Running refrigerator on propane while driving - R-pod Owners Forum

Author

Share Topic

Topic Search

Topic Options

jato

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Feb 2012
Location: Kewadin, MI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3227

Topic: Running refrigerator on propane while driving
Posted: 30 Aug 2018 at 7:18pm

+1 to Keith and Dar and +1 to furpod. Yes this was just discussed a few days ago at length. We have always used propane while driving and normally when camping. Will use electricity if we camp at a site where it is available and that isn't too often. So mark us in the 50% group that uses propane and believe that is the way to go.

God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."

GlueGuy

Senior Member

Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2630

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 at 10:29am

+1 to mcarter.

Some of this relates to people's past experience with fire of any kind. What is the saying? "Once burned, twice shy." My SO had an early life experience of being burned out of her home when she was a a toddler. It kind of changes your perspective.

Or as Dirty Harry once said "Are you feeling lucky?"

To those of you that travel with your propane on, good luck. It only takes once, and in fact, if you're only traveling for 6 hours or so, you probably don't need to run your refer at all for the want for a few degrees. For those of you that can run on battery, it is probably the safer way to go.

This is another discussion of the subject with a little lighter approach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91vm9M9Ll0

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

furpod

Moderator Group - pHp

Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6128

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 at 11:11am

according to the RVIA statistics.. the number 1 cause of RV fires is 12v issues. Not propane in any way or at any time. ! guy, with a video, where he admits he is biased, does not a "fact" make...

what's that old saying.. "to a hammer, everything is a nail"..

mcarter

podders Helping podders - pHp

Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3419

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 at 3:40pm

That is an interesting statistic, which can say whatever you want, that's what nice about statistics. I have never had a 12V fire issue on a fused line, which means or associated with the battery or an unfused line. Again the issue isn't about a propane device, it's about an open propane line and a fire, the fire start is not the object, the fire will find an open propane source. Which is different than a tank exposed to heat that explodes. Not here to preach or teach, but NOT traveling with an open propane source regardless of fire source.

Respect Furpod, but not convinced here, my friend. Happy Trails.

Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

Keith-N-Dar View Drop Down

podders Helping podders - pHp

Joined: 03 Apr 2011
Location: Mayville, WI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1447

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 at 6:51pm

couple of points. I will crawl under our pod tomorrow and look but I recall the gas service entering the front of the pod like the electrical feed. And regulators cut off the gas feed if the line is broken. They even shout the supply off if the valve is opened to quickly. As for gas stations gas fumes are heavier than air and pumps are outside. Slim chance they will get into the flame on the fridge. I run ours when we drive on propane.

Keith-N-Dar
Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers)
2011 R-Pod 177
2010 Ford F-150

GlueGuy

Senior Member

Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2630

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 at 8:13pm

Originally posted by furpod

according to the RVIA statistics.. the number 1 cause of RV fires is 12v issues. Not propane in any way or at any time. ! guy, with a video, where he admits he is biased, does not a "fact" make...

what's that old saying.. "to a hammer, everything is a nail"..

The one I remember is "When the only tool you have is a hammer, all your problems look like nails."

Similar but different. The first one attributes thought to the hammer, the second attributes thought to the user.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

lostagain

Senior Member

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2587

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 at 9:09pm

I went and looked at the gas line on our Pod and it's not very vulnerable to road debris hitting it. The first 3 feet or so from where the pipe goes through the frame is the most exposed area. The copper pipe is covered by split wire loom for the entire length and is attached to the side of the frame rail just fore of the black water tank above the bottom of the rail. I suppose a piece of metal could hit the pipe from the point at which the pipe passes through the front member of the trailer frame to where it attaches to the left length rail, but getting enough velocity on an object to break through the copper is not very likely, though certainly possible. A fire could result, but I suspect that if this happened at a statistically significant frequency, the NTSB would prohibit locating the gas line in that position.

As for fire danger when running the fridge on 12v from the tow vehicle, it requires quite a bit of amperage to run on battery power, and with DC that means you need pretty stout wire from the alternator of the TV to the fridge. Inadequate wire can lead to overheating and can result in a fire. Since the TV necessarily must carry combustable fuel, once a fire starts in the TV, things can get pretty exciting pretty quickly. According to furpod the number one cause of fires in RV's is the 12v system, that may be a more risky practice than running the fridge on gas.

I did a less than cursory google search and it seems that the major cause of fires while moving relate to the axle and brakes. Refrigerator fires are another big cause, but most of the articles suggested electrical sources, not the gas as the culprit for ignition of the fire.

