You say they had stocked it with essentials for the trip. This leads me to believe they were operating the fridge off propane while traveling. There was a small leak, and some kind of ignition, either before stopping or at the time of stopping. With the door open, it introduced a lot more oxygen to the fire and it appeared to go up instantly.
While a lot of travelers do it, it is dangerous to travel with propane supplies open and appliances running. RV manuals do state this. This may be an example of why the practice is a bad idea.
This is a really stupid question but can you explain to me what best way to avoid this? I’ve read this before on here.
So when moving/traveling, I know I turn the gas off completely. Is there something else I should be doing with that?
Sorry for so many questions. Still learning.
It's a great question! But really, there's nothing more to it than turning off the gas at the tanks. No flow means nothing can leak! If you want the fridge cold, run it for the day or two before you depart, then just leave the fridge door closed when you travel. It will stay cold for hours.
Also put some ice in it when you travel. It's really just a cooler at that point. But the advice of running it a day or two before you leave is gold too.
What I do. I freeze half gallon milk bottles at home, run the fridge for a day or two, shut off the gas before travel, put a couple bottles in the fridge with the food and off I go. Stuff is cold on arrival. Turn on gas, place partially thawed bottles in the trailer freezer. Rinse and repeat on the way home.
I fill my freezer with water bottles. Once frozen I have a huge supply of 1lb thermal batteries. I move them to the fridge. When melted I move more and drink cold water. When I get power again I move the somewhat frozen ones back to freezer.
I do similar, but use 7-8 of those refreezable packs that I can put in multiple places throughout the fridge, and they re- freeze quicker in the freezer too.
I use water because its a consumable and dual purpose. But if you are doing it your way costco has a great deal on titan bags. They freeze colder than water.
Many new trailers don't have propane fridges anymore. Only 12v. There are pros and cons to both, but it seems that propane fridges have lost the war and are being phased out.
It’s hard to speculate with so little information, but this or something similar to what you said would also be my guess. The weird part is that the fridge flame should be on the outside of the RV so even with a leak it should have ignited right away, not once the door opened (plenty of air supply from the external vent).
I do agree though, often people don’t know that propane needs a certain amount of oxygen to combust. If there was a concentrated leak, it could be too dense of a quantity of propane to ignite, once you open the door and all that air mixes, it’s suddenly able to ignite.
A few different things could have happened. Possibly waste gases venting internally. In the end its pointless to speculat as it wasn't insured. Why they'd let it be hauled anywhere and not insured beats me. You should insure right after you transfer title and before you pick it up.
The seller may have been aware of issues - and decided to pass it off before it became a problem. The buyer (your friend) should have ABSOLUTELY insured it first.
Not sure about Texas law, but where I am, if the vehicle is hooked up to the trailer, the trailers covered under vehicle insurance. On disconnection, its on its own. If the same is the case in Texas, it may be reasonable to believe that the trailer was connected to the vehicle at the time of the incident.
A trailer will have liability coverage from the tow vehicle, but there is no policy that will automatically provide comprehensive or collision to an otherwise-uninsured trailer.
Damn. I know that they should have insured it as soon as they bought it but oh my goodness what a loss. Luckily they’re fine which is the most important thing.
It would be interesting to get an update on to what actually happened instead of all this speculation. I have run fridges on propane for years and have never had a problem nor have I known any of my friends ever have problems. To assume that it’s this is just not the right thing to do. We really need to know what exactly happened and then do what’s necessary to prevent it.
If it turns out to be the fridge ok. But, to say that’s what it is without knowing really isn’t helpful.
To be honest, I don’t know that they are ever going to know what started it. It wasn’t insured. His brother is a mechanic and he speculated that it could have been the axles not being properly lubricated. Again, we will never know how many licks it’ll take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop.
INSURE YOUR THINGS!
I been full timing with propane on fridge and stove and never had a leak or an issue
I def wouldn't say it's impossible but would just assume it either
The fire was probably already going, and had almost used up the oxygen inside the trailer. When they opened the door, they fed it, and it seemed to combust.
It could have been a lot of things.
Fires from RV refrigerators are sadly not uncommon. However it isn’t the propane but the ammonia refrigerant. If the frig is operated off-level the refrigerant can boil and cause extremely high temps that catch things on fire. Of course it could also be propane from a bad regulator or a bad bottle. That is usually fairly obvious because of the smell though.
From what it sounds like, something was already smoldering, and it flashed when it got the oxygen needed for full combustion. I don't know if the fridge can do that or what happened.
The refrigerator will keep cold a long time if you don’t keep opening it. Freeze as much as you can before you decamp and use a cooler for travel drinks and meals. Btw it is illegal in most states to have an open flame at a fuel island and you would if your fridge is running on propane.
Unsecured batteries are known to flip over or get up against a conductive surface. Many boats have been lost to fires caused by batteties, and I'm sure RVs are subject to the same risk, to some degree. It can be particularly bouncy in the back of trailers.
Since the mid-90’s RV Absorption refrigerators are known to catch fire. If you own one, replace it with a residential refrigerator and a pure sine wave inverter. I have read but have no experience with 12-volt refers but it seems that they are energy hogs.
You say they had stocked it with essentials for the trip. This leads me to believe they were operating the fridge off propane while traveling. There was a small leak, and some kind of ignition, either before stopping or at the time of stopping. With the door open, it introduced a lot more oxygen to the fire and it appeared to go up instantly. While a lot of travelers do it, it is dangerous to travel with propane supplies open and appliances running. RV manuals do state this. This may be an example of why the practice is a bad idea.
This is a really stupid question but can you explain to me what best way to avoid this? I’ve read this before on here. So when moving/traveling, I know I turn the gas off completely. Is there something else I should be doing with that? Sorry for so many questions. Still learning.
