Close call -- perhaps a lesson for others

[JackT]

We are both the stupidest and luckiest RVers of the week, if not the year.  Yesterday we came close to blowing up our coach.  We took our dog for a walk and before leaving, we somehow accidentally turned on one of the burners on the gas cooktop.  We can't figure out how we did it but it does not take much to turn on a burner - perhaps one of us bumped in to it.  Just before we left, we were doing some cleaning so perhaps we accidentally hit it as we wiped up the cooktop.  However it happened, the burner valve was left on with no flame for probably three quarters of an hour.  When we got back to the coach, I could hear the gas alarm sounding and when I opened the door, I was immediately hit with an overwhelming smell of gas.  I turned the gas off at the tank and got the windows opened.  Within a few minutes, the gas dissipated and all was OK but it scared us badly.  There was enough gas in the coach that a spark might have turned it into a fireball.  Also, if this had happened when we had the dog locked in the coach, we could have returned to a dead dog, even if the coach hadn't blown up.  From now on, the last thing we will check before we walk out the door will be the stove.  I share this not so much to demonstrate my stupidity (although we were stupid) but as a warning to others who might learn from our mistake.  We were really lucky but this could have turned out much worse.
Happy holidays to all.
--jack

 

[Howard Kelly]

Makes this a special christmas  for you, thanks for the info.
H

 

[Orick]

Thanks for sharing Jack!  Man, that's scary.  Glad everyone is ok.

Rick

 

[rsalhus]

If your propane leak detector is like ours, it would have turned the gas off automatically when it detected the propane leak.  Some propane leak detectors only sound an alarm when they detect a leak, which doesn't do much good if no one's home. 

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

Rolf,

It used to be a requirement that the gas detector turn off the gas. Some years ago I think the RVIA removed that requirement. Since a detector that doesn't turn off the gas is cheaper than one the does turn off the gas, guess which one the RV manufacturers use.

 

[rjf7g]

How can you tell what kind of detector you have?

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

I'm not positive but I think the detectors that shut off the gas will have four or five wires going to them. The none shut off ones I think only have two wires.

There should also be an electrically controlled valve close to the propane tank.

 

[rsalhus]

Our propane detector is made by CCI Controls, Model Pre-Tell 2.  It will sound an alarm and shut-off the gas supply near the tank if it detects a propane leak.  Another interesting fact about our detector is that it will run (12V) from either/both the coach and/or chassis bank of batteries.  I'm not sure how many wires ours has leading into it as I've never pulled it out to look.

 

[Silver Star]

Thanks for the info Jack

Checking the stove will be on our list as well now

Glad to hear you are all ok!!

Cheers
Gary and Cathy

 

[Betty Brewer]

, we somehow accidentally turned on one of the burners on the gas cooktop.  We can't figure out how we did it but it does not take much to turn on a burner - perhaps one of us bumped in to it. 

Jack,

My  gas stove  takes an act of Congress to turn it on.  Have to hold  down knob and turn and hold my breath for 5 seconds while the ignighter spits and struggles  and then finally it lights.  So in the future I shall just see this as a safety feature.  No way I could turn on stove by accident.  It's all about  perspective isn't it.

  Glad no one was injured.  Good lessons thanks for sharing.
Betty

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It's been several years since ANSI 119.2 (RV Safety standard) required that the LP alarm shut off the gas, so if you have a newer RV it probably does not have that feature.

 

[Wendy]

More than once I've smelled propane and found that I've bumped one of the knobs and turned it enough so that propane was escaping. Because of that, I frequently check the knobs but I'll be checking them before leaving the coach from now on, especially when the hairy kid is left "Home Alone."

Wendy

 

[rvtraveler2010]

Thanks for the warning!  We're new to RV'ing and haven't experienced this yet.  Sounds like a good thing to check before leaving or going to sleep.