Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #25 – August 28, 2015, 04:49:25 pm Quote from: Lon and Cheryl – August 28, 2015, 03:52:43 pmYou can add my Foretravel to the list.Thats the refrigerator laying on the sofa.Ouch. Much worse than mine. Was it operating on propane at the time? How did the coach fare, damage wise? Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #26 – August 28, 2015, 05:12:35 pm Quote from: krush – August 28, 2015, 04:31:12 pmIf it was a huge problem, we all would be asked by our insurance agent, "Do you have a propane refrigerator?" Kind of like homeowners insurance asks if you have a pool and/or a trampoline.Anyway, the previous owner replaced my norcold about 3 years ago, so it's the updated design. It has a high temp sensor on the stack. It works great, no complaints. Quiet. Sure I have to defrost once in a while.I agree with you about different strokes for different uses. I will say that the newer cooling units are worse then the older ones. This whole issue came about from early 2000s when the EPA restricted the amount of Sodium Chromate in the tubes to protect them. It started becoming a big problem after they reduced the amount and they caused the tubes to rupture and catch on fire. the shield is not anything other then a method to try to prevent a fire not save the cooling unit. That said, I have one in my small born free and there is no way I could change it too a residential as there is not enough battery space to put in enough amp hours so, I keep it in that coach even though I went to a residential in the Foretravel. Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #27 – August 28, 2015, 08:39:00 pm Is it OK to mention that folks who prefer the gas refrig. might also like the suspense wondering when ?? Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #28 – August 28, 2015, 10:11:49 pm Quote from: Dave M – August 28, 2015, 08:39:00 pmIs it OK to mention that folks who prefer the gas refrig. might also like the suspense wondering when ??No.But they can sleep well if they add an Arprv controller and automatic fire suppression system. Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #29 – August 29, 2015, 12:27:48 am Quote from: Tom Lang – August 28, 2015, 10:11:49 pmNo.But they can sleep well if they add an Arprv controller and automatic fire suppression system.Famous last words.Pierce Quote Selected 1 Likes
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #30 – August 29, 2015, 05:05:37 am Quote from: Tom Lang – August 28, 2015, 04:49:25 pmOuch. Much worse than mine. Was it operating on propane at the time? How did the coach fare, damage wise?The fire happened before I bought it. I bought it from a re builder with a rebuilt title.I tracked down the original owner in Alabama before I bought it. He gave me the life story on the coach.The fire started the day before he and his wife were going to leave for an Alaska trip. This was the first trip they were going to make together. He originally bought the coach to tour his region as an Insurance agent, not to be used for camping.He had a shed on his property that he kept the coach in. The day before the trip he decided to start the refrigerator so it would be cold when they loaded it. He was standing outside the coach and noticed out of the corner of his eye a wisp of smoke come out of the refrigerator outside vent. He stated that the fire took off so fast there was little he could do but call 911. He did his best to keep the fire down.Inspection showed a small "nest" built in the rear of the refrigerator vent ignited then apparently ignited the ammonia.I replaced about a 5x6' section that burned through the roof. The surrounding cabinets were burned. The flames spread across the roof all the way to the front and scorched the walnut cabinets over the drivers seat. The fire burned up the top walnut pantry door across from the refrigerator. The fire followed air paths. One was to the roof vent in the bathroom were the entire vent and control knobs were melted. The ceiling liner was burned and the insulation half way to the front of the coach was completely gone, melted away, as was the ceiling and insulation half way through the bathroom. All the wiring behind the refrigerator was melted.Needless to say I bought the coach for a very good price. The coach was driven from Texas to Chicago in the condition you see it in the pictures. A testament to Foretravel endurance! The guy who drove it here praised the way it drove and how fast it was.I will never forget the original owner talking about the Foretravel, he was holding back tears as he talked on the phone. He loved the coach! He told me " HELL if your going to buy a RV buy what ever you want, If your going to buy a MOTORHOME you buy a Foretravel"!I was able to upgrade everything inside the coach and have it exactly like we want. Somethings still need to be addressed but the big stuff is done. My main concentration the last few years has shifted to mechanical updates, they too are about done.I hope to give a fully rebuilt coach to my Son and his Wife someday. Hopefully they will enjoy it for 20+ years.When you see what the fire can do in a small amount of time and the way it rapidly engulfs ALL EXITS OF ESCAPE I would NEVER have an ammonia based refrigerator in anything! In fact any source of flame that I can't see and monitor scares me! Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #31 – August 29, 2015, 09:57:50 am After seeing the results of two refrigerator fires, one near my home and another burnt out Tiffin at Parliament, if I had a propane refrigerator I would most certainly have fire suppression. It's not clear to me why folks with propane insist that the generator is always running to keep the refrigerator going in my coach. Or that people would residential refrigerators need to be tied to a power pedestal. I boondock a LOT at NASCAR races. I have three junk 9 year old 8D batteries for house batteries, and yet I easily go all night running the aqua hot and refrigerator, not plugged in with the generator on autostart. The generator does not kick on until I turn it on in the morning to make coffee run the microwave, and at that point I let it run 45 minutes to an hour. I'm sure if I had solar that wouldn't be required. Fires can and will start anywhere in your house, in your shop, or in the coach. I have four fire extinguishers on board the coach three inside and one below. I don't think these extinguishers would be A match for a hungry fire. So I choose to take the most dangerous device out of the equation, but that doesn't make me feel 100% safe. Plus the space and convenience of a residential are you worlds I had of any propane refrigerator. An argument could be made for Danfoss or helium solutions if that's your thing but to dismiss residential refrigerators for use while Boondocking flies in the face of my personal experience. Speaking of solar I'm heading to solar power international in Los Angeles midmonth. It is the world's largest solar conference and we are exhibiting the hyper sure start there alongside Generac. I'll let you know what I see that is of interest to our forum. Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #32 – August 29, 2015, 10:10:11 am "Boondocking" for many people doesn't involve running the generator at least once ever 24hours. I guess different definitions. Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #33 – August 29, 2015, 10:23:00 am Yes, different strokes.A good question might be when you're Boondocking are you camping? Some might say having a 30,000 lb RV might not be camping...... If not running your generator is your badge of honor I applaud you for it. For me I own it I might as well use it. If I didn't want to use it, I wouldn't of bought it. 😀 Quote Selected 3 Likes
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #34 – August 29, 2015, 10:26:24 am People like different things.......That's why they make chocolate and vanilla! TOM Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #35 – August 29, 2015, 10:36:30 am What is boondocking and why do people do it? FWIW Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #36 – August 29, 2015, 10:44:26 am My experience with Boondocking has been mostly limited to my 4 years playing Marine in the early 60's, pup tents, K Rats, C Rats and cold, wet, muddy or sandy. You can have Boondocking, me, I had enough playing that game. Quote Selected 4 Likes
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #37 – August 29, 2015, 11:13:31 am The original refrigerator was dead when we took possession of our coach. We had already decided that we would replace any RV refrigerator with a residential unit when the RV one died. Our inverter and chargers were also original, so they were replaced, too. Just for grins, I've looked at new RV refrigerators. They run about 3x the cost of the residential unit. For us, that meant that for the price of a new RV refrigerator we got a new residential refrigerator, a new inverter, and two new chargers.We do run the generator when going down the road so that the rooftop a/c units can run. This winter will be the first time we will be traveling, so I suspect that the inverter will power the refrigerator while driving since we probably won't need the a/c. So far we've always had at least 20A electrical service, so I don't know how well we would do on just the two 8D batteries for overnight. Some day we'll find out. Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #38 – August 29, 2015, 11:20:18 am Heck, I *still* like to tent camp but I don't hike in much any more. We have two tents. One is a small "backpacker" tent that I use in the Jeep when out exploring. Until this last spring the second was a 10x12 Coleman we gave to our son and his family when they wanted to try camping with their 3-year-old. That one spent a week at Glacier with us two summers ago. We replaced it with another Coleman that has more vertical sides called the Prairie Breeze. It's big and roomy and with a room divider we can take our favorite single mom and her teen-aged daughter out tent camping with us. Oddly enough, the big one doesn't take much more time to set up. We've even set that one up next to the FT for company (and evening card games with no bugs). Modern cots and sleeping pads make tents a lot more comfortable.Our FT still has its propane fridge but it scares me. I'm constantly on the lookout for residential refrigerators that fit into my U225. Amazon helps by popping up ads for them daily. None of them fit. Really frustrating. I'll definitely have to buy two new AGM batteries when I find one, though.Someone brought up parking their FT in the shade. I'm amazed at just how much shade the solar panels - mounted just above the rooftop on stand-offs - provide. Parking in the shade with solar panels doesn't charge the batteries (obviously) so we tend to park in the sun. Our favorite weekend spot is right next to a reservoir overlooking the boat dock. We can watch the fishermen set out and the kids playing on the beach and in the water (they have marked it "no swimming" but the swimming beach is 1/4 mile away; and they probably wonder why the kids don't read the signs). We like to watch kids playing. Because that spot has so much sun it's always one of the last to be filled. Lots of shade trees on the lawn around it but hardly any on an RV parked there. Because it's a no-hookup park there are seldom any other big motor homes there but from our spot you couldn't see them, anyway.Best spot in the park and it's almost always all ours!!! All for $7.50 a night (with geezer pass).We don't turn our generator unless we need to microwave popcorn.Craig Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #39 – August 29, 2015, 01:51:26 pm Quote from: Dave M – August 29, 2015, 10:44:26 amMy experience with Boondocking has been mostly limited to my 4 years playing Marine in the early 60's, pup tents, K Rats, C Rats and cold, wet, muddy or sandy. You can have Boondocking, me, I had enough playing that game.Shucks when we boondock we have all the comforts of home without the view of RV's in front behind and on each side of us and Sampson our mascot love the freedom of being of lead. No C-reasons MRE's or tents for us.Roland Quote Selected 3 Likes
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #40 – August 31, 2015, 12:30:32 pm simple question that I have wondered the answer to.. Is the threat of a refrigerator fire on a ac and propane unit only when the refrigerator is on gas mode or does the threat exist when the unit is on shore or gen electricity mode? Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #41 – August 31, 2015, 12:55:39 pm The fire risk is likely somewhay less on the AC heater in the refrigerator than with the open flame using LP. What burns is the leaking ammonia gas or stuff in the flue Inspect your tubes for any corosion or yellow staining that may indicate a leak. Make sure the flue is clean. Don't asume it is OK, inspect and verify. As someone else pointed out the older units seem to be more durable as they were built with heavier wall tubing. You may get by just fine for many years with proper inspection and maintenance.We had our LP refrig for three years before switching. A fire supprsion system went in within a couple of months after we bought it. If you don't have one you should get one. You should also have a fire escape plan and practice it. If you are in the BR the only way out may be the BR window. Make sure your smoke alarm is working and test the CO and LP leak detectors as well. Replace them if they are older than about 5 years.Roger Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #43 – August 31, 2015, 03:48:13 pm John S said:"That said, I have one in my small born free and there is no way I could change it too a residential as there is not enough battery space to put in enough amp hours so, I keep it in that coach even though I went to a residential in the Foretravel."I had a 26.5 ft LazyDaze that I put 2 Lifeline 8D's under one of the dinette benches. This area was right next to where the factory put the golf cart batteries (which was empty after the 8Ds were in)Never thot about it until now, but I might have got 4 8Ds in, not just 2.Not sure if something like that would work in your Born Free, John. best, paul Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #44 – August 31, 2015, 05:40:49 pm I put an inverter in one space and the other would vent inside so I do not think so. Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #45 – August 31, 2015, 08:08:37 pm How many battery explosions have we heard about on the forums? Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #46 – August 31, 2015, 09:08:50 pm Quote from: krush – August 31, 2015, 08:08:37 pmHow many battery explosions have we heard about on the forums?An over voltage failure from either changing method could be a problem.Not as much in new stuff but old Chargers were problematic and bulged batteries regularly Quote Selected
Re: Refrigerator Fire Reply #47 – September 01, 2015, 07:01:43 am I had one explode in my born free this month. It was loud and blew open the door to the compartment. Quote Selected
Topic: Refrigerator Fire