Traveling with refrigerator on gas???

My 2010 dual source frig. uses electricity and propane. When the electricity goes off it switches to propane. It has an electric igniter. If the pilot does not light, it shuts the gas off.

We have a 2016 aspen trail and I'm Sorry I'm not sure what the big deal is.. We plug in the electric power and We put about 10 water bottles in the freezer about 24 hours before we leave.. They freeze overnight and we leave 6 in the freezer and put 4 in the fridge..
It normally takes 2 days for the ones in the fridge to thaw out. keeping the food in the freezer frozen and the stuff in the fridge cold.
Why burn the propane unnecessarily. I also feel safer when the propane bottles are turned off while driving down the road. I saw an RV fire on the side of the road about 6 years ago, with the TT completely engulfed in flames.. That's just my 2 cents..

In BC and Washington state, you must turn off propane tanks and must be tagged with the tags issued to you at the booths. The problem with that is remembering to turn them on at the other end. :( On BC ferries, you can only have max. two 25 KG tanks and one 15 KG portable tank.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
I'm going to throw this out there as I'm the owner of an older RV that doesn't have electronic ignition, auto shut-off, etc.

I don't like running my fridge on propane while driving because the pilot light could easily be extinguished from the road movement and winds. If that happens, I risk the chance of propane gas getting into the RV. Which could become enough to possibly ignite or more likely will be deadly to the parrot and possibly dogs riding with me.

That's why I say do what you're comfortable with and if you run across a prohibition (tunnel, ferry, etc.), turn it off.

Pilot flame heats thermocouple which generates milivolt signal which is used to hold magnet open in gas controller.
W/O pilot flame...no signal...magnet drops closed shutting down propane flow thru gas controller.

Once again....RV propane systems have built in safety features----more then the fuel system of vehicle

But once again it does come down to 'comfort level' that should be based on real information and not on myths/stories/hear say or misinformation

Thanks. That eases my mind. With a '75 rig, I am hesitant to assume safety standards apply to it - i'd rather play it safe than sorry. I am due for a propane system check - it's been just over 3 years. Fuel lines were completely replaced at that time also. I just don't take chances.

I don't normally drive long enough for the fridge to warm up, but if I do, I won't worry as much about the critters if I run the propane.

TexasChaps wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
Slow week? Time for a sky is falling thread?
my BS detector is a little raw today I guess.

better to start an ST vs LT tire thread.. much more interesting..

x2 :B

toedtoes wrote:
I'm going to throw this out there as I'm the owner of an older RV that doesn't have electronic ignition, auto shut-off, etc.

I don't like running my fridge on propane while driving because the pilot light could easily be extinguished from the road movement and winds. If that happens, I risk the chance of propane gas getting into the RV. Which could become enough to possibly ignite or more likely will be deadly to the parrot and possibly dogs riding with me.

That's why I say do what you're comfortable with and if you run across a prohibition (tunnel, ferry, etc.), turn it off.

Pilot flame heats thermocouple which generates milivolt signal which is used to hold magnet open in gas controller.
W/O pilot flame...no signal...magnet drops closed shutting down propane flow thru gas controller.

Once again....RV propane systems have built in safety features----more then the fuel system of vehicle

But once again it does come down to 'comfort level' that should be based on real information and not on myths/stories/hear say or misinformation

GordonThree wrote:
Slow week? Time for a sky is falling thread?
my BS detector is a little raw today I guess.

better to start an ST vs LT tire thread.. much more interesting..

I'm going to throw this out there as I'm the owner of an older RV that doesn't have electronic ignition, auto shut-off, etc.

I don't like running my fridge on propane while driving because the pilot light could easily be extinguished from the road movement and winds. If that happens, I risk the chance of propane gas getting into the RV. Which could become enough to possibly ignite or more likely will be deadly to the parrot and possibly dogs riding with me.

That's why I say do what you're comfortable with and if you run across a prohibition (tunnel, ferry, etc.), turn it off.

old guy wrote:
rv experts like rv education 101 people or the rv DR advise against it. As a firefighter for many years I have fought many fires on the freeways and at gas station because of people who use the frig with gas on. You do what you want to but I hope we aren't next to each other at the gas station.

Retired FF myself, and yes I have too.

The worse was a minor rear end accident that somehow caused a gas line to break and ignite. Motorhome engulfed in flame by the time we arrived. No one hurt, but the fire ignited the trees on the steep hillside next to the road and 50 acres burned before controlled.

So it was an unusual sequence of events. Improbable could ever happen again. The recommended safe practices are not made for the normal situation. They are written to prevent an unusual malfunction turning into a bigger problem.

The owner manuals say to turn it off while traveling (at least mine does). Not because traveling with it on is inherently unsafe but because leaking propane could cause a minor accident to turn into a major disaster.

It is a lot like always wearing a seatbelt. Seatbelts do not prevent vehicle accidents. You are equally likely to be involved in an accident whether you are wearing a seatbelt or not. Wearing one reduces the chance you will be killed in case an accident occurs. Since my crystal ball does not tell me if I will have an accident today, I wear one every time I am in a vehicle. Same for crossing safety chains on a hitch (is towing inherently unsafe? Do you plan on your hitch becoming unfastened) or carrying a first aid kit (Do you intend to cut yourself today?). Safe practices prevent an unexpected problem from getting worse.

Having said all that, I drive with one tank open and one tank closed most of the time. Sometimes both off if I feel the risk is greater than the benefit. I am cognizant of the risks and have a procedure established that enables me or DW to immediately shut the tanks down if needed.

D.E.Bishop wrote:
I'd like to know where delwhjr got the information that there are tunnels that prohibit tanks over 10 lbs. First of all TANKS are far safer than cylinders and second how many Motor Homes utilize tanks that small. 10 lbs. of propane is 2.39 gallons IIRC, that's a pretty small TANK. What about all those cylinders that are more than 2.39 gallons are they restricted too. Seems for all his research he forgot almost all RV's that have kitchens would be prohibited.

Directly from the Maryland COMAR concerning the Fort McHenry or Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.
It does say you can have a maximum of 10 containers but each one has to be 10 lbs or less.
Link