Traveling With the Propane On

mich800 wrote:

40 degrees is considered the cut off where bacteria will grow more rapidly.

Uh, by whom and to what relative degree. No pun intended.

noplace2 wrote:
14 years of fulltime traveling. The propane is always off while we're enroute. Just makes sense. We've done checks over 6 hours (a record day for us) with the ambient temps in the mid 80's and have seen the refrig temp rise from 38F to a whopping 41F. Yowzzaa! Keep the thing closed. You'll be fine. OR, run the reefer on propane and believe what you will anyway.

Happy travels.

40 degrees is considered the cut off where bacteria will grow more rapidly. So as long as you know it was not above 40 for too long you should be fine.

shakyjay wrote:
Can't say for sure sure but doubt the numbers are actually 50/50. Would guess that more run with it on than off. You can count me in with those who leave it on. I have watched plenty of folks leaving campsites and rarely if ever do I notice any turning off the propane. I also don't hear much on the news about RV's catching fire and blowing up while running down the road. Not saying it never has happened but if it does it is probably pretty rare.

That's my take on this also and seaeagle2's post just above yours makes some additional salient comments. I worry more about that 5ton "BOX" tailgating me only 3' behind me that wants to run over me all the time while I'm towing.

Larry

Can't say for sure sure but doubt the numbers are actually 50/50. Would guess that more run with it on than off. You can count me in with those who leave it on. I have watched plenty of folks leaving campsites and rarely if ever do I notice any turning off the propane. I also don't hear much on the news about RV's catching fire and blowing up while running down the road. Not saying it never has happened but if it does it is probably pretty rare.

In America the country where a 5 gallon bucket has a warning label that a kid could drown in it and plastic bags have a warning that they aren't a toy there is nothing that I could find either in my fridge or trailer manual that mentions not to use the fridge on propane while traveling. I'm nust saying.....

14 years of fulltime traveling. The propane is always off while we're enroute. Just makes sense. We've done checks over 6 hours (a record day for us) with the ambient temps in the mid 80's and have seen the refrig temp rise from 38F to a whopping 41F. Yowzzaa! Keep the thing closed. You'll be fine. OR, run the reefer on propane and believe what you will anyway.

Happy travels.

in an accident, if something ruptures the tank, it's all over. Valve on or off.

ScottG wrote:

kaydeejay wrote:

myredracer wrote:
You won't find anyone with more applicable training and experience, including with RVs, than Mac the Fire Guy. .................
What he says makes perfect sense to me.

Except he apparently does not comprehend the concept of shut-off valves that act in response to a sudden high flow situation (such as a ruptured line).
To my mind that is no different than having the tanks shut off while travelling.

I don't see his "qualifications" as valid at all when it comes to telling people how to use their RV's. He clearly knows nothing about RV PP systems or how a propane tank shuts itself off when it detects a massive leak. This fact alone disqualifies him as any kind of expert on the subject.

"Massive leak" is the operative phrase. There is no guaranty that any leak is going to be massive.

Unless you want the inside of your fridge the same as it is outside, you have the propane on.

Would it really be 50/50? My guess is more like 80/20. With no "warning" in the RV manuals and without the enlightenment offered by the Internet or possibly local news, it seems most people who buy RV's wouldn't think that running the refrigerator while underway would be a potentially dangerous practice.
We sure didn't and after running it without issue even on rough roads for some time, it would be difficult to convince us that we should no longer do it. So even with the benefit of these warnings and scenarios of doom, we probably will still keep running the fridge on propane while driving (even while getting gas which I have also read is a no-no.)
So I kind of doubt that a high number of RV'ers really believe this is dangerous enough to change their behavior. Look at smokers--they know their behavior is dangerous but convincing a smoker to stop because of their health often takes more than the message itself.
Human nature being what it is, some people are more cautious than others. Even we are cautious about some things and not at all cautious in other situations. We are illogical beings as Spock says. :-)