Propane on during Traveling Day

[RVFun4Us]

This might be obvious but have to ask. Refrigerator should be level while parked so there are no problems while doing it's job. I know a lot of folks leave their propane on when traveling to keep refrigerator items cold. So was wondering, does traveling affect the refrigerator when going up and down hills and obviously not level? Seems to be a contradiction here, what am I missing?

 

[danemayer]

I think the problem with being off level is that the cooling unit chemicals may stop flowing freely, creating a blockage. While towing, there's probably enough motion that blockages don't get created. That's a bit of speculation on my part, based on towing up and down mountains repeatedly for 10 years.

 

[thewanderingeight]

Traveling with the propane on would make me nervous. If your items are already cold before leaving, and the seals on your fridge are good, then the temperature in the refrigerator should remain at a safe level for quite some time. We have traveled 8 plus hours in the summer and everything still seemed cold enough when we arrived at our campsite. We have a lot of kids, so our food does not stick around very long to spoil though.

 

[LBR]

We likewise do not travel with propane on.... don't feel there is any need to.

 

[Hollandt]

Check out this site for protecting the Fridge.

Fridge Defend by ARP Protects your Dometic or Norcold

Fridge Defend by ARP® controls the high temperatures that can lead to fridge failure and safety issues, our fan controller improves efficiency and repairs fan problems without removal of the fridge in most cases for Dometic, Norcold & Amish RV Refrigerators.

www.arprv.com

 

[jerryjay11]

Most experts on RV travel are split on leaving LP tanks open and an open flame on the fridge. Is it safer to shut the LP off when traveling, sure, but many RV'ers will leave the LP on to run the fridge. I've read an article which which brought this up and the conclusion is while the RV is moving it doesn't effect the operation or the ammonia charge as it would when park unlevel for long periods of time. The two things to be alert about is a possible LP leak while traveling which you can not detect and forgetting to turn off the fridge when fueling up. But as thewanderingeight stated the fridge can hold temps for 8+ hours. We've traveled as long as 12 hours in a day to get across country and everything in the fridge stayed cold.

 

[sengli]

I used to keep the propane on when my last rig had the dual fuel fridge. But dont forget when the slide is in, many times that the flexible portion of the propane feed line often gets pinched and may not flow any gas anyway.

 

[danemayer]

Probably the greatest risk from running the refrigerator while towing is from having an open flame near gas pumps. Gasoline fumes, while usually low to the ground, could possibly be ignited by the refrigerator's flame. Diesel is unlikely to ignite. But if you're at a diesel pump with gasoline available from the same pump, or another nearby pump, and someone spills some gasoline, that would be the big risk.

 

[Confused]

Ran with it on for many years with our old setup. New trailer has AC only/Inverter setup, which I didn't initially like, but it works just fine.

 

[klindgren]

On my older rigs, I always traveled with the gas on because of the fridge. Never had a problem but then I have only pulled with a diesel truck and would fill up 99% of the time at truck stops at the diesel only pumps. Since we bought the Landmark 365 with a residential fridge, I now don't care if the gas is turned on or not and usually travel with it off (when I remember to do so).

 

[NYSUPstater]

When we 1st got into RVing, our friends said "No" to having gas on while underway. So we've never had it on. IMO, it's just another safety step. Items in fridge will stay cold and we've travelled up to 10-12 hours w/o power of any sort to fridge w/o a problem. Another thing one could do is to freeze a jug of water, be it a 1/2-1 gallon size ahead of time and place it inside of fridge /freezer. Sadly.ice cream doesn't travel well on long distances.

 

[taskswap]

The frozen jug trick is also a great way to rapidly cool down your fridge/freezer when you're loading it for a trip and it's been off. We save old juice bottles (milk jugs are too fragile) just for this purpose.

 

[centerline]

In the united states, the law doesnt care EXCEPT when crossing a water reservoir dam, or when riding a ferry, or when fueling within 50 ft of a gas pump then, by law, its supposed to be shut off...
(diesel FUMES do not become explosive until the diesel fuel ITSELF reaches a bit over 100 degrees, where it then starts to emit fumes.. but still, the correct fuel air ratio must be met before there is any chance of an explosion)....

with the propane on and the fridge flame running, its theoretically possible, but highly unlikely that there ever would be the right concentration of gas pump fumes reaching the control flame of the fridge.... as the air inlet to the back of the fridge is normally many feet away from the pump (the law deems an open flame is reasonably safe if over 50ft from a gas pump).... and the flame is enclosed behind a trim shield, and then enclosed again behind the wind/flame protector shield of the fridge unit....

the flame doesnt operate ALL the time, but only when the thermostat calls for cooling, so its possible that it wont even be on at the time of fueling... in addition, the way the system is designed with its designated upper vent/heat escape at the roof, and the openings in the trim cover below, any concentration of fumes have the best chance of being passed up thru the venting system without ever reaching the flame... or will be diluted with more fresh air (with a good chance of making it no longer volatile) as it makes its way around all the shielding to the flame......

