PROPANE SMELL!

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ditsjets7

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2017
Posts
196
Location
Woodstock, NY
As we were driving we smelled propane seeming to be coming from the fridge.
We turn it off-the smell went away.  Turn it back on it returns.
Any ideas?
Thank you,
Mike
 
Well first, obviously, don't run it on propane until you confirm whether or not that truly is what you are smelling. Are you certain you weren't smelling ammonia as this would be the sign of a failing fridge.

Have you run it on electric and if so no smell?
 
It sounds like a leak which is never good.  It might be propane in a line, but not necessarily.  RV refrigerators have ammonia which is in the coils at the back of the refrigerator.  It could be ammonia you're smelling.

Jerry says a quick way to test this is to go to your range and turn on a burner briefly and WITHOUT lighting it.  Use your hand to wave the fumes up to your nose and smell it.  Is it the same odor or different?  Don't forget to turn off the burner right away.

There usually are detectors for smoke and/or carbon monoxide.  I would be careful not to light a match and keep it well ventilated until I knew the source of the odor.

ArdraF
 
The propane flame's exhaust is at the top rear of the fridge.  The combustion gasses are supposed to stay behind the fridge and rise out the roof vent because the entire fridge compartment is supposed to have an airtight seal from the interior of the RV.

If there's a leak that allows air from behind the fridge into the RV,, vacuum from an open vent or window can pull the exhaust gasses into the RV while you're driving and give you a propane smell.
 
vacuum from an open vent or window can pull the exhaust gasses into the RV while you're driving.
Click to expand...

Ah yes.  Also if a fan in an overhead vent is on while driving.

ArdraF
 
So we just parked and I wanted to add that when we were driving it was extremely windy outside. Like when did visor he windy. Like I had to hold the wheel with two hands white knuckle windy. Anyway I let the fridge I watched it like I heard it light and I am not smelling the smell right now. Is it possible that the extreme wind blew the pilot out and would not allow me to relight it while driving?
 
The wind might have blown the pilot out, IF yours has a pilot light, but if so the propane flow should have stopped. Most have a DSI (Direct Spark Ignition) spark generated to try to light the burner, rather than using a pilot, and the propane won't flow more than a few seconds if the burner isn't lit. With the fumes you were smelling, it's more likely that the wind was from an angle that, as Lou indicated, brought those fumes back into the coach.
 
"The wind might have blown the pilot out"  Since most Fridges are DSI. there is no pilot to blow out (I assume some very old units may be an exception to this rule and some propane residential units are as well but for most RV fridges. DSI rules.. Direct Spark Ignition).

"If you smell it you may have a leak". (not an exact quote of ArdaF)  Fact. And you need to trace it down and find the leak if any.

Though I'm rather.. casual.. about Propane ..  I'm not the least bit casual about propane leaks. Those are DANGEROUS and I know it..  I have heard the Kaboom when someone made a mistake... (Thankfully he survived.. minor hair loss is all, so did his RV.. NOTE the 3rd person form here. Was not my rig)  He had left the stove burner turned on .. Smelled propane. and turned every knob.. INCLUDING THE SPARK GENERATOR KABOOM. thankfully he did not have an ideal propane/air mix or.. Well it would have been tragic instead of funny.

Joke:
What happens if you have the proper mix of propane and air and there is a spark (NOte this is no joke it's a question from the Propane Pump Jockey test).  The joke is the instructor's response to my answer

My answer:  You land 2 counties over

Instructor: Exactly

 
I was just reading the comments and looking for answers,, I have a propane gas smell coming from my refrigerator of my RV. It's a a good 5 ft tall. I'm only smelling it when I open the fridge and then it smells up the house. I've cleaned it, I don't have any bad food, and it's getting stronger I think. I don't run any gas in my RV though. It's all electric. Is there anyone here who can help out? I thought maybe the coils but, my mom even says it smells like gas.
 
Are you sure you're smelling propane? An RV refrigerator uses ammonia and water for it's refrigerant, if the cooling system is leaking it will smell like ammonia. This is bad news, it basically means your refrigerator is dying.

