Traveling with the GAS On or Off

[Ken Thompson]

I leave mine on all the time. Even when fueling up. I have never heard of diesel blowing up.

[Jerzey Joe]

Originally Posted by BluWave

I've heard arguments for both sides. What are your thoughts to the pros and cons for traveling with the gas on, or off, in your travel trailer?

We keep ours on for the Tefrigerator. We turn off the Hot Water Heater. In case flame blows out. If we are traveling the East Coast . Allot of Tinnel and Bridges with restrictions. Your Tanks must be off. You get stopped and your tank is on. No Mr. Nice Guy. They take it seriously.We are also not using the Furnace while driving. Fridge is ok. Sealed in . I hope this helps.

[Glensouth]

Always leave on. Been doing it that way for 23 years of rving. However the only thing I leave on is the refrig.

[Old-Biscuit]

Cold weather travel....have left water heater & furnace ON


Fridge...always ON


I also drank from hot rubber hoses, swam in dirty ponds, ran with scissors, ate carrots with dirt still on them, plums right off the trees and big tomatoes yanked right odd the vine
Climbed tall trees and rode in bed of pickup trucks too

[Placer49er]

I always turn my gas off. The refrigerator stays cold all day even in hot weather (as long as you only open it for short durations), it prevents frig damage by accidentally running the gas frig off level (when parked for a bit), and it may help prevent a LP fire in case of an accident. And maybe this is like a placebo but it gives me a little peace of mind.

Originally Posted by BluWave

I've heard arguments for both sides. What are your thoughts to the pros and cons for traveling with the gas on, or off, in your travel trailer?

[jaz]

i always ran with the frig on propane. a few years ago dometic had a recall due boiler cracks (there fix was to put shielding around the burner area but not correcting the problem). they also said to not run the frig on propane until the fix was done.
anyway after driving a couple thousand miles to home using the propane, i parked and switched to elec. we didnt unload but a few things out of the frig. a month later we were going on another trip. found the frig was warm. there was a yellow liquid under the burner. the NH3 and H2 had leaked out. sense the gas wasnt in use, there was nothing to ignite the gas that leaked out.

when i see a rv on the side of the road on fire that frig recall is what i think abt.
(i've only seen 2 burning in 25 yrs of rving).
when i see write ups about the fridge setting off a fire in a station im wondering if the frig sealed system was already leaking and on fire before the stop.
i often wondered why a hot catalytic converter doesnt set off gas fumes at a gas station. diesel i can understand; it doesnt create enough vapor to burn at ambient temp.
after replacing my frig sealed system, i still ran on gas on a long trip.
now i turn the bottles off. ran into several places on the east coast (tunnels) where, if u were allowed to go thru, the bottles had to be turned off.

one of the fire schools i attended would put a cup of gasoline in a drum that was placed in a cage (made with 4" pipes filled with cement). they would then heat to demo the power of the explosion. on one demo, the drum went thru the open top of the cage and landed near a groupe 100 yds away. they didnt do that demo after that.

[Lisablue85]

Originally Posted by Jerzey Joe

We keep ours on for the Tefrigerator. We turn off the Hot Water Heater. In case flame blows out. If we are traveling the East Coast . Allot of Tinnel and Bridges with restrictions. Your Tanks must be off. You get stopped and your tank is on. No Mr. Nice Guy. They take it seriously.We are also not using the Furnace while driving. Fridge is ok. Sealed in . I hope this helps.

Actually, whether on or off, all propane tanks (over 10lbs)are strictly prohibited in Maryland. You have to go around the tunnels.
https://mdta.maryland.gov/Toll_Facilities/BHT.html

[oldstairdog]

I've owned an RV since 2004, and up until recently I always left the gas on! However, this last summer I took a trip around the outer perimeter of the States, and had a blown out on the trailer on the highway outside of Baton Rouge La. It wasn't until later while changing the tire that I noticed that the exploding tread had knocked off the the outdoor barbecue valve off the main propane line. Why it didn't cause a fire I'll never know. Now I travel with it off. So far I haven't had any melting or cooling problems running the gas off. And I feel better!

[Wdennis999]

Perhaps it’s different on trailers. My class A’s propane tank goes directly into a 1/2 line, so If an accident should occur and a line cracked and in the process a spark should occur, forget about it. I just want to get out of the coach alive. I turn the propane off while traveling. There are enough YouTube videos out there where this had happened. It’s your choice.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by oldstairdog

I've owned an RV since 2004, and up until recently I always left the gas on! However, this last summer I took a trip around the outer perimeter of the States, and had a blown out on the trailer on the highway outside of Baton Rouge La. It wasn't until later while changing the tire that I noticed that the exploding tread had knocked off the the outdoor barbecue valve off the main propane line. Why it didn't cause a fire I'll never know. Now I travel with it off. So far I haven't had any melting or cooling problems running the gas off. And I feel better!

Why no fire........
Cause the Propane Safety Features worked as designed.

Excess Flow Device tripped limiting the flow of propane
PLUS propane has a narrow combustion range...too much propane/no ignition---no much air/no ignition
Plus you need fire/spark within the fuel/air mixture
Blown line/connection and limited flow results in too much air----hence NO ignition
Just like intended!

[WileyOne]

Install an inverter. Then you can tool down the road while your reefer runs on AC power.

That is, as long as two things are true:
1. Your inverter can generate enough AC power. The average RV fridge draws about 300w, so just about any inverter will do the job.
2. Your vehicle's alternator delivers enough DC power to prevent the house batteries from discharging. This includes the "idle current" consumed by the inverter.

Problem solved. No open flames. Gas valve can stay off. Beer stays cold.

Bonus: you save your propane for another day

[Badbrad1961]

Pros and cons. Possible explosion. Or no explosion.
Yes I've heard the "I've been doing it for X amount of years" so don't need those replies.
Anything can happen at anytime. Like pulling into a gas station with it on and there be alot of fumes very rare yes possibility yes. Crash on the highway and broken or cracked up line? Absolutely possible.
What it comes down to is do you feel lucky and do you feel the other driver will always do the right thing? It's ultimately your choice choose wisely

[mikena]

20 years of doing this we traveled with the gas on. With two exceptions. Not while refueling and not on in tunnels. The RV style fridge should be turned off while refueling or going through tunnels.

[gwhollis]

Most are guilty of doing so from time to time,,,,for safety and by law all propane must be turned off while in travel mode!!!