personally, I feel its safer in every respect to be traveling down the highway with the propane on, than it is to have it on when I go to sleep at night when im IN the trailer..... and EVERYONE leaves it on at night.... so my thought process causes me to wonder, are the safety concerns about leaving the gas valve on driven by the dread of possibly of WATCHING the trailer go up in flames, or the dread of possibly being killed by it?..... the few laws that are in place are mostly for the sake of protecting other people...

so, with all that said, and after nearly 50 years of staying in travel trailers without an incident, im one of those who leave it on ALL the time except when its in storage... or when the law says its gotta be shut off...

but I have SEEN incidents and accidents and 1 explosion, but its ALWAYS been an "operator error" that caused it, and NOT simply because the propane valve was left on....

 

[travelin2]

This question is like the ones “SRW or Dually?” “Ford, Ram, or GM?” You’ll get as many different answers and reasons to support said answer.
In our case, propane on 24/7/365 unless we’re on a ferry, in a “restricted” tunnel or by law/regulation directed otherwise to shut it off.

 

[mlpeloquin]

I always ran with the fridge and propane on. Never a problem. Letting the fridge warm up will give you a chance to have your stomach pumped out do to food poisoning. Don't let your fridge warm up. It takes quit a bit of time to cool off in hot weather. My SOB has a S&B fridge. I did get the gas/electric to run great in my Big Horn for the last two years I had it when I installed two large thin fans on the top vent to suck the hot air out of the top vent. Could keep the refrigerator 32 to 42 degrees 65F to 105F air temps. I had to install a fan in the fridge interior to keep the food from freezing! As long as the air was moving in the fridge the food did not freeze.

 

[wdk450]

Re: "personally, I feel its safer in every respect to be traveling down the highway with the propane on, than it is to have it on when I go to sleep at night when im IN the trailer..... and EVERYONE leaves it on at night.... so my thought process causes me to wonder, are the safety concerns about leaving the gas valve on driven by the dread of possibly of WATCHING the trailer go up in flames, or the dread of possibly being killed by it?.."

Anyone concerned about an RV fire starting from an propane/ammonia refrigerator should seriously consider buying and installing a self-deploying HALON fire extinguisher for this very purpose.
Here is 1 source of these: https://rvcoolingunit.com/Halon-Fire-Extinguishers-C243521.aspx?sid=298 I bought one of these about 8 years ago, and the price is about the same. I consider it just a little more insurance on the rig. I have seen a refrigerator fire on an old Class A, and it wasn't pretty. I have also seen the burnt to the ground remains of a newer luxury Class A, with the fire cause blamed on the refrigerator. The Halon gas is old stock and allowed under a grandfather clause after the EPA outlawed it due to ozone layer concerns. Halon gas is also about the best firefighting substance we have ever discovered: "

How does Halon work?​

Contrary to popular belief, Halon does not remove oxygen from the air, but rather reacts with all elements of a fire. When Halon is discharged, it breaks the chemical chain reaction. This accounts for most of its fire fighting properties. The other properties come from the cooling effect of the expanding gas. Because of this, Halon can be safely used in an occupied space. " (from https://www.agas.com/us/resources/faqs-fire-protection/ )

RV refrigerators since about 2010 have improvements to make these fires less likely (and to be less sensitive to RV off level parking).

 

[wdk450]

If you loved my above post about the halon self-deploying Fire extinguishers, which cost me $240, I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO WATCH THE ENTIRE VIDEO FROM ARP ON THEIR FRIDGE-DEFEND RV AMMONIA REFRIGERATOR FIRE PREVENTION AND RV AMMONIA REFRIGERATOR LIFE EXTENSION SYSTEM. The basic system for this is $165. This electronic device cuts off your refrigerator boiler heat if the boiler is detected to be overheating, most often due to off level refrigerator conditions. Off level refrigerator conditions can be caused by ROAD GRADES, parking for lunch, setting up in an RV space unlevel, or other things. I recently had an occasion where I was trying to check in to a small RV park in the mountains, the sole ranger wasn't in his gate shed, he didn't answer the radio call box, and didn't show up for 45 minutes (There was a problem with the park's water supply system, and he said that he "forgot" to take his radio with him). My trailer was sitting on a strong side tilt for all that time, and I didn't think to climb into the tilted trailer and turn off the refrigerator.

The ARP video says that Dometic and Norcold have both made patent applications for copycat electronic devices for this problem, but were denied by the patent office as infringing on the ARP patent.

I have no connections whatsoever to this company (ARP).

Here is the link to the video. I know that it can seem long and a little boring, but is vital to the safety and economics of any RV with an ammonia refrigerator. https://www.arprv.com/index.php#mountain-pass