Pilot Light Off or On During Fuel Stop?

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steve s.

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Hello Ram Gurus,

How critical is it to turn off RV pilot lights when fueling? Gas stations used to always have warning signs, but these have gone away in recent years. I always turn off the HWH pilot, but get tired of turning off and then restarting the pilot for the refrigerator. I suspect an awful lot of RVs are being fueled with pilot lights on.

Thanks.

Steve S.
 

Dbrewton

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I always keep mine off when traveling. Something about an open flame blowing around in the wind at 70 mph makes me nervous. I have seen more than 1 burned out rv on the side of the road, so I am overly cautious with my own equipment.
 

chopperman1

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Surprised you have a standing pilot and not electronic! Also very surprised the H20 doesn't blow out while moving down the interstate! The fridges is shielded inside the absorber chamber out of the wind. That said, mine are electronic, H20 is off while traveling and fridge stays in auto. Haven't blown up in 30+ years!
 

buckeyexx

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I always traveled with my fridge on and can honestly say I never even thought about fueling issues. I can see the concern but just never crossed my mind. I guess maybe it was because my fridge was on the opposite side of the truck. I would think there would be a lot of fires if it were an issue as I’m sure many travel with the pilot light lit.
 

jvbuttex

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if you pull into a slot at fueling station, even if you pull to the front pump, and you have a fridge/heater (pilot lights) on same side as fuel pump. How many fumes are in the air when filling, and is there enough to seep into the grates of the heater/fridge cover panel?
 

2003F350

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Surprised you have a standing pilot and not electronic! Also very surprised the H20 doesn't blow out while moving down the interstate! The fridges is shielded inside the absorber chamber out of the wind. That said, mine are electronic, H20 is off while traveling and fridge stays in auto. Haven't blown up in 30+ years!

I suppose if it's an older HWH it may still have a pilot that stays on constant...

But I haven't seen a fridge with a standing pilot in YEARS...I'm pretty sure the fridge pilots have been electronic for a couple decades now. I don't recall my dad ever lighting a pilot for the fridge in their old 1992 Starcraft camper. HWH yes but not the fridge.

For the record, I leave the HWH off when travelling but the fridge is on Auto.
 

buckeyexx

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I suppose if it's an older HWH it may still have a pilot that stays on constant...

But I haven't seen a fridge with a standing pilot in YEARS...I'm pretty sure the fridge pilots have been electronic for a couple decades now. I don't recall my dad ever lighting a pilot for the fridge in their old 1992 Starcraft camper. HWH yes but not the fridge.

For the record, I leave the HWH off when travelling but the fridge is on Auto.
Yes I believe your right. My fridge was electronic light and had auto mode so I did the same as you. But even electronic it would still spark I suppose but it never crossed my mind and didn’t worry.
 
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steve s.

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Appreciate all the replies. Good info. I believe I do have an electronic pilot for the fridge, and have duly noted that item. HWH is no problem to keep the pilot off.

Thanks again.

Steve S.
 

Gr8bawana

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I've been pulling trailers for over 40 years and have never traveled with the fridge turned off. Try doing that when the ambient temp is 80-100° for 6-8 hours, see how warm that fridge would be.
As for having an exposed flame from the pilot light "blowing around in the wind" that is ridiculous. First of all it would get blown out in the wind at 70mph and second if you knew how enclosed the pilot light is within the burner box you would see how ridiculous that statement is.
 

2019RamInSC

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I have always turned off the fridge. It doesn't take long to cool off again.

Then new style fridges are only 12v, and use solar panels to keep the power even when traveling. Pretty slick.
We love our 12 VDC Fridge. Works great. Cools so much faster.
 

Different Drummer

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Just some food for thought. "auto" on my last MH Fridge meant that the fridge would choose 120V as the default if it saw the voltage available. If no 120V it would then "automatically go to propane. I could also choose a "gas" setting which would make it run from propane only. There was a standing flame that would burn continuously after it was ignited electronically. This was not a pilot. It was the heat source for the evaporative system. MH was a 2008 model year. In eight years of boon docking for at least 4 months in the winter in the Southwest I came across Many fellow RVers who absolutely WOULD NOT travel with a pilot light or flame of any type burning. This included the evaporative system on their refrigerators. Needless to say they definitely would not run it while fueling. I did in fact leave my fridge running while traveling down the highway. It never became an issue or got blown out. I was religious about extinguishing any flames before taking on Propane and fueling as well. Besides the safety aspect I figured it was a courtesy to others who were fueling around and near me. Sort of like not smoking a cigarette while fueling.
 

Darron

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Hello Ram Gurus,

How critical is it to turn off RV pilot lights when fueling? Gas stations used to always have warning signs, but these have gone away in recent years. I always turn off the HWH pilot, but get tired of turning off and then restarting the pilot for the refrigerator. I suspect an awful lot of RVs are being fueled with pilot lights on.

Thanks.

Steve S.
Isn't it illegal to drive with your propane valve in the open position? I don't recall where I heard that. But I live in California so I assume anything I do, want to do, or have done is illegal. Writing this message is probably illegal. Don't tell Gavin.
 

