I don't know what the lesson is here, or if there even is one, but I'm pretty shaken up.My brother and I were set to head for Hershey today. His trailer was all loaded up. He switched his fridge from electric to gas, waited for the green light to say it was lit, and went into the house. 15 minutes later the trailer exploded.The FD is convinced it was a propane explosion rather than an ammonia leak, but my brother said when he ran out there the fridge was fully involved. He got the propane tanks off of it and his car unhooked before it went up completely.I don't know if a propane detector would have helped, I don't know if someone were in it or around it if they would have smelled gas. I just don't know. I'm just glad no one got hurt. He lost everything, and because of its age he didn't have insurance on it.I hope he still comes out. I'm committed so I have to go, but all the fun has been sucked out of it now.

Wow, it's amazing how little is left. Glad no one was hurt.

Sounds like the fridge was plugged and when it got hot it blew Glad all are safe and no injuries

Wow!Being an RVer, I sure hate to see something like that.Glad no one was hurt.Ammonia is not highly flammable, but containers of ammonia may explode when exposed to high heat.My very uneducated bet is that Propane is at the root of this one.

newman fulltimer wrote:Sounds like the fridge was plugged and when it got hot it blew Glad all are safe and no injuriesYou might be onto something there. The Fire Marshall said not to touch anything until the arson investigator gets there, but he pointed to where the top of the big tube that runs up the back of the fridge ruptured. Overheated. He said it could have been because of the fire or the CAUSE of the fire.

turbojimmy wrote:.. because of its age he didn't have insurance on it.I had a vintage Prowler trailer, and the refer had a small boxy thing on it where the propane connected. Was sitting in the kitchen looking outside, and suddenly I saw smoke and flames coming from the back of the fridge. Luckily I saw it soon enough to put it out. The box has a cover plate on it that started leaking gas. I resealed that and good again.Might have the FD look for that.

Fridge Explosion | Good Sam Community

Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Jun 17, 2015
That would make sense with the 400 series recall- which was for a safety valve which would not shut off- really not a fault of Norcold, as the maker was a French company. It would take a couple of coincidences to do that, but it could leak a bunch of LP gas and the the reignitor would provide a spark (the reignitor should be continuously making sure the flame was lit, but a bit of carbon could defeat that).
Unfortunately, I doubt that any kind of serial numbers could be found, to determine if it had the recall done.
Of course, it could also be a simply matter of a leaking tube- a lot of soft aluminum tubing is used in these appliances, and it has a tendency to corrode, especially when in contact with steel.
turbojimmy
Explorer
Jun 17, 2015
We didn't get a copy of the full report yet, but the local newspaper quoted the Fire Marshall as saying his investigation concluded that the fire was caused by a malfunction in the propane system in the area of the fridge.
turbojimmy
Explorer
Jun 16, 2015
Chris Bryant wrote:
Not sure what to tell you- no Dometic has a green light on it that I can recall, and that is definitely a Norcold cooling unit. The Servel by Dometic units were clones of the Norcold 600 series, with top mounted controls- slide switches for LP - Off - Electric.
The Norcold *I* think it was has knobs at the bottom, one for electric - off - LP, the other a thermostat, with a rocker switch next to a green indicator light- the rocker was for the reignitor, the green light indicated the flame was lit.

That sounds like the one. It was black.I could be wrong, but I would have sworn it was a Dometic. I remember when he first got the trailer I found that fridge on Craigslist. It was identical to the old, broken one. I have a Norcold and I recall him having a different brand.

Are the Norcolds more susceptible to fire or is that perception as the result of the recall?
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2015
Now that's what I call a holy moly!
Cloud_Dancer
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2015
Chris,
Thanks for the clarification/explanation.

Would the ARP RV refrigerator failure prevention device have prevented this explosion (assuming it was caused by a cooling unit over-temp/over-pressure)?
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2015
turbojimmy wrote:
It was definitely a Dometic. I installed it a couple of years ago. Not questioning your cooling unit expertise, but it said Dometic on the front of it. I was aware of the Norcold recall but didn't know that the Dometic could possibly have a Norcold cooling unit in it.

Not sure what to tell you- no Dometic has a green light on it that I can recall, and that is definitely a Norcold cooling unit. The Servel by Dometic units were clones of the Norcold 600 series, with top mounted controls- slide switches for LP - Off - Electric.
The Norcold *I* think it was has knobs at the bottom, one for electric - off - LP, the other a thermostat, with a rocker switch next to a green indicator light- the rocker was for the reignitor, the green light indicated the flame was lit.
turbojimmy
Explorer
Jun 16, 2015
It's just a bad pic. It is ruptured but the Fire Marshall told me not to disturb it so I didn't flip it over to reveal the rupture for the pic.
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2015
That bulge is in the sealed ammonia system- the chimney ends right at the sheet metal. I honestly have no explanation for the bulge- I see no actual rupture there. The only explanation would be it was a rebuilt cooling unit, and that area was cut and brazed closed in order to clean the percolator tube- and that reasoning is only because of the relatively lower melting point of brazing rods.
That's just speculation, though.
turbojimmy
Explorer
Jun 16, 2015
It was definitely a Dometic. I installed it a couple of years ago. Not questioning your cooling unit expertise, but it said Dometic on the front of it. I was aware of the Norcold recall but didn't know that the Dometic could possibly have a Norcold cooling unit in it.
Cloud_Dancer
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2015
I had guessed that the tube with the bulge is the chimney, which is open at the top. I assumed that the photo shows the top end of the cooling unit. Therefore, I imagined that the bulge might've been caused by an explosion inside the chimney tube. And, if that's what caused it, would this mean there was propane flowing through the chimney tube?
Or is this tube a pressurized ammonia tube? Where is the chimney to the burner?

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