Safe to leave gas on while driving?

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Vehicle fires at gas pumps are actually pretty common, most frequently caused by static electricity igniting gasoline vapors. I cringe every time I see someone retreat into their car while fuelling, then jump out and grab the nozzle.

The presence of propane is not hazardous at a gas station. However, knowingly driving into a vapor-rich environment with an potential ignition source such as a DSI is just stupid. Take the time to turn off the appliances.

And despite was the dire warnings posted on the gas pumps, your cellphone is not an ignition hazard.
 
HappyWanderer said:
Vehicle fires at gas pumps are actually pretty common, most frequently caused by static electricity igniting gasoline vapors. 
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As a matter of fact a gentleman from Florida arrived in Springfield, Mo  five days ago and went to gas up his car at a standard gas pump. Static electricity created a fire which burned him badly.  He died this morning.

Bill
 
10's of 1000's of people do it every day.   

Lot's of rumors about death and destruction,  but I have never met anyone with a first hand experience.







 
timjet said:
I turn propane off while driving. Just not that hard to do.
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Very easy to do but might make for a warm fridge after 8-10 hours of driving and opening it for rest stops.  Just never felt the need but, of course, that is a personal decision for each of us.

Bill
 
Always leave ours on while driving and TRY to remember to turn it off while fueling up. 50-50 on the try. As someone said earlier the engine is heating the water so no need to waste propane there.
 
Bill N said:
Very easy to do but might make for a warm fridge after 8-10 hours of driving and opening it for rest stops.  Just never felt the need but, of course, that is a personal decision for each of us.

Bill
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The inverter powers the fridge underway and the engine alternator keeps the batts charged.
 
WILDEBILL308 said:
Merry Christmas.
Interesting, do you have it plugged into a separate inverter circuit?
Bill
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A call to Fleetwood and I got the answer: The refrig ice maker outlet is wired to the inverter. Their thinking is that with the inverter the ice maker will always be powered irrespective of the refrig power source. Ice will always be available even if the refrig is powered by propane, provided the inverter is on. The refrig power outlet is not powered by the inverter so it will auto go to propane when the campground power is removed.

We don't use the ice maker. So I simply removed the icemaker plug from the inverter powered outlet and replaced it with the refrig plug. I leave the inverter on all the time (except in storage) so the refrig is always powered. In the event we dry camp the refrig will still auto go to propane (provided the propane valve is on) if I turn the inverter off to save battery power.

My arriving at the campground checklist on item #9 is "open propane valve and purge air". My departing the campground checklist item #12 is to close the propane valve. Sorry about the overuse of checklists - I'm a retired airline pilot.

This works well for us, and a Merry Christmas to you to as well Bill.
 
timjet said:
A call to Fleetwood and I got the answer: The refrig ice maker outlet is wired to the inverter. Their thinking is that with the inverter the ice maker will always be powered irrespective of the refrig power source. Ice will always be available even if the refrig is powered by propane, provided the inverter is on. The refrig power outlet is not powered by the inverter so it will auto go to propane when the campground power is removed.

We don't use the ice maker. So I simply removed the icemaker plug from the inverter powered outlet and replaced it with the refrig plug. I leave the inverter on all the time (except in storage) so the refrig is always powered. In the event we dry camp the refrig will still auto go to propane (provided the propane valve is on) if I turn the inverter off to save battery power.

My arriving at the campground checklist on item #9 is "open propane valve and purge air". My departing the campground checklist item #12 is to close the propane valve. Sorry about the overuse of checklists - I'm a retired airline pilot.

This works well for us, and a Merry Christmas to you to as well Bill.
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Yes, I use the inverter /icemaker outlet to power my new residential refrigerator.
Works much better than the absorption/propane one.
Bill
 
My absorption fridge is 11 yo and so far so good. I dread the day I have to replace it. I'll also go with a residential one when the time comes.
 
WILDEBILL308 said:
Yes, I use the inverter /icemaker outlet to power my new residential refrigerator.
Works much better than the absorption/propane one.
Bill
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I have never used my inverter since I bought the coach 3 years ago but you are giving me ideas. MY fridge is still working ok but not as good as it did when we bought the coach so a residential may be in the picture if medical problems don't force me to sell it first.

Bill
 
Bill, the only time we use our inverter is while underway, though it is always on unless in storage. I have a silverleaf vehicle monitoring system that displays on a computer that is plugged into a inverter outlet. And of course the refrig is powered by the inverter while underway as discussed previously.

We will be dry camping next month for a couple of days so the inverter will get a work out. Looking forward to it. Hope you get your medical issues worked out.

Happy New Year!!
 
Bill N said:
I have never used my inverter since I bought the coach 3 years ago but you are giving me ideas. MY fridge is still working ok but not as good as it did when we bought the coach so a residential may be in the picture if medical problems don't force me to sell it first.

Bill
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We always run the inverter while driving. It powers up a few electrical outlets allows us to charge our phones, computers etc and run a crock pot for dinner when we arrive at our campground for the night.
 
Dragginourbedaround said:
We always run the inverter while driving. It powers up a few electrical outlets allows us to charge our phones, computers etc and run a crock pot for dinner when we arrive at our campground for the night.
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Okay, I give up.  I have never had an inverter in any of our many previous RVs so wasn't too familiar but now it is sounding downright convenient.  Next warmup run, I'll take along the test meter and see which outlets are powered by the inverter.  Like that crock pot idea.

Bill
 
I rarely turn my inverter off, thus fridge, clocks, etc. don't have interrupted power, unless I'm storing the coach away from shore power or it goes in for maintenance. Pretty much all the outlets are hooked through the inverter. If battery power is critical, I might turn it off while necessary, but (for me) that's rare.
 
wijames2002 said:
Is it safe to leave the propane on to power the fridge while driving to the campsite?

Thanksin advance
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More info on this topic http://www.doityourselfrv.com/is-it-dangerous-to-run-an-rv-propane-refrigerator-while-driving-your-rv/

 
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