Propane on while driving?

kbhowe1 · Jan 30, 2008

Hello all, I have recently purchased a new fifth wheel. (by the way, I find this site very helpful). Is it ok to keep your propane bottles open while traveling down the road to operate the fridge? I assume most people do, but I figured I would ask before I mess something up on my new setup.
Thanks

Tom · Jan 30, 2008

Most people do, although a minority of us don't.

kbhowe1 · Jan 30, 2008

how do you keep your fridge on while traveling?
I have owned a pop up in the past and I never used the fridge so the propane was always off during travel.

Karl · Jan 30, 2008

What kind of rig and fridge do you have? If it's a pop-up, some of them automatically shut down the fridge in the closed position.

Ron · Jan 30, 2008

Some MH have the freezer set up to run on the inverter when traveling while many don't. Ususally if leaving the fridge off whill traveling folks don't open the door more than necessary and it stays cool enough till it can be turned on again. Lot of folks just leave the fridge on propane when traveling. I have no idea what the options are with a pop up trailer.

Ned · Jan 30, 2008

We never turn off the propane unless filling the tank. The minuscule risk of doing so is far outweighed by the convenience of not having to remember to turn it back on again. The truly paranoid can either leave the refrigerator alone as it will stay cold for hours if it's not opened, run the generator to power it on 110VAC, or wire it to the inverter and run the risk of depleting the batteries if you forget to switch it back when not running or on shore power.

Karl, he did say it was a 5th wheel.

kbhowe1 · Jan 30, 2008

sorry about the confusion. It is a fifth wheel, I am not sure who the fridge manufacture is but the fiver is a rockwood.
Also, I do not have an on-board inverter, so while traveling it sounds like I will just keep the propane on. Ned I agree with you I can't think of any reason to shut it off.

Ned · Jan 30, 2008

There are a few tunnels where it's required to shut off the propane while transiting, and also some where it's not allowed at all. Those are primarily in the east.

Karl · Jan 30, 2008

Karl, he did say it was a 5th wheel.

Duh :

Tom · Jan 30, 2008

The truly paranoid don't need to remember to turn off the propane before entering a restricted tunnel

Ron · Jan 30, 2008

I wouldn't consider anybody paranoid it is just a matter of choosing what the individual is comfortable with.

Ned · Jan 30, 2008

Insert

where appropriate.

rkarjala · Jan 30, 2008

I run my fridge on auto all the time. I don't mess with the propane bottle at all. When the 5th wheel is unhooked from electricity, the fridge runs on propane. The only thing I do is turn the fridge off when I gas up my TV.

Gary RV_Wizard · Jan 30, 2008

The only thing I do is turn the fridge off when I gas up my TV.

There is no longer any need to do that either. It does absolutely nothing in terms of safety unless the appliances have a pilot light (like an oven). What you MUST do is turn off propane consuming devices that have auto-ignition circuits, i.e. furnace, fridge and water heater. You do that to prevent their auto-igniters from attempting to light the burner and instead igniting gas fumes in the filling station. Turning the propane off at the tank does not prevent the igniter from sparking.

Ron · Jan 30, 2008

I sure wouldn't want to fill up at a gas station with the fridge on and running on propane. There will be an open flame going if the fridge is on. Best to turn the fridge and any other items off such as the water heater that will have the auto ignition operating if heat is called for.

Like Gary mentione turning off the propane at the tank does nothing towards safety if equipment with spark ignition lighters are not all turned off.

ArdraF · Jan 30, 2008

Most of us run with the propane on. That said, if you do decide to turn it off, I would suggest that you make yourself a little reminder card or something that you can put on the steering wheel so you don't forget to turn it back on. We have one that is business card size, laminated, and with an orange ribbon. It says Turn Refrigerator On and we use it any time we have to turn off the fridge because we can't park on the level, filling fuel, or when taking a ferry. We keep it in a small drawer right next to the driver so it's easy to use.

Incidentally we have others that say Turn Antennas Down and Remove Foam from Slides (we put swimming "noodles" on the slides to prevent head injuries).

ArdraF

Hfx_Cdn · Jan 30, 2008

But I'd bet after you go through the trouble of switching off the fridge and furnace, you go out and fuel with your cell phone firmly attached to your hip.

There is much more risk of setting off an explosion from the phone, just inches from the fumes than there ever is from a fridge which is several feet, or in our case, on the other side of the Coach from the filling unit.

Ron · Jan 30, 2008

Not really. Just a myth.

Tom · Jan 30, 2008

We need to find the photo(s) of the motorhome that burned down at the pump when the owner didn't turn off the on-board sources of ignition. Not a pretty sight.

Ron · Jan 30, 2008

Tom said:
We need to find the photo(s) of the motorhome that burned down at the pump when the owner didn't turn off the on-board sources of ignition. Not a pretty sight.

That didn't happen because of a cell phone.

Propane on while driving?

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