Keeping food cold on the road?

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by DonaandDon

Been full timer for eight years now. Never have turned the propane off. Curious about the accident thing. I have forgotten to turn the bottle off when disconnecting. (I like to lift the bottle to see if its totally emptied). Never created a leak then, something in the bottle keeps this from happening? I suppose if a line ruptured downstream from the regulator it could be a problem.

It's a good point. Propane tanks are highly unlikely to explode, and just as likely to explode whether the valve is on or off in an accident. It is more likely that you will get a flare (flame thrower) from a broken line if it ignites, but the valves at the tank are supposed to shutoff if there is a sudden release of gas, so even this is unlikely. If propane pools and then ignites, it is a very quick burn, but I wouldn't characterize as an explosion unless in an enclosed space (like a BBQ that is hard to start); and the valve would likely have cut the supply if a high pressure hose is severed (and most of the supply on an RV is after the regulator and is very low pressure). For the tank itself to actually explode, it would have to heated very hot, or punctured, and that has the same probability of occurring if the valve handle is open or closed.

[rickrockport]

Originally Posted by wags999

Propane is not gasoline. It is very difficult to get propane to burn, the air/propane mixture where propane will burn is very narrow, about 2.15% to 9.6% mixture, above or below that propane will not ignite. Most of us do leave the propane on when traveling without any issues. When fueling you may want to turn the frig off, but, depending on the situation you may not have to. Again, propane in open air (over 9.6%) will not burn.

One of the joys of RVing is using your Rv and all it's amenities. Refrigerator, toilet showers etc...they are all there to be enjoyed and enhance your Rv excursion.

Happy Camping

I assumed that turning the fridge off while fueling was to kill the flame, not because of a propane leak. I don't worry about it either but DW is a fanatic on turning the fridge off when fueling and we are diesel. Overkill but it makes her happy so I oblige.

We run on propane on the road all the time. When we were on the Alaska ferry we had to shut it down but without opening the door it stayed cold on our longest leg which was 12 hours. 6cf Norcold

[bdreinv]

Never turn the propane off when camping. Did spend 65 bucks on a set of interior cooling fans.First time temp inside the doors were 36 degrees!

[lefoster]

agree rick rock.....I was told the danger at gas pumps is the pilot flame igniting the gas fumes, not the propane tanks exploding.

[Baldfacemt]

Hey everyone,
Thanks for sharing your feedback! Seems like most folks leave it on. I appreciate all your input and will chew on it all with DH ( who is a shut it off fan...)
Looking forward to next season when it thaws!

Gayle

[Murff]

RVing since 1983, always travel with fridge on.

Murff

[Quantum]

Originally Posted by Love To Travel 2

We also keep our propane on all the time when traveling. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia does have a regulation for RV's that the propane must be turned off at the valve prior to making the crossing. They have large pull-offs on each side of the Bridge-Tunnel just for that purpose. There is a section on their website with regulations for Recreational Vehicles.

That's the one I was referring to

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[pamanc]

Originally Posted by Lolead

If you are uncomfortable traveling with the fridge on get some dry ice for your cooler or put in freezer compartment of the fridge. We traveled from South Louisiana last year with a large cooler full of crawfish, boudin, and other tasty bits all topped with dry ice. When we arrived in Missouri all items in the cooler were frozen solid. They were not frozen when we placed them in the cooler. This was in May and the cooler was just a run of the mill Coleman.

We brought 100# of halibut home from Alaska using dry ice in a cooler. It froze it in a couple hours. Great stuff!


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[wags999]

Originally Posted by lefoster

agree rick rock.....I was told the danger at gas pumps is the pilot flame igniting the gas fumes, not the propane tanks exploding.

Of course, but if your frig is on the opposite side from the pumps, and your in the outside lane, and your trailer isn't even near the pumps, well.. I never shut my frig off and most everyone I know never shuts theirs off when at the pump...but...we don't pull to a forward pump with our RV sitting in front of a different pump with the frig 2' away from a pump. Seems common sense, and why I said depending on the situation you may want to shut your frig off...

I have seen and read about a number of fires from Static electric. People put the nozzle in and start pumping, then get back in their vehicle and whey they get out and touch the pump handle they get a spark and a fire starts.. I would be much more concerned with that issue than with my frig may blow up the gas station, when I use due caution.

[Kim Gass]

You will have to figure whats best for you. We do not mind freezer melt as we don't store food in our little freezer. What we do store is two two liter bottles frozen.
That cools the contents of the fridge while we travel and we do not run the propane. Simply cause we don't need to
Our Norcold holds maybe three days of food so its tiny. When we get to camp and turn on the propane the water in the two liter bottles refreezes

We have traveled almost 200 days and five times cross country with this system. Travel enough and you will find a system that works for you. As your unit is bigger your fridge is too.. Consider if you really need frozen food.

[McGintys924]

It's just my two cents but I know the LP lines on my Seneca are rubber. In the event of an accident, they could become impaired and leak. If LP was left on this could ignite a fire. Now I appreciate that the 74 gallons of diesel fuel could do the same, but I try and be as safe as possible. I never travel with LP on. We have done 6 hour drives and never had fridge thaw out with it off. Probably would not have same concern if I had a TT.

[che57vy]

I always travel with propane on in frige, I remember a story I read about a couple years ago driving thru desert had decided to keep cool with dry ice inside the car with windows up about passed out later due to all the CO2

[MaxFalls44]

Originally Posted by Robbbyr

I'm on my third motorhome and always run the refrigerator on the road. Just make sure you turn it off when refueling!

You'll get varying opinions, I have never had any problems in many years of traveling.

Yea, I would keep it running during most of the travel time

[stenzack]

In February we will be traveling from PA to FL, taking at least 3 days to do the trip. For days of moving long distances like that, and over-nighting in Walmart lots, I have to keep the propane and fridge on while moving. There is no other way to keep things cold or frozen.

[Mustang65]

We travel with the fridge on and LP off. SOLAR with the inverter does the trick. DW is happy... which makes me happy!!! Batteries stay happy.

Don


My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[glamisbound]

Always run with it on.

[Scott_Trailer_Newbe]

Propane on, never an issue.

[3fivers]

We have always had 3 way refrigerators, propane, ac, and dc. We put the control on auto and when we turn off the ignition the frig goes to propane, and when we start the engine it goes back to the DC. Of course when we are plugged in we are using AC. I am sure that all of our RV's have come that way but it looks like the older ones were just 2way. I just started RV-ing in 2007 so I would not know about the way things were before that. Anyway, I have never had problems with the frig cooling or not cooling. Happy RV-ing! Bill

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by stenzack

In February we will be traveling from PA to FL, taking at least 3 days to do the trip. For days of moving long distances like that, and over-nighting in Walmart lots, I have to keep the propane and fridge on while moving. There is no other way to keep things cold or frozen.

We made that trip a couple years ago. If you have kids, Stop at Pedro's South of the Boarder. It is something unique. Also, about 100 miles away, start reading the signs. they will bring a chuckle.

[Atlee]

I found on my 7900+ mile trip to California and return, that running my fridge on propane while traveling did not use a lot of gas. I didn't have to fill either of my 30# bottles while on the road.

Originally Posted by kayakterp

At my PDI, the tech said, “turn fridge on coldest setting one day before leaving. if your travel is 4 hours or less, it will stay cold, anything more than that you can run your propane, but it t will take a lot of gas to do that”
I have found this to be true. Most of my trips are under 4 hours so not an issue for me. I have also read others put some type of Ice Packs in fridge/freezer to help keep it cold while traveling.