Propane Safety & Facts.

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Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Dale M. » Tue May 17, 2011 10:36 am

Here is a couple of good links for propane knowledge and safety.

http://www.flameengineering.com/Propane_Info.html
http://www.gasco-propane.com/Files/safety.html
http://www.propane101.com/
http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?ca ... kie_test=1
http://www.funroads.com/rv-travel/safety/propane/

Ok.... So there is a lot of links... And you might think most pertain to BIG TANKS and transport rigs and "the other guys"...

Keep in mind propane does not care, if you are a little guy with #1 cylinder or a 500 gallon tank in back yard or a 5 gallon tank on trailer tongue...

Propane leaks are propane leaks, explosions are explosions....

Remember when propane leaks it flows downward because its heavier than air...

Remember that when propane and air reach proper mixture and ignited it will explode and expand 277 times its initial volume...

And the odor in propane is Ethyl Mercaptan because un-odorized propane does not have any smell... It's added to propane to help humans detect leaks by using their noses...

Be safe my friends....

Dale
Last edited by Dale M. on Fri May 20, 2011 9:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Dale M. » Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:04 am

Some more reading on latest RULES on OPD valves and tank re-certifications (inspection dates) and possible Horizontal tank exemptions...

http://www.damouth.org/RVStuff/OPD.shtml

http://www.grillman.com/propane_tankregs.htm

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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Wobbly Wheels » Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:51 pm

It might not a bad idea to mention here that, in any small space with combustion appliances, CO is a significant hazard.
It too is heavier than air in, in most of these trailers, folks are sleeping on the floor. If you're running appliances while you sleep, a roof vent won't give the CO anywhere to go. The primary symptoms of CO poisoning (drowsiness, dry mouth, and headache) will go unnoticed while you're sleeping and it's cumulative, so minor exposure over several hours will still allow it to build up in your blood.

I don't mean to sound like a Nervous Nellie: the risks can be mitigated safely and quite easily and will make camping much more enjoyable....but they do need to be addressed with any combustion device and this IS a safety thread after all....
A CO detector installed down low is cheap insurance and will jar you awake before the concentration gets too high.
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Ron Dickey » Fri Sep 21, 2012 9:46 pm

There are many co alarms out there.

Travel type and house type

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Several brands look around and see what will work for you.

In my house I have one we got at HD and it has a woman's voice come on that says either fire or carbon monoxide and a loud noise.

Be very careful learn as much as you can about things you may not understand.

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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby 666K9 » Wed Jan 08, 2014 4:59 pm

Wobbly Wheels wrote:It might not a bad idea to mention here that, in any small space with combustion appliances, CO is a significant hazard.
It too is heavier than air in, in most of these trailers, folks are sleeping on the floor. If you're running appliances while you sleep, a roof vent won't give the CO anywhere to go. The primary symptoms of CO poisoning (drowsiness, dry mouth, and headache) will go unnoticed while you're sleeping and it's cumulative, so minor exposure over several hours will still allow it to build up in your blood.

I don't mean to sound like a Nervous Nellie: the risks can be mitigated safely and quite easily and will make camping much more enjoyable....but they do need to be addressed with any combustion device and this IS a safety thread after all....
A CO detector installed down low is cheap insurance and will jar you awake before the concentration gets too high.



I wish I had seen this long ago. You seem to have CO (carbon monoxide) confused with CO2 (carbon dioxide). CO is lighter than air; CO2 is heavier. They are both products of combustion, but have entirely different chemical properties in regards to human health and safety. Both can kill, but CO is much faster, and requires lower concentrations.
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Doc1 » Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:00 pm

I am new to this site and understand this is an older thread.
I did a little looking but did not see this point mentioned on propane
It is unlawful to travel on the public highway with a piece of equipment on that uses propane ,such as a refrigerator ,a stove pilot light or heater pilot light
I have seen people do this and pull up to a gas pump to fill their rv or pickup with gas
Being a person that worked on travel trailers for a few years I learned to listen for that faint little roar a propane refrigerator gives when running :beer:

Every one should get a manometer and a pressure guage to test for leaks and proper regulator settings
You can do these test yourself and always feel comfortable using your system
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Dale M. » Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:34 pm

About only restrictions I am aware of are to do with tunnels...Some have restrictions posted some don't... Restriction seems to be to not transport propane tanks through them

Its always been my policy to turn tank off when not in use or "unit" is in motion....This was taught to me by my father almost 60 years ago..

