Turn fridge LP off at gas pump - another warning!

[kginder]

I see there are more threads about traveling with the fridge on LP. I do. My class c fridge is always on except, ahhh 98 percent of the time, when fueling.

This actually happened to me this past weekend in MD at a gas station. I was filling up the thirsty giant and watching the dollars tick away when a Harley pulled into the pump, the same pump as mine on the opposite side. He proceeded to fill up. I suddenly heard one of the loudest f bombs I've ever heard in my life. The gas pump did not auto-shutoff when the Harley was full. Gas shot out of the tank with an explosive force sending gas into the air, all over the Harley, the rider, the gas pump, the ground etc. It had covered an area of about 10~15 feet around. This guy was upset! I was still fueling but stopped the flow and went over to help. After I asked him if he had a match (kinda got smile out of him) he got some paper towels and proceeded to clean up. I finished fueling grabbed my multi-hundred dollar receipt and got into the RV.

I HAD LEFT THE FRIDGE ON AND COULD HERE IT BURNING!

If the Harley had pulled into the pump across from me instead of the opposite side, y'all would be reading about our dental records on the news.

I'm going to have a reminder plaque made up to put on my dash "Turn the @#$*&^%$ fridge off before fueling you idiot!"

[DavidP]

lanerd wrote:

DavidP wrote:

2oldman wrote:

DavidP wrote:
As a MC rider I'm a little amazed a fellow rider would not tend to the nozzle and rely on the auto shut off to stop the pump. Moronic.

Really. How much gas can they possibly hold?

Well, my bike holds about 5.25 gallons. Not sure why you’re inquiring or what that has to do with the discussion. It’s just one of those things if you ride a bike you manually tend the pump and not rely on the auto shut off to stop the pump. In the event the shut off fails it’s not just running all over the ground it is running all over a potential ignition source…..a very hot engine and pipes.

I think what oldman was referring to was that a mc doesn't hold much fuel (as you pointed out) so it only takes a minute or to fill it. Therefore no need to put the nozzle on auto! Noticed he didn't put a question mark after the "really" so he wasn't questioning your reply, only agreeing to it.

For the record, when we had our TT I always left the fridge on propane, mainly due to the fact that when I pulled up to the gas pumps, the trailer was normally 25' or more away from the pumps. Now that we have a dp, I just run the fridge on the inverter.

Ron

Got it. Makes sense.

[wildwest450]

nickthehunter wrote:
Will you all wait a minute - I broke my stick, I got to go find a new one. I want to get in on this beating a dead horse.

You can borrow mine...

[Francesca_Knowl]

msmith1199 wrote:
From the article about the Class B fire posted above:

"Houma Fire Inspector Mike Millet said he was able to recreate how Binder explained the gas spill, and said it was possible. But Millet noted that’s a first for the department and he’s unsure if that’s how the fire started.“It is possible what he said happened,” he said. “It was a freak accident. Nobody in the Fire Department has seen that happen before.”

Tom Freeman, the gas station’s owner, said he doubts Binder’s account. The pumps are regularly serviced and customers have never reported a problem with the one Binder used."

I don't know make/model year of the Roadtrek in the story, but there have been a number of owner reports/complaints regarding difficulty of filling some Roadtrek gas tanks. There seems to be some kind of airlock that happens, causing nozzles to shut off, even to the point of making it almost impossible to fill the rig.
Here's one example.

I once had a similar problem with a diesel truck- I had to sorta hang the nozzle on the edge of the filltube and "feed" fuel at a certain rate or couldn't fill the truck at all. I got so could "set" the lever just right to keep fuel flowing. BUT...I found out the hard way that all those contortions would prevent the nozzle auto-shutoff from working. In my case I just had diesel spewing all over the ground while the nozzle stayed on the truck.

If the Roadtrek owner was doing something like that and the air lock occurred, I could see gas overflowing and fumes at least getting to the fridge flame. I'm skeptical that the nozzle fell out- though if it was barely in the port to begin with I guess it's possible.

All of that aside, it's worth noting that the Fire Chief only questioned the "faulty nozzle" part of the story. There doesn't seem to be any question that the ignition source was the fridge flame, which is really the point of this thread.

[msmith1199]

From the article about the Class B fire posted above:

"Houma Fire Inspector Mike Millet said he was able to recreate how Binder explained the gas spill, and said it was possible. But Millet noted that’s a first for the department and he’s unsure if that’s how the fire started.“It is possible what he said happened,” he said. “It was a freak accident. Nobody in the Fire Department has seen that happen before.”

Tom Freeman, the gas station’s owner, said he doubts Binder’s account. The pumps are regularly serviced and customers have never reported a problem with the one Binder used."

[BCSnob]

[nickthehunter]

Will you all wait a minute - I broke my stick, I got to go find a new one. I want to get in on this beating a dead horse.

[Roundtwo-40]

Got a minute left on the popcorn. 🙂

[BCSnob]

rockhillmanor wrote:

BCSnob wrote:
The recommendation to shut of the fridge at a fuel station is not to prevent a propane fire/explosion (like the one in FL) it is to prevent a fuel fire ignited by the propane flame. Show us an example of a fuel station fire/explosion caused by an RV fridge.

