be done? That is a judgment call. This seems to be pretty much the same things we said in our previous posts, but I thought I’d pass it along anyway.
The fridge in my TT only runs on propane or 110 - will not run on 12 volt. Since it takes at least 12 hours for this fridge to cool down initially, I start the propane 2 nights before a trip. I will turn it off if I go to a gas station or if the CG has 110 - otherwise, it's on the whole trip. I also turn on the propane fridge for a week before Thanksgiving and Christmas, and let the turkey thaw in it - don't have enough room in the house fridge with three kids.
Like other folks who have replied, we always used to travel (Class C's) with our propane on to keep the grub and beer cold. With the purchase of our first Class A, we too were warned not to travel with the LP on, use the generator. I was amazed how little fuel that generator used in a day's trip...so now that's our routine.
I have driven well over 165,000 miles in my foretravels and Bornfree and have always had the fridge on automatic. It will run on gas when required or propane. Theyare desigened to do that and that is what I use them for. I will cross the country and not stop many times or for more than a7 or 8 hours at a time and in 4 days you will spoil your food. Now what is the difference if you run propane forr your fridge or sit in a campground and run the propane. I bet you wil leave the unit in the campground and while you are driving you can hear a propane detector go off that you will miss in the campground when you turn on the propane and leave for the day..... Oh well..
QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Aug 22 2007, 07:00 PM) [snapback]8103[/snapback] Ok, common sense and most people (myself included) say not to run down the road with your propane on. Others are from the camp of "Awww shoot. You ain't gonna' hurt nuthin'". I always err on the side of caution, but it'd be nice to run the fridge during an 8 hour drive across the desert. So which is it? This is a DUMB QUESTION with an OBVIOUS ANSWER!!! DUH!! I own a mobil Steam cleaning fleet so I have a thorough background and understanding of the propane systems, components, etc, thus, I feel qualified to make an opinion here. *Propane delivery trucks run on propane *Schwann's Ice cream trucks and all their refrigeration systems run off propane *In the 19-80's, Propane powered vehicles was very popular. *Some Motorhomes today run off flex fuel, gas and LP. Obviously, if it was dangerous, the last person earth doing this would be the delivery trucks owned by the LP disatributor, Thus, we can safely conclude it equally safe to have your LP Gas on as it is to have your gasoline tanks turned on. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has specific recomendations and guildlines regarding this subject and ALL RV LP tanks MUST HAVE A DOT CERTIFICATION to be sold. Now, to understand the mechanics of LP in mobil applications, lets look at how the system works. First of all we have the tank itself. Inside the tank is a safety device known as Overflow Protection Device (OPD) for short. This prevents overfilling which could over-pressurize the system. Second, the on/off valve itself has an "Excessive Release" shutoff device. This device will sense when excessive release occurs (such as in a colision or car broadside accident) and will internally plug up the gas valve internally thus shutting down the tank. These 2 devices occur regardless if you are drawing vapor or liquid gas(Liquid LP is used as motor fuel while vapor is used for your furnace, refrige, stove, etc). The next systems we have is the actual lines or hoses coming from the tank as well as the propane tank pressure regulator. A mobil tank is required to have a 2-stage pressure regulator where as a stationary tank (like a gas grill, etc) is not. If you look at a gas grill, you will see that the regulator(the round thing just off the tank) has only one bump whereas the regulator coming off your mobil RV tank has 2 bumps. This is a 2-stage regulator and what it does differently is this; when a mobil tank is being sloshed around as you drive down the highway, occasionally, liquid LP gets splashed into the propane lines designated for vapor. In a 2 stage regulator, the first stage regulates the liquid into a vapor while the 2nd stage regulates the high vapor pressure down to the correct pressure of 11inches of water column. If you have a trailer, you may not have a 2 stage regulator if not required because trailers have upright propane bottles where as motorhomes have horizontal Belly tanks. If you are worried about liquid getting into your system, switch to a 2-stage regulator So, if a propane delivery company leaves his tank on, it's because of safety modifications that have been made. If your tank receives a direct hit in an accident, the tank is designed to self seal itself etc and prevent gas leaks and explosions. The 2 stage regulators prevent the other problem of liquid LP getting into the lines which can seriously damage yor propane appliances. Several other interesting and helpful articles may be found under this writers username. [attachmentid=93]