A propane leak smells like sulfur, the smell you get when you strike a match. It comes from mercaptin oil added to the propane so you can smell a leak. Propane itself is odorless.
 
as a precautionary measure until the problem is identified, turn off the main valve of your propane system which should be at the propane tank.

when a refrigerator door is opened, it will cause air to naturally move. cold air out the bottom and warm air in at the top. could it be that the smell is actually coming from an adjacent appliance ? water heater, stove, oven, heater etc
 
Lou Schneider said:
Are you sure you're smelling propane? An RV refrigerator uses ammonia and water for it's refrigerant, if the cooling system is leaking it will smell like ammonia. This is bad news, it basically means your refrigerator is dying.

A propane leak smells like sulfur, the smell you get when you strike a match. It comes from mercaptin oil added to the propane so you can smell a leak. Propane itself is odorless.
Click to expand...
Well I'm not real sure about the smell. My sense of smell isn't the same after COVID but I did ask a couple of people and they said it smelled like gas as well. Could be a dead mouse for all I know. My refrigerator is just a few years old, I hope it's not dying yet. More investigating tomorrow.
 
Henry J Fate said:
turn off the main valve of your propane system which should be at the propane tank.
Click to expand...
If you have the propane turned off there is no possible way for the refrigerator to have a propane leak and the same is true if your refrigerator is electric only. If it is an absorption refrigerator as is common in an RV and the odor is ammonia, then most likely what you have a failing refrigerator. It is very easy to turn on the refrigerator and see if it will freeze a cup of water in the freezing compartment and chill one in the chill box area. If you leave it on for 24 hours and that doesn't happen your refrigerator has failed.
 
The odor in propane is an added chemical. It will separate from the propane once the pressure is relaesed. It is also present even in a normally functioning system if the tank is very low.
 
If the rig is truly "all electric" as stated in post #10, then obviously the odor isn't propane. Many things smell similar to human noses, among them lead-acid battery fumes and gray tank odors.

You said it is "all electric", but does that mean you are only using electric at this time, or that there is no propane tank or piping in the coach at all?

Please tell us the make/model of the fridge. Is it perhaps an RV absorption fridge but running in AC electric mode? If so, Lou's reply re the ammonia/hydrogen coolant gas applies.
 
You know a source of hard to find propane odor that you don’t hear much about is the pop off valve seeping a little.
The two that I’ve ran across would only seep start to seep when tank was above 3/4 full and the temperature 70-80 degrees+ and of course get worse as temperature and tank pressure climbed.
The two that I’ve changed are on the bottom of the tank and would be slightly damp/dust covered. Scratch the dust and get the mercaptin odor.
 
jubileee said:
You know a source of hard to find propane odor that you don’t hear much about is the pop off valve seeping a little.
The two that I’ve ran across would only seep start to seep when tank was above 3/4 full and the temperature 70-80 degrees+ and of course get worse as temperature and tank pressure climbed.
The two that I’ve changed are on the bottom of the tank and would be slightly damp/dust covered. Scratch the dust and get the mercaptin odor.
Click to expand...
Hard for me to imagine a tank bleeding from over-pressure at a mere 80 degrees, even when full (which is technically 80% of the water volume). Those of us who live or travel in the southern US routinely experience 95+ temperatures without any propane blled-off.
 
Likely causes in my experience (and eliminating all things actually propane since you have an all electric coach)...

A dead mouse.

Sewer gases are being pulled in the a vent near the refrigerator (particularly if there IS a vent behind the refrigerator or in the roof above the refrigerator)

Someone else's LP tank getting smelly. Some companies get carried away with the smelliness. I've had some that I could hardly smell and others that smelled even just burning a flame.

This may sound odd.... check your batteries. I had a battery in my Jeep that once smelled exactly like LP. I kept my Jeep parked outside of my camper. I soaped every joint multiple times and then the entire run of black iron pipe (I had replaced the copper tubing) in the camper. I was so frustrated... and then I drove into town and parked out in the far edge of the parking lot like I normally do. And there was THAT smell when I got out of the Jeep. My battery was going bad/heating up and for some reason it smelled to me just like propane. I replaced the battery and I didn't have the smell anymore.

Are you sure you're not smelling "hot" electric? It smells nasty too but not everyone can smell a hot electrical outlet/plug.
 
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