Gasoline vapor needs a concentration of 1.2% to 7.6% in ambient air to ignite, according to one chart I found in google. That's pretty smelly and you'd be inclined to stay away from it if you pulled into a gas station. Unless you are refueling in a confined space, it's pretty improbable that you'd reach that level of fuel vapor concentration in the air 10' away from the the source of the liquid gasoline that could vaporize. Thus, the chances of having a concentration of gasoline vapor near the refrigerator flame while refueling is not very likely, though, as with all things in nature anything is possible. It's just a matter of a low enough probability that a fire is not very likely. And, the possibilities of an electric spark, from static electricity, a cell phone, the car's electric system are constant threats if the gasoline vapor is at a flammable level.

In the last analysis, life is full of risks and you simply have to chose what you feel is most comfortable for you. For myself, if I had doubts about the concentration of gasoline vapor at a gas station due to ambient circumstances, such as a confined space or spilled gasoline, I'd probably temporarily turn off the propane before getting close to the source of the gas vapor, but I'd also not be inclined to drive into such a space since the alternator and other electrical stuff in my vehicle poses the same threat of fire. I suppose one can follow the practice that if it really stinks of gasoline, don't bring your TV or trailer into that area.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Tars Tarkas View Drop Down

Senior Member

Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Location: Near Nashville
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1446

Posted: 01 Sep 2018 at 7:09am

Lostagain: you hit the nail on the head when you said 'life is full of risks'. A fridge-related propane fire is pretty far down the list of things to worry about when you hook up a 5000 pound tow vehicle to a 3500 pound trailer and drive merrily down the road at +/- 60mph. I'm starting to think that people have an inherent fear of fire, and since it's not hard to imagine the pilot light of the fridge being the cause of a gas station conflagration resulting in massive destruction and 27 deaths, people elevate the risk in their minds. I wonder how much greater the risk is of our tow vehicles' gasoline somehow igniting and exploding is. It happens all the time on television. Seems like just as painful a way to die as a fridge fire, and at least based on what I see on television (and all other data I'm aware of) much more likely to happen. And of course if you managed to survive, the scars would be the same either way.

As far as risks, what about being hit by another driver? What intelligent person would think about subjecting themselves and their loved ones to that?! I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to expand the list of other tragic things that can happen while pulling a pod, but I wonder, if you're going to get out on the road, how much does just the act of hooking up the Pod add to the number of bad things that could happen out there?

2010 176
FJ Cruiser

lostagain

Senior Member

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2587

Posted: 01 Sep 2018 at 8:47am

After I wrote post my last night, I settled into my easy chair and continued reading a book about the Russian mafia and how they have expanded to virtually every corner of the world and every level of society and government. They make the old Italian mob in the USA look like beginners.

The thought occurred to me, while reading about a car bombs, that virtually every vehicle in the road has both explosive fuel lines and hydraulic or air brake lines exposed to debris impacts under the vehicle. As I was saying in yesterday's post, it is certainly possible for debris to strike and rupture one of these tubes with either the sudden release of fuel or the loss of one's brakes. But, as far as I can tell, such ruptured fuel or brake line incidents do not present a statistically significant cause of either fires, loss of brakes, or accidents.

I think I'd worry more about nefarious Vandals or Visigoths slithering under my little Dodge Dakota and severing one of the brake lines. Why, just last week, when we returned from Colombia [where my wife underwent a laparoscopic cholesystectomy at a cost of $700 for everything as opposed to $15K here and by a surgeon who trains US doctors -- yikes I'm really getting off topic] I discovered my right rear tire of my truck was flat. It had a very suspicious hole in the side wall. I don't know whether I hit something in the road or it was the work of the Russian mafia, though the hole was the size of a pocket knife blade and very straight and was big enough for a sudden loss of inflation. Now I'm grounded until next Thursday when the new tires are going to be installed and the escape to Hope Valley has to be postponed. I have to hurry because the camp ground closes for the season at the end of September.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

crw8sr

Senior Member

Joined: 12 Oct 2017
Location: Omaha Nebraska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 328

Posted: 01 Sep 2018 at 11:32am

Battery or propane?

Refrig or cooler?

Bridges and tunnels.

Acceptable levels of risk.

F I R E !

Road debris.

Hammer! Nails!

Russian Mafia!!!!!!!!

I can't leave my house anymore; think I'll go back to bed.

Chuck & Lyn
Izzy, Morkie. RIP
Zoe Joy & Gracie, Yorkie
2018 R Pod 190
2019 Traverse

In moments of adversity;when life's a total wreck, I think of those worse off than me and really feel like heck.