Is it ok to run fridge on propane while towing ?

[PharmGeek]

"Now I will take my turn at a psych evaluation.”

too many freebies given out now...send me payment first

[Bill M.]

I turn the water heater off at night.

I run with the refrigerator on. I usually shut it down for fueling. I drive a diesel. We had one water heater fire. It burned all the wiring and the potted circuit board and smoked up the trailer.

[Shacksman]

When they go they really go. The propane tanks made for some impressive displays when they went. The fire dept. came and put out the grass fire around the wreck. This was only a few minutes start to finish.

[Aage]

Later it turned out that the guy was cooking meth in the trailer.

Or was it his 16-year-old was smoking?

C'mon Doug, that wasn't because he was driving with his refer going, was it?

[m.hony]

What he said...

[Cannonball]

You guys have too much time on your hands. We have a three way fridge. We run with it on battery. The lettuce does not wilt. I buy my mayo when I get to my destination. If you have frozen items that you want to keep frozen for several days then there is an easy solution: a Yeti cooler and dry ice. Stuff will stay frozen for several days.

Really, no one responding to this debate uses an ice chest? We are still camping, right?

[aftermath]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

Yea if a person studies the issue enough, ,,,,, the fact that not a single poster on this site can point to a single fire caused by a refrigerator while traveling,, is totally meaningless...

The converse of this statement would be....show me a single poster on this site who did have a fire caused by his refrigerator while traveling.

I know all about the pitfalls of anecdotal evidence but when you can't come up with a single example that would support the doomsday event of a trailer burning to the ground.....well, I feel much better when poster after poster, along with the engineers who manufacture the Airstreams, say it isn't a problem. Meaningless? Not to me.

[J. Morgan]

I am on your side.

Perhaps my sarcasm was a bit too thick..

[m.hony]

Yes, we still use ice chests from time to time- 3 of 'em- meat, more meat, and ice cubes for soft drinks and tea- even the $20 ones from Walmart keep ice cubes for several days.

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by Aage

Later it turned out that the guy was cooking meth in the trailer.

Or was it his 16-year-old was smoking?

C'mon Doug, that wasn't because he was driving with his refer going, was it?

Not cooking meth, cooking bacon for breakfast. An older couple in a park in Florida. Nothing to do with a moving fridge just showing how fast a fire can get out of control.

[J. Morgan]

That is why bacon should be banned.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

That is why bacon should be banned.

I am still laughing and my cheeks are sore!

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

That is why bacon should be banned.

RIGHT, no cooking bacon while driving past a gas station!!

[Zigidachs]

Testimony:

Typically we run with the propane turned on for the refer. No other appliance is on.

On our last trip to Calif to see family, we again traveled over some of the roughest interstates in the country. Our stove "dropped" about 1/2" in the front. ….came loose from side wall attachments.

No propane leak was detected after discovery, but we were concerned about the return trip with the propane on for the refer. So, we turned off the propane, packed the refer with cold packs and started home. On each leg of the trip we found that the refer temps rose to above safe levels….e.g. 45-50*, not really cold enough, but not a substantial risk to contents.

The CG electrical power source cooled the refer down overnight, but again during travel the inside refer temps rose.

I have read where folks travel across Ariz. with propane turned off, even in the Summer without sacrificing safe temps in their refers…..BUT, even in the cool of early Spring in Calif to Oregon, this approach did not work well enough for us.

Stove was repaired, LP lines ok, all is well.

Interesting experience for us.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

Yea if a person studies the issue enough, ,,,,, the fact that not a single poster on this site can point to a single fire caused by a refrigerator while traveling,, is totally meaningless.

Now I will take my turn at performing a psych evaluation.

People look at their new trailer, and they start thinking, even commonly, and they say to themselves "traveling with a fire under the fridge seems dangerous", and then they build their arguments for why it is a bad idea to run the fridge while moving, and the people who might disagree are nothing but ignorant hillbillies.

Question.

If you feel that running the reefer on gas while traveling is bad, they why do you run your furnace pilot light while traveling?

Andy

[John&Vicki]

I just read this thread from beginning to end. Posters to this thread should be issued a complimentary anorak. I deserve one too for reading all of the posts.

Poppy

Oh, I leave my propane tanks open when rolling.

[mojo]

I tow with the fridge on....I like to have cold beers when I'm driving.

[J. Morgan]

Andy, you missed my sarcasm....

I am a pro fridge and drive person.

After a few comments telling me I was just ignorant and/or " uninformed", sarcasm seemed appropriate...

[newroswell]

Originally Posted by Skater

There was a picture posted on this site a while back of a camper that had been in an accident that damaged the water heater, and for whatever reason the excess flow valve in the propane regulator had failed, so it was dumping propane all over until they got the tank turned off. No explosion or anything like that. The odds are very slim, but it's not impossible - it's the same reason we use chains in addition to coupler locks, right? Risk managers would say it's a very low probability, but potentially high impact risk. So, if we don't need to keep the fridge running, we don't, and we shut off the propane.

That would be me. We were in a pretty bad accident and the water heater was bashed in and propane was flowing out of the smashed internals. Traffic wasn't able to move and dozens of people were standing around. People smoking, cars, trucks running, etc. Due to other damage, all down the side of the moho, I had a very hard time getting to the tank valve to shut it off. I was having to deal with all this seconds after a violent crash with minor injuries.

That all being said, we still run the fridge while driving.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

Andy, you missed my sarcasm....

I am a pro fridge and drive person.

After a few comments telling me I was just ignorant and/or " uninformed", sarcasm seemed appropriate...

Oops.

Andy