Read This... Disaster Averted

[BIGED52]

I thought that this was important for others and newbies to read... Ed

[Babeebloos]

Very Good information...Thanks, I'm a single woman new airstream owner and not usually the best at checking for safety items and precautions. I do read some of these posts as well as the interior decorating ones, so I am very grateful when I happen to open up a post so enlightening and potentially life saving.
Thanks again, Debra

[Bijou65]

Yes we also use a t-bar and a length of all-thread. we can really crank them down tight with that. Lets not forget to INPSECT at every stop! And Never roll with any pilotlights on.I've seen more than one melted RV on the side of the road!

[Lumatic]

I was trying to manuver into a dump station and made a too tight turn hitting one of the tanks with my bumper. No significant damage to the tanks but the aluminum hold down cross piece snapped like a twig.

[mello mike]

An important message that everyone needs to read

[Dureedesign]

Wow, thanks for the info.....I'm going to find away to have a back-up system in case one fails the other one can compensate.

[greyzeth]

It's easy to see that extra tie downs are important.

Is there any info on the LP gas on the master panel always reading full?

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by JStanley

‘Remove Tanks In Case of Fire’ is another issue. So I’ll get a bigger fire extinguisher to keep in the tow vehicle.

Although LP tanks can and do rupture and explode in very hot fires, they frequently are the only things that survive a fire intact. It takes a pretty hot fire to rupture an LP tank. You seldom see that kind of heat at the bottom of a travel trailer fire or at the tongue. A fire extinguisher is NOT going to keep them from getting hot, and if your trailer is burning to the point that you think that the LP tanks are going to be involved, removing the LP tanks is probably not the best use of your time. Turn them off if you can do it safely... and then spend the rest of your time getting as far away from the trailer as you can!

Roger

[Hippo]

My wife is afraid of propane so we always turn off the gas when traveling. We put the refer items in an ice chest for traveling.
I will check our tank rod.
Thanks for the warning.

[LI Pets]

A marine supplier sells Stainless Steel threaded rods in 3' lengths for >$5

That would be a good fix put two nuts on the bottom with Locktite, and it should hold forever.

[bhayden]

Originally Posted by Hippo

My wife is afraid of propane so we always turn off the gas when traveling. We put the refer items in an ice chest for traveling.
Thanks for the warning.

Why not just put a block of ice in the refer? It makes a dandy ice chest . I keep a 1/2 gallon plastic jug frozen just for this. It helps get the fridge down to temp initially and then I transfer it from the freezer to the refer when I can't run the fridge. Of course if you want to keep the freezer compartment cold the stuff in there acts as "ice" and it'll stay frozen quite a while as long as you don't open it. If there's not much in the freezer then freeze another bottle of water so you have more mass to keep it cold. A full freezer will stay cold the longest. -Bernie

[JohnGalt48]

This same thing happened to me a couple of years ago on my '77 Sovereign...at 70 mph on an Interstate.
I didn't hear anything unusual, over the sound of the Cummins anyway, but happened to notice a strange white cloud in my passenger side mirror billowing out from the front of the trailer.
I had no idea what had happened until I got stopped and heard the rushing sound of gas. The cotter pin had sheared off the bottom of the original hold down rod, and both tanks were under the trailer....still connected with the hoses, but both had big holes rubbed in them.
The lucky part of this is that these were the original aluminum tanks for this trailer, and, being aluminum, created no sparks while dragging down the road.
I can't imagine the result if there had been a spark.
If, for no other reason, I am now a firm believer in aluminum tanks........

[Aluminutt]

I had the same tension rod failure outside Indianapolis in 1992 on my 73 Argosy 26. Both tanks were dragging underneath the trailer. Before I could find a pull out area (single lane construction area) one had worn through the hose and rolled out the back where a Semi hit it breaking off the valve and turning the tank into a missle. No one was hurt and no other damage occured thank God. I now use ALL the above mentioned safety ideas including an oversized stainless steel threaded rod with a sleeve over most of its length.
I would never travel with the valves open. This was about the most frightening experience I can imagine.

[HiHoAgRV]

I had the same thing happen, strange clinking/dragging sound. It was my own stupid mistake. I didn't have one of the bottles over the little tab on the lower mount.

[mello mike]

Bumped for its importance.

[HiHoAgRV]

What's that funny dragging sound???

[TinShack]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

If the tank valves had been open the OPD mechanism would have kicked in and shut the flow off, it is part of what they are designed to do....that is if you have the properly upgraded valves.

Good point Aaron. In fact, you can disconnect the hose with the valve open and the OPD will shut of the flow.

[vswingfield]

And all this time I thought my plan to replace that rod with stainless steel just to get rid of the rust was excessive. It has suddenly leaped several steps up the list.

Vaughan

[vhord]

While buffing my trailer tongue down I discovered that my propane hold down post was almost rusted in half. The socket was also severely rusted and thin. I decided to grind it all off and start over.



I used mild steel rod for the post. I have read where others had obtained hardened all thread rod. My experience has been that sometimes the harder bolts tend to break before they bend. In this application a bent rod would be better than a broken one. I threaded one end with a standard 1" hex die nut.



I found that 1/2" schedule 80 pipe fits the 1/2" smooth rod nicely. I actually used a schedule 80 black nipple. I drilled a 3/16 hole through it and the rod at one time using a drill press. I have temporarlly attached the nipple to the frame with a 3/16" machine bolt to hold it while welding.

[mello mike]

Looks like that will work well.