It was to show what HUMAN ERROR can cause ANYWHERE where there is propane involved. Geesh get a life.

Do you know for a fact that the RV that just pulled in the gas station does not have a propane leak? NO.

Do you know for a fact that the owner of the RV has not fixed the fact that when his fridge ignites it doesn't allows light on the first try and sometimes does not? NO.

Both of which are VERY common problems on RV's and there are a lot of RV'ers who do not take perfect care of them.

I for one don't want to be parked next to that guy's RV when someone spills gas, lights a cigarette while walking in to get a beer, etc. etc. etc.

Ever try getting your propane filled without having to shut off your fridge? That's cause the guy that is licensed to fill your tank doesn't want to die..."IF" it happens. :W

Would an explosion happen every day probably not. I just don't want to be there when it does happen. Nor do I ever want to be the reason for it happening.

The examples of leaking propane you provide would not just be a problem at fuel stations but would be a problem everywhere (rest area, resturant, campground, etc.).

How does this relate to stopping to shut off the fridge prior to pulling up to a fuel pump?

[BCSnob]

Finally a relevant report as opposed to the propane fires already posted.

The moral of this story is to not spill fuel on the outside of an RV fridge and was a very unusual set of circumstances according to the fire officials (read the details of the article).

[rockhillmanor]

BCSnob wrote:
The recommendation to shut of the fridge at a fuel station is not to prevent a propane fire/explosion (like the one in FL) it is to prevent a fuel fire ignited by the propane flame. Show us an example of a fuel station fire/explosion caused by an RV fridge.

It was to show what HUMAN ERROR can cause ANYWHERE where there is propane involved. Geesh get a life.

Do you know for a fact that the RV that just pulled in the gas station does not have a propane leak? NO.

Do you know for a fact that the owner of the RV has not fixed the fact that when his fridge ignites it doesn't allows light on the first try and sometimes does not? NO.

Both of which are VERY common problems on RV's and there are a lot of RV'ers who do not take perfect care of them.

I for one don't want to be parked next to that guy's RV when someone spills gas, lights a cigarette while walking in to get a beer, etc. etc. etc.

Ever try getting your propane filled without having to shut off your fridge? That's cause the guy that is licensed to fill your tank doesn't want to die..."IF" it happens. :W

Would an explosion happen every day probably not. I just don't want to be there when it does happen. Nor do I ever want to be the reason for it happening.

[Francesca_Knowl]

BCSnob wrote:
Show us an example of a fuel station fire/explosion caused by an RV fridge.

Okay...no "explosion", though. Hopefully the propane tank just flared off 'til empty like it's supposed to when exposed to a fire.

RV owner wrote:
Binder, 73, said the blaze started as he prepared to fill up the Roadtrek recreational vehicle and the nozzle spewed gasoline, igniting when it came into contact with a pilot light on the RV.

The light is accessible through a vent on the RV and connected to a propane tank that powers a refrigerator, he said.

Link to original story

[Dog_Folks]

If you don't run the refrigerator when traveling, you won't have to worry about it.

[lanerd]

DavidP wrote:

2oldman wrote:

DavidP wrote:
As a MC rider I'm a little amazed a fellow rider would not tend to the nozzle and rely on the auto shut off to stop the pump. Moronic.

Really. How much gas can they possibly hold?

Well, my bike holds about 5.25 gallons. Not sure why you’re inquiring or what that has to do with the discussion. It’s just one of those things if you ride a bike you manually tend the pump and not rely on the auto shut off to stop the pump. In the event the shut off fails it’s not just running all over the ground it is running all over a potential ignition source…..a very hot engine and pipes.

I think what oldman was referring to was that a mc doesn't hold much fuel (as you pointed out) so it only takes a minute or to fill it. Therefore no need to put the nozzle on auto! Noticed he didn't put a question mark after the "really" so he wasn't questioning your reply, only agreeing to it.

For the record, when we had our TT I always left the fridge on propane, mainly due to the fact that when I pulled up to the gas pumps, the trailer was normally 25' or more away from the pumps. Now that we have a dp, I just run the fridge on the inverter.

Ron

[OH48Lt]

DavidP wrote:
As a MC rider I'm a little amazed a fellow rider would not tend to the nozzle and rely on the auto shut off to stop the pump. Moronic.

X2. Never use the auto shut-off when filling a MC. NEVER. Only an inexperienced rider would do that.

There are other, more common, ignition sources near gas pumps. Static electricity is one of the biggest, and that is rare with the vapor recovery systems at most gas stations. Start the pump, put your lazy, I can't stand for 3 minutes butt back in the vehicle and slide across that seat, get back out and touch the nozzle. Zzzt-boom. Very rare, but it happens.

Or the one I constantly watch when I refill the plastic gas cans for my lawn mower and yard equipment. I put them in the pickup bed, and when I get them out at the station, I pick them up -not slide them across the inner plastic tailgate cover -from the bed, place them on the ground, and then touch the metal grounded gas pump before opening the cans or touching the fuel nozzle.

[rockhillmanor]

Don't rightly care how much a hog fuel tank holds or how stupid a motorcycle owner is.....

DO care about RV'ers that don't shut their tanks off at a gas station.


What an RV looks like after a propane tank explodes.