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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Coop505 » Mon Apr 06, 2015 1:04 pm

I'd like to add that any fittings used on soft copper should be flared fittings.....I've seen some people using compression fittings....They can leak and cause a dangerous situation....In most places it's also not up to code and illegal....Just thought I'd put in my two cents...
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Shadow Catcher » Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:43 pm

Coop, and yet they are used in the UK. http://www.bes.co.uk/products/140.asp These appear to be very specific in construction.
The standards http://www.oru.com/documents/naturalgasinstallationstandards.pdf
Having worked with many standards ASTM MIL NAV AWS... and understanding how industries influence standards I will often look for standards from other countries.
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby GuitarPhotog » Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:01 pm

RV fridges are intended to run on 12 VDC from the vehicle while driving, and propane or 12 VDC from the local battery when camping. Since propane-powered "adsorption" fridges need to be pretty level and draft free, it would be difficult to keep one running while towing the trailer.

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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Redneck Teepee » Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:19 pm

GuitarPhotog wrote:RV fridges are intended to run on 12 VDC from the vehicle while driving, and propane or 12 VDC from the local battery when camping. Since propane-powered "adsorption" fridges need to be pretty level and draft free, it would be difficult to keep one running while towing the trailer.

<Chas>

I know they make very small ice chest type propane/12vdc refrigerators.... But RV refrigerators (the built in type) run on propane going down the highway and propane/120vac in camp, not 12vdc.
I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of idiot's.
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby MtnDon » Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:58 pm

The Class C we had for 15 years had a propane / electric absorption fridge that was only 120 VAC on the electrical side, called a 2-way fridge. We put over 75000 miles on that and ran the fridge on propane while traveling. Never once had the pilot blow out.


The built in ASME approved propane tanks (as opposed to the removable DOT cylinders that trailers and 5th wheels use) had excess flow valves and overfill protection from way back so leaks in case of a vehicle accident are no more of a danger than leaks from the gasoline tank.
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Wobbly Wheels » Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:17 pm

Redneck Teepee wrote:...run on propane going down the highway and propane/120vac in camp, not 12vdc.

FWIW, I rebuilt an old Dometic fridge and the heater element was 12V, not 110. It was out of a slide-in camper and it was 12V & LPG.
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That would at least give someone the option to run on DC while rolling vs using AC. We have a pretty extensive ferry network here, with one of the runs being overnight. They expressly forbid running propane appliances on the car deck, which would cause the fridge contents to spoil.
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby Coop505 » Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:20 pm

Shadow Catcher wrote:Coop, and yet they are used in the UK. http://www.bes.co.uk/products/140.asp These appear to be very specific in construction.
The standards http://www.oru.com/documents/naturalgasinstallationstandards.pdf
Having worked with many standards ASTM MIL NAV AWS... and understanding how industries influence standards I will often look for standards from other countries.

Don't know about the UK code Shadow and in my work I've come across compression fittings that had been in service for several years on gas lines,either installed by the homeowner or a "plumber" that either didn't know the code or didn't care. I have no knowledge of an explosion or other catastrophe happening because of compression fittings being used but I believe that the people who wrote the code have a reason for it. I'm sure the folks that wrote the code in the UK know what they're doing too, so I'll leave it at that.
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Re: Propane Safety & Facts.

Postby daveesl77 » Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:36 pm

I've had Dometic 3 way (120v/12v/Prop) and 2 way (120v/Prop) and (12v/Prop). I've had the automatic igniters and the manuals. The 12v versions are hard to find now, but you can find them. They aren't efficient, but they can work pretty darn well if you help them out a bit with fans.

With the automatic igniter, I ran with propane with driving, as it was just more efficient than 12v. This worked because the automatic system kept the flame going. With the manual one, I had to use 12v, as the propane would blow out immediately if driving and the system would heat up. If I was using shore power when camped, then I went with 120v, if not then propane.

One thing I did with ALL of them was to add in at least one, and in some cases two (if I had the room) 120mm computer fans blowing up and over the heat exchanger fins. This made a huge difference in the efficiency. Couple things I learned was to mount the fans with rubber to absorb vibration and noise, to make a little aluminum deflector to more direct the airflow. If using two fans, I'd have one blowing up and onto the exchanger and the second pulling the air out of the exchanger area and exhausting out the side vent. I've also tried putting little fans inside the box, but I could never really tell if it worked better or not.

Also, an old trick with absorption fridges, if the unit quits working, as in flame/heat is on but not getting cold, pull out the unit, turn it upside down for at least 24 hours. In many cases this gets it working again. Modern units are not as cantankerous in demanding exact level conditions, but the more level the better.

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