wolfe10
Texas
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liborko wrote:I am glad everyone is OK. I never liked the idea of driving with fridge on. I always make sure the propane valve on the tank is closed before I hit the road. If I have to have fridge on while driving I turn on the inverter.
I see no facts suggesting this was a problem caused by running the refrigerator on propane while driving. As pointed out by MELM, it is VERY unlikely that propane from the outside of the refrigerator area (the only place there is propane in an absorption refrigerator), sealed to the interior would leak into the interior in sufficient quantity to cause this to happen.
I am sure the original poster will update us if/when the experts determine the cause of this tragedy.
Brett Wolfe
1993 Foretravel 36' U-240
Cat 3116, Allison 3060
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Kodiak5er
Alex Bay NY Summer; Sanford FL Winter
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JTMO wrote:Wow, those electrical fire pictures in the old thread were scary enough. Now you get a new fridge, and you get a propane leak and blow the place up?
Glad you two are OK, I'll keep an eye out for you, so I don't camp NEXT to you 
Good luck, hope this is the last of your tribulations, and the new trailer serves you well.
I guess I didn't make it clear that we had not gotten a new fridge yet. We were on our way to Bowling Green, KY to pick up the new fridge from Camping World (Dometic had shipped the new one to them at our request).
We were running a small refer on our inverter when all this happened.
1990 6500 Chevy Kodiak, 8.3L Cummins 450 HP
6sp Allison 3060, 3.70 R/A Home Made Air Ride
2006 Newmar Cypress
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Kodiak5er
Alex Bay NY Summer; Sanford FL Winter
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MELM wrote:Another one glad no one was hurt.
A thought... From some posts in past threads, members reported that they had "bumped" the knobs on the stove turning a burner on slightly. They all had been fortunate in discovering it.
Is that a possibility for your situation?
The reefer gas line is external to the living quarters, and the reefers have a seal around the front to keep the outside air and gasses from entering the living quarters. Yes, they can be bad, but there is another "exit" through the outside vent where lp would probably go.
Just a thought, and maybe a reminder that it appears some RV's may be layed out so that is more probable and we all need to watch for that.
Mel
Mel,
As near as we can tell the leak was under the trailer around the axle area. When we got to the repair yard in Elkhart we tested the propane system by turning on the main valve at the tank and then immediately turned the valve off. When the valve was turned on the propane indicator went from red to silver and when the valve was turned off the indicator went to red right away. We used the old nose test and could smell propane in the area of our axles on the drivers side.
I think the leak was in that area and some how got in between the floor and the underbelly. Some sort of spark must have set off the explosion that blew off the underbelly and forced the slide out.
Earl
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kottfam6wi
South Central Wisconsin
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liborko wrote:I am glad everyone is OK. I never liked the idea of driving with fridge on. I always make sure the propane valve on the tank is closed before I hit the road. If I have to have fridge on while driving I turn on the inverter.
If he had done that, then it wouldn't have leaked until he was at the campground, possibly allready sleeping. If it's going to happen, I would MUCH rather it happen during the day and not at a campground where it can spread to others close.
Joe
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threedogtrip
Colorado @ 9500 ft and lovin it
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Glad everyone is OK after your close calls! I, as many others here, will be double checking my systems today. Reminders are good, although the circumstances of your post unfortunate.
Good luck, and enjoy the Newmar! Again, we're glad all is OK.
DH
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--- Philip K. Dick
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MELM
GA
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Thanks for the info.
If there was a line going up to an appliance in that area, it could be that it rubbed on something and developed a leak. (I had a copper line in my A/C that developed a hole from the AC power wires for the fan motor rubbing on it.) It would be interesting to investigate and find where the leak was...
But I'm sure you are more involved in getting your new one.
Mel
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Kodiak5er
Alex Bay NY Summer; Sanford FL Winter
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MELM wrote:Thanks for the info.
If there was a line going up to an appliance in that area, it could be that it rubbed on something and developed a leak. (I had a copper line in my A/C that developed a hole from the AC power wires for the fan motor rubbing on it.) It would be interesting to investigate and find where the leak was...
But I'm sure you are more involved in getting your new one.
Mel
Our old 5th wheel had two furnaces, in the area that I think had a leak there is a black iron main line that is divided into three copper lines that feed the refer, stove and rear furnace. All these lines were mounted to the underbelly.
Unfortunately when the trailer exploded the lines were blown down along with the underbelly and it was hard to determine where the leak might have been.
When we made the deal for our new trailer I kind of put finding the leak on the back burner and concentrated on moving "stuff".
We are now in Glendale, KY at the Glendale Campground and will stay here for the rest of the winter. Our old trailer is in Elkhart, IN and we will probably not see it again, we will head back to northern NY in early May.
Earl
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Kodiak5er
Alex Bay NY Summer; Sanford FL Winter
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Kodiak5er wrote: Our old trailer is in Elkhart, IN and we will probably not see it again, we will head back to northern NY in early May.
As we were heading back to northern NY we had some issues with our new trailer so we made an appointment for warranty work at the factory.
While at the factory we stopped by the dealer we bought this new unit from and found our old trailer had been repaired and was on the sale lot. They had installed a new refer and rug along with lots of cleaning and it looked and smelled almost new.
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Kodiak5er
Alex Bay NY Summer; Sanford FL Winter
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kottfam6wi wrote:Glad everyone is ok. Did they not hook the new fridge up correctly?
Joe
We were on our way to pick up the new fridge in Bowling Green, KY at Camping World - we had it shipped there for pick up, we were going to install it ourselves.
I think now that the explosion was caused by the thermostat turning on the small electric fridge we were using to get us to KY. I was running it off an inverter and the click I heard just before the explosion was probably the thermostat in the fridge.
The dealer we traded the old trailer to told me they found one of the flare nuts under the trailer had cracked and let the propane leak into the space between the floor and underbelly.
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lamont
,va
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thanks for the update===
I do appreciate it---I think i will do a check on my lines today
rich in Va.
1998 Bounder 34'
Lifetime Good Sam
Saturn SW2
navy lifer
Viginia
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