Community Forums

Angler3041 · 03-25-2013, 07:31 PM

I saw a motorhome on fire Friday afternoon on I 75 Northern Florida. Anybody know anything about it ? I just got a glimpse of it, it was in the south bound lane.

KSCRUDE · 03-25-2013, 07:48 PM

Probably one of them residential ice boxes going up in flames. Samsung, Maytag or Whirl Pool, they all can go up in flames. I love my Norcold or as I call it, Norfreeze!

Or another cobbled up Amish cooling unit.

Mike Canter · 03-26-2013, 04:19 PM

Why do you say that residential fridges catch on fire. Are you just being funny??? I have never heard of a residential fridge in mh or stick house catching on fire. There are other reasons for mh fires such as bad wheel bearings, turbo failure, shorted out positive battery cables, faulty alternator, oil or fuel leak.

beaverjim · 03-26-2013, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSCRUDE

Probably one of them residential ice boxes going up in flames. Samsung, Maytag or Whirl Pool, they all can go up in flames. I love my Norcold or as I call it, Norfreeze!

Or another cobbled up Amish cooling unit.

your kidding, right!

steelheadbluesman · 03-26-2013, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSCRUDE

Probably one of them residential ice boxes going up in flames. Samsung, Maytag or Whirl Pool, they all can go up in flames. I love my Norcold or as I call it, Norfreeze!

Or another cobbled up Amish cooling unit.

I'm pretty sure I feel my leg being pulled, just a wee bit

At least I hope so...........

jeepfreak · 03-27-2013, 05:33 PM

I guess no one knows anything!

gmanatl · 03-27-2013, 08:52 PM

Here is what a refrigerator fire can do.

KSCRUDE · 03-27-2013, 09:36 PM

I just googled (fires started by refrigerators) and OMG you can read for days. If it plugs in it can cause a fire. They didn't even mention Norcolds, it was all about residential fires, caused by residential fridges. If they can burn your house down, they can burn your RV down. Trolling, that's what you do on the lake, while drinking beer pretending to catch fish!

A lot of people on here are brainwashed on the dreaded RV fridge fires. Don't worry, be happy.

Murf2u · 03-29-2013, 06:56 AM

I had a chat with the FIL on this subject, while he's not an RV'er, he is an Electrical Engineer who spent many years on remote mine sites. His first comment was something I, and probably most, would not think of. "Generator, worst invention ever, probably caused more fires than anything else.".

Gensets are notorious for giving you pretty wide (relatively speaking) range of voltage, to be fair though so do most c/g's too. That is the real problem IMHO.

if the load stays the same (resistance) then as voltage drops the current (amps) increases proportionately. That's killer, as current increases, so does the heat!

In my own case, a lightly equipped 24' C with a 4k Onan, I routinely get swings of up to 15 volts (usually only downwards) off the 'rated' 120 volts. Mind you, I get pretty much the same thing off the pedestals in the parks too. I might see a bigger swing, but the Onan shuts itself down when the output drops to 100 volts, even if only for a second.

Industry standards are 3% variance, maybe 5% on the outside are "acceptable". A 15 volt swing is 12.5%, that's 2.5 to 4 times the "acceptable" variance.

That would translate to a big increase in heat on an inductive load like the motor in a fridge with a compressor.

vtwinwilly · 03-29-2013, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmanatl

Here is what a refrigerator fire can do.

Oh man! That's awful!

The fridge on my 93 Navigator set itself on fire but fortunately I was able to extinguish it be fore too much damage was done.

Is that your Navigator or just a picture you found on the Internet?

Angler3041 · 03-29-2013, 11:27 AM

I went by there Thursday again, saw where the fire was (MM 294). still haven't been able to find anything. Traffic was back-up for quite miles. It was in the southbound lane and was burning pretty good when I went by Fri. the 22. Guess it wasn't that newsworthy, hope everyone is OK.