Reminder

[Steve_Guelph]

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20100 ... 100329598#

Just a reminder to always shut off all propane appliances or better yet shut the tank off before filling up at a gas station.

Steve

[markopolo]

Thanks for the reminder Steve. Ron sent me a link yesterday, it was a shock to see the photo.

[born2camp]

Thanks for posting this. We always have our propane fridge on when travelling. Going to be more careful when filling up.

[VernM]

Anyone know for sure that the refrigerator pilot light was the cause of the fire? Especially since it's on the other side of the vehicle. Unless he/she poured fuel on the ground enough to flood to the other side.

Just wondering if we have made a leap-to-cause here. Fumes reaching the pilot light are a really high-odds safety concern if you think about it. Hoses have restrainers to hold in fumes. Distance to fire ignition source, etc.

Finally got the link to the article to load and ...sure enough...that's what he did. Reminds us that it ain't water we're pouring in that hole and we gotta remember that. Right? I worked for a time at a place that made what looked like docile rockets for use by the Navy as targets. They were powered by hypergolic fuels, the kind that get mad at each other and go off on contact. To remind all who worked around the stuff, safety would take 'em all out and line 'em up about 100 yards from a bucket of hydrazine with a thimble full of red fuming nitric acid suspend over it. Shoot it with a rifle. Bucket usually made it to 200-300 feet while everybody went flat on the ground. Impressed me.

[Mike]

Q: Will the fridge run with the batteries disabled once the pilot is lit? Is it a mechanical
igniter and pilot, or do the coach batteries have to be enabled to light the pilot and keep it running?
UPDATE: all the talk about batteries reminded me of this thread, and I don't think the fridge
needs any kind of continuous electrical power, once it's running on propane.
Logically it would defeat the purpose, of having the propane option. Sorry, my bad.
I'm asking about the 3 way fridge, because I don't know exactly how it stays running on propane.
We don't use the fridge in our van, but have used our furnace. I drew the conclusion that if the
furnace needs coach battery power to ignite and/or run, disabling the coach batteries by
turning off the enable switch, will eliminate the ignition source while refueling the vehicle
gas tank. I usually try to turn off the propane as well, but have forgotten on occasion when
it's raining or snowing. My wife always disables our coach batteries when we stop for vehicle fuel,
if I don't.
When refilling the gas tanks, it is probably more common to see people lock the pump flow
control and then start opening and closing doors, talk on cell phones, or doing things besides
paying attention to the fill pipe and pump handle, possibly making accidental fire/ignition by
sources other than the pilot in the fridge a possibility. Including gasoline spillage.
Still, if the ignition source had been turned off (the Binder's fridge pilot), they likely would have driven
away instead of watching it burn.