Saw this today (fire)

You REALLY missed the point. Residentials can be a fire hazard also, as the Microwaves, which are residentials in motorhomes. Doug

Yes, really. Nothing in the CR article changes that either. (They're giving advice on what consumers can do today, after explaining the issue in some detail.) My take on the detail they provide, and looking forward to the future: Companies are falsifying product safety information, and trying to hide court cases, etc... The former could be addressed with more funding for consumer product safety inspections as well as inspection of imported goods in order to make sure they're really made according to the stated designs and US requirements. The latter could be addressed through legislation making product safety court case information public.

atreis wrote:
One of the first modifications I made to my new trailer was to replace the fridge with a 12V compressor fridge. Costly, but VERY efficient and no worries about this sort of fire. (Ideally, I'd use it in the next trailer too.)

Tom/Barb wrote:
More government and higher costs.

I'd go for this option.

Really? Read this link. Doug

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/03/appliance-fires-is-your-home-safe/index.htm

One of the first modifications I made to my new trailer was to replace the fridge with a 12V compressor fridge. Costly, but VERY efficient and no worries about this sort of fire. (Ideally, I'd use it in the next trailer too.)

Tom/Barb wrote:
More government and higher costs.

I'd go for this option.

There may have been fridge fire posts.. but they're far outnumbered by the 'driving with propane on' threads. I think if we had a blizzard of fridge fire posts I'd consider getting rid of mine.

I leave mine on unattended a lot -like when asleep.

Yes, I have seen that type fire, BUT NOBODY on this forum knows what caused it. It may have been a failed cooling unit. But, the odds are it may have been an LP leak at the refer. It could have been a insect/animal nest at the burner area that caught fire. If the burner flue is not clean, the flame can billow out at the burner area and catch something on fire. Doug

RJsfishin wrote:
I been here for a while,.....first I ever read of a fridge fire.

There have been several posts including mine. There also used to be several sticky notes at the top of the tech forum regarding refer recalls and it contained forum members reports of refer fires.

I rarely run mine on gas while unattended.

Replaced our Nocold cooling unit with one of the Dutch Aire (Amish built)cooling units last year. The old one was still working but the coils were rusting pretty badly and I knew it would leak sooner than later. Best thing we have ever done. The refer works fantastic and the freezer is consistently below -2 to -5.
I also had the Helium filled unit used. I figured might as well get rid of the Hydrogen charge gas at the same time.

Our 2004 Dometic had the recall modification performed; it consisted of a metal shield and a thermo link that opens when it detects flame and shuts the refrigerator down. In March of this year my wife noticed the unit dripping water, and the red panel lights were off and wouldn’t reset. I removed the outside panel and saw evidence of soot, yellow staining and burned wire insulation around the Thermo Fuse. Fortunately, the recall modification worked in our case. FYI, the repair cost for a rebuilt unit plus labor was $852.