Furnace use during cold months on the road

[Ewok]

Looks like I started a good discussion on propane safety. There is a good deal of knowledge here.
Be safe and to each his own.
Have a great and safe Thanksgiving to all.

[Oneilkeys]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

I've done it a lot of times. Never a problem. Why would you have to shut off all of the propane? I have never , even when fueling.

Bill

If the idiot next to you leaves their pump while refueling his vehicle,and the handle does not automatically shut off, and the gas runs under your RV and vaporizes, and the fridge picks that moment to start up with a nice spark - BOOM! You don’t need to shut off the propane, but you DO need to shut off your propane fridge and/or water heater and/or heater. It’s not the propane you need to worry about, but the gasoline vapors.

[Porkchop]

Facts man, just the facts. Where did you get the idea I was bragging about anything?
If you have knowledge and do not share it, what's the point in having it?

Bill

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by Oneilkeys

If the idiot next to you leaves their pump while refueling his vehicle,and the handle does not automatically shut off, and the gas runs under your RV and vaporizes, and the fridge picks that moment to start up with a nice spark - BOOM! You don’t need to shut off the propane, but you DO need to shut off your propane fridge and/or water heater and/or heater. It’s not the propane you need to worry about, but the gasoline vapors.

I expect that this scenario is technically possible but the risk seems vanishingly small to me. If I remember my college chemistry (or maybe it was an episode of Mythbusters...) it’s pretty difficult to to make an explosive vapor even in an enclosed space much less in open air. It’s much more likely that that same idiot will come running back to his overflowing gas tank with a cigarette in his mouth and drop it in the spilled gas. Maybe I’m deluding myself because I’m too lazy to turn off my fridge at the gas station but I think I’m going to continue the practice. When was the last time you heard of a gas station explosion on the news? Still, I’ll grant you that it can’t hurt to be cautious.

[Bob Denman]

These debates are always fun!
While I prefer to also "err on the side of caution"; the actual chances of ending up on Page One ARE pretty remote!

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/att...1&d=1511567442

[Porkchop]

" It’s much more likely that that same idiot will come running back to his overflowing gas tank with a cigarette in his mouth and drop it in the spilled gas"

Go back and read the part about being able tp put a lit cigarette out in a can of gas. Also applies to any amount of gas on the ground. Takes an open flame or spark to ignite. Lit cigarettes have neither.

Bill

[Chance]

I worked for a few years in a chemical plant handling materials that would actually explode, so I had to take a class on explosives to help me design things that could survive explosions (like control rooms to protect operators). It was a long time ago, and I don't recall many details, but one that stuck with me is that most fuels just burn under normal conditions and don't explode -- at least by definition used in that class decades ago.

Whether it's gasoline or propane, when ignition is achieved, the fuel will normally deflagrate, which just means the flame front travels relatively slowly and with low pressure. You can get burned if in direct contact but it doesn't blow things apart (like we see in the movies when someone shoots a vehicle gas tank). That kind of explosion just doesn't happen.

An explosion was defined as a detonation which means the flame front travels at very high speeds (supersonic) and with very high pressure that can blow things apart. Gasoline vapors and propane won't normally detonate unless conditions are unusually rare (nothing I'd worry about in real life).

Anyone who has ignited a propane grill after letting the gas flow for a while knows what I'm describing. You get a flame front that may even singe your hair but it won't kill you like an actual explosion would.

Just my 2 cents trying to differentiate between concerns for fires and explosions. Even if there is a fire, it doesn't necessarily mean you will get killed or injured. You may be able to walk away. Granted, no one wants a fire either, but the danger should be kept real.