QUOTE(gwbischoff @ Aug 22 2007, 07:00 PM) [snapback]8103[/snapback] Ok, common sense and most people (myself included) say not to run down the road with your propane on. Others are from the camp of "Awww shoot. You ain't gonna' hurt nuthin'". I always err on the side of caution, but it'd be nice to run the fridge during an 8 hour drive across the desert. So which is it? ***************EXPLODING PROPANE REFRIGERATORS************* Shut your tank off when filling to prevent over pressurizing the appliances on hte other end of the lines. Next, the issue of exploding refrigerators was not a from propane gas, but from a refrigerant leak caused by a hairline crack in a weld on the refrigeration tubes. Norcold and Dometic had a recall from a problem that went as follows. The 120 Volt AC element was originally 325 watts. They decided to make the element bigger, 350 watts. Either this excessive heat or a defect in the welding of the coolant bowl caused a hairline crack in a percentage of these 350 watt units. The flammable refrigeration gas inside the coils could then leak out of the crack and the refrigerator would then stop working. If there was an ignition source (pilot) and the refrigeration leak was large and fast, the refrigeration gas could ignite. Those two values could virtually only happen when you abruptly went from the AC Electric mode to the propane mode as if when you pull out of the campgrounds and unplug the shoreline cord and your refrigerator was in the automatic mode. You still would need to have the incorrect (recalled) 350 watt element. What's somewhat reassuring to know is a simple law of physics that goes like this; Heat cracks generally occure from excessive and uneven heating of a brittle surface. Glass is a great example of this because we all have seen the glass blower heat glass to melting without breaking. He can only acomplish this by heating the glass evenly. Therefore, we could conclude the following: If the refrigerant controls in the back side (the hot side) were very cold (like in fall or winter) and the electric element in question were turned on, the likelihood of a crack would be greater than any other time in using the refrigerator. You still would have to then suddenly switch to the propane mode at the near-exact time the crack occured and the crack would have to be great enough to expell enough refrigerant gas to ignite. If it was windy outside or you were drivinf down the highway, the air circulation should disrupt the ignition through ventilation. The only way I possibly could see this coincidence occuring is this: Suppose you were pulling your Motorhome (Trailers don't count in this scenario) out of storage and you wanted to run your roof by running your generator. The refrigerator is in the automatic mode and defaults to run on the AC mode. Then, the poor individuals who happen to have the defective refrigerators missed all the recall buletins sent out by the US Hiway Department, happens to either switch the refrigerator to gas (LP) mode or turn off the generator at the exact time a huge crack occurs, BOOM! [attachmentid=94] Pretty unlikely. I think I would do better worrying about black cats walking in front of me(or my motorhome) or walking under ladders or breaking a mirror somehow! Norcold only had 360 units in question, Not sure about dometic. Google it for further info. Other helpful and informative articles can be found under this writers name.
QUOTE(HappiestCamper @ Mar 21 2008, 06:58 PM) [snapback]10844[/snapback] Leaving early in the morning, and my fridge won't stay lit - so this trip it will be off. B) Ah come on...live dangerously!
I am currently on my 5th motorhome and have always travelled with my refrigerator on with no problems as to safety. However, I had an experience with the last MH I owned that caused some cosmetic damage to the outside of the rig. While travelling in some very high winds, the flame from the propane burner, scorched the fiberglass gel coat in about an 8 inch radius around the vent cover of the outside refrigerator acces door. Try as I might, I was never able to completely remove all of this discoloration. I am only guessing as to the exact cuase of this, but I could only come up with the high wind as the only variable from the thousands of other trips we have taken without experiencing this problem. I haven't learned my lesson though as I still travel with my regerator on LP in the summertime because it cools better, especially in the 100 degree plus heat of the western deserts.
QUOTE(ddbradley952 @ Nov 12 2007, 07:02 PM) [snapback]9105[/snapback] This is a DUMB QUESTION with an OBVIOUS ANSWER!!! DUH!! [attachmentid=93] Sorry. We all don't have Mechanical Engineering Degrees. I just bought the thing, I didn't design it. I was specifically told by two different people (TT and RV dealers, mind you) on two different occasions that I shouldn't travel down the road with the LP on (and judging from the responses in this forum, I'm not the only one). After talking with others and finding that some people leave it on, I asked a seemingly simple question. Yes, I know there are vehicles that run on LP. But even I know the difference between an internal combustion engine and something that runs on the principal of an open flame.
My RV dealer told me that it didn't matter. If someone should happen to plow into your RV on the side with the propane tank, it will cause just as much damage if it's on or off. However, I also am cautious and make sure it's off. If you ride a WA State Ferry, you MUST turn it off. JJ
