Short Term Referigerator Operation In Storage

[Nosedive]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but here goes. I know it's recommended to turn the refrigerator off when refueling to prevent an explosion from the vapors around the gas station. My travel trailer is stored in indoor storage. While it is enclosed indoors it's more like metal buildings. There is about a 2" gap on the top and bottom of the doors and walls from the adjoining spaces. Would it be completely moronic on the day before a trip to go over and turn on the refrigerator while on battery and propane as I don't have an electrical hookup there?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but there has been a couple of times that the refrigerator did not light after I picked it up due forgetting to turn the gas on. It would not start even after I turned the gas on. The refrigerator shutdown light was on until I reset it. Since it would not come on, I assume that the gas flow was interrupted by the control circuit in the fridge. Any advice is helpful, I just don't want to be the idiot who blow up their Travel Trailer. Thanks!!

[thomasmnile]

wanderingbob wrote:
It should be safe in that building , there should be no more danger of fumes as any where else . I have never shut my propane off in 110 years !
Many of us olde timers remember when we never shut our autos off when fueling { I still do not , gotta keep the dog cool }. Gasoline delivery trucks , delivering to gas stations , running thousands of gallons of fuel out of their trucks do not shut every thing down , maybe the danger is over rated .
Talking about it is like talking about GUN Control or religion . I would bet more people every year are killed by guns than propane or gas fumes combined !

Except for that Murphy guy that could make an appearance. If the OP had his trailer stored in a building he owned, I'd say go with God. But since that's not the case.........

[time2roll]

As long as you pack the fridge with cold food I find it is not a big deal to just turn it on as you roll out of storage. If you need to pre chill the fridge I would just go for it.

[opnspaces]

Nosedive wrote:
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but here goes. I know it's recommended to turn the refrigerator off when refueling to prevent an explosion from the vapors around the gas station. My travel trailer is stored in indoor storage. While it is enclosed indoors it's more like metal buildings. There is about a 2" gap on the top and bottom of the doors and walls from the adjoining spaces. Would it be completely moronic on the day before a trip to go over and turn on the refrigerator while on battery and propane as I don't have an electrical hookup there?

Ultimately the storage owner is going to have your answer. But aside from that I would be concerned about a few things.

How much space between the side of the trailer and the storage wall? How much space to the ceiling? What is on the other side of the wall? Is it another unit, or is the great outdoors? If it's a shared wall I would be concerned about the possibility of generating carbon monoxide that might just build up in the overall building and catch the person in the next unit unaware.

[JJBIRISH]

I would guess the one of the rules for the storage is that there be no open propane tanks…

Ask the storage operator if it’s ok, our approval or disapproval means nothing to him…

Generally speaking it is never a good idea to use any appliance that is designed to be vented to the outside, indoors… arbitrarily making the decision on your own could leave you looking for new storage facilities…

[wanderingbob]

It should be safe in that building , there should be no more danger of fumes as any where else . I have never shut my propane off in 110 years !
Many of us olde timers remember when we never shut our autos off when fueling { I still do not , gotta keep the dog cool }. Gasoline delivery trucks , delivering to gas stations , running thousands of gallons of fuel out of their trucks do not shut every thing down , maybe the danger is over rated .
Talking about it is like talking about GUN Control or religion . I would bet more people every year are killed by guns than propane or gas fumes combined !

[janechucknicode]

My thought on fridges running while fueling, I personally saw a class c almost burn to the ground IN A Station while fueling. The fridge started just as the fumes started to fume. Shut it off would be my thought.
But in the storage lot /building .. You do as you wish to burn. Get elec power.

[dadmomh]

The discussion re turning the propane on/off during fueling, going through tunnels, going over bridges and on and on has pretty much been the circuit. Betting that if you took a survey, better than 95% of the owners would say they don't shut their propane off. In 8 years we never have and have never noticed anyone doing that. If you store in a storage facility, that's a whole different story....shut everything off.

When any of the propane appliances don't light easily, light a couple of burners on the stove. That will fill the line and everything else should follow right along. If the frig continues to be a problem lighting, it likely needs to be checked.

[gmw_photos]

Nosedive wrote:
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but here goes. I know it's recommended to turn the refrigerator off when refueling to prevent an explosion from the vapors around the gas station. My travel trailer is stored in indoor storage. While it is enclosed indoors it's more like metal buildings. There is about a 2" gap on the top and bottom of the doors and walls from the adjoining spaces. Would it be completely moronic on the day before a trip to go over and turn on the refrigerator while on battery and propane as I don't have an electrical hookup there?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but there has been a couple of times that the refrigerator did not light after I picked it up due forgetting to turn the gas on. It would not start even after I turned the gas on. The refrigerator shutdown light was on until I reset it. Since it would not come on, I assume that the gas flow was interrupted by the control circuit in the fridge. Any advice is helpful, I just don't want to be the idiot who blow up their Travel Trailer. Thanks!!

I would be willing to bet that in your contract with the owners of your storage facility, they stipulate "no open flames". If so, then you would be in violation of their rules.

I am also willing to bet that about umpty-eleven guys are going to follow on after me and say they have run their propane fridge any darn place they please, have been doing it for the last 110 years, and nobody has been hurt yet.

As for the fridge not lighting easily, it could be simply that the pipe from the tanks to the fridge are empty of propane, and it takes a while to get the line purged. The way I do it, is to turn on the valve at the tank, go in and turn on a stove burner, and keep trying to light it until it finally does light. Then I turn the fridge on, and it will easily light itself on the propane.