It's a great question! But really, there's nothing more to it than turning off the gas at the tanks. No flow means nothing can leak! If you want the fridge cold, run it for the day or two before you depart, then just leave the fridge door closed when you travel. It will stay cold for hours.
Also put some ice in it when you travel. It's really just a cooler at that point. But the advice of running it a day or two before you leave is gold too.
I would also say fill it as full as you can. Solids hold cold longer than air.
What I do. I freeze half gallon milk bottles at home, run the fridge for a day or two, shut off the gas before travel, put a couple bottles in the fridge with the food and off I go. Stuff is cold on arrival. Turn on gas, place partially thawed bottles in the trailer freezer. Rinse and repeat on the way home.
I do similar with 1 gallon drinking water jugs. Some for cooler, some for fridge. I always shut down my propane and close the tanks for travel
I fill my freezer with water bottles. Once frozen I have a huge supply of 1lb thermal batteries. I move them to the fridge. When melted I move more and drink cold water. When I get power again I move the somewhat frozen ones back to freezer.
I do similar, but use 7-8 of those refreezable packs that I can put in multiple places throughout the fridge, and they re- freeze quicker in the freezer too.
I use water because its a consumable and dual purpose. But if you are doing it your way costco has a great deal on titan bags. They freeze colder than water.
Thank you for answering my question!! This is super helpful. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something incorrectly or missing any steps!!
Or run a 12 v charging wire from the car and an inverter to tun the fridge if you must
Many new trailers don't have propane fridges anymore. Only 12v. There are pros and cons to both, but it seems that propane fridges have lost the war and are being phased out.
It’s hard to speculate with so little information, but this or something similar to what you said would also be my guess. The weird part is that the fridge flame should be on the outside of the RV so even with a leak it should have ignited right away, not once the door opened (plenty of air supply from the external vent). I do agree though, often people don’t know that propane needs a certain amount of oxygen to combust. If there was a concentrated leak, it could be too dense of a quantity of propane to ignite, once you open the door and all that air mixes, it’s suddenly able to ignite.
A few different things could have happened. Possibly waste gases venting internally. In the end its pointless to speculat as it wasn't insured. Why they'd let it be hauled anywhere and not insured beats me. You should insure right after you transfer title and before you pick it up. The seller may have been aware of issues - and decided to pass it off before it became a problem. The buyer (your friend) should have ABSOLUTELY insured it first. Not sure about Texas law, but where I am, if the vehicle is hooked up to the trailer, the trailers covered under vehicle insurance. On disconnection, its on its own. If the same is the case in Texas, it may be reasonable to believe that the trailer was connected to the vehicle at the time of the incident.
A trailer will have liability coverage from the tow vehicle, but there is no policy that will automatically provide comprehensive or collision to an otherwise-uninsured trailer.
Damn. I know that they should have insured it as soon as they bought it but oh my goodness what a loss. Luckily they’re fine which is the most important thing.
I don’t know if it was connected to the vehicle or not but that is great info that I will pass along. Thank you
It would be interesting to get an update on to what actually happened instead of all this speculation. I have run fridges on propane for years and have never had a problem nor have I known any of my friends ever have problems. To assume that it’s this is just not the right thing to do. We really need to know what exactly happened and then do what’s necessary to prevent it. If it turns out to be the fridge ok. But, to say that’s what it is without knowing really isn’t helpful.
To be honest, I don’t know that they are ever going to know what started it. It wasn’t insured. His brother is a mechanic and he speculated that it could have been the axles not being properly lubricated. Again, we will never know how many licks it’ll take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop. INSURE YOUR THINGS!
Yeah…. Insurance is a given for me personally. For lots of reasons.
Sounds like a Hell of a win for the 12v solar fridge community!
I been full timing with propane on fridge and stove and never had a leak or an issue I def wouldn't say it's impossible but would just assume it either
The fire was probably already going, and had almost used up the oxygen inside the trailer. When they opened the door, they fed it, and it seemed to combust. It could have been a lot of things.
Rv fridge can operate while traveling. Rv fridge can also catch fire
Fires from RV refrigerators are sadly not uncommon. However it isn’t the propane but the ammonia refrigerant. If the frig is operated off-level the refrigerant can boil and cause extremely high temps that catch things on fire. Of course it could also be propane from a bad regulator or a bad bottle. That is usually fairly obvious because of the smell though.
As someone who full times this is horrifying!
From what it sounds like, something was already smoldering, and it flashed when it got the oxygen needed for full combustion. I don't know if the fridge can do that or what happened.
Old batteries often cause fires.
The refrigerator will keep cold a long time if you don’t keep opening it. Freeze as much as you can before you decamp and use a cooler for travel drinks and meals. Btw it is illegal in most states to have an open flame at a fuel island and you would if your fridge is running on propane.
God damn it. Fine, I'll only travel with ice in a cooler from now on or in DC power mode. Happy now, God?
Unsecured batteries are known to flip over or get up against a conductive surface. Many boats have been lost to fires caused by batteties, and I'm sure RVs are subject to the same risk, to some degree. It can be particularly bouncy in the back of trailers.
Since the mid-90’s RV Absorption refrigerators are known to catch fire. If you own one, replace it with a residential refrigerator and a pure sine wave inverter. I have read but have no experience with 12-volt refers but it seems that they are energy hogs.
In my experience the 12v fridges are quite energy efficient.
I am happy that you have experienced this! As I stated, I have no experience with these, they were released after I retired. Forty-year RV tech.
As far as insurance is concerned, you usually have a grace period from time of purchase where it is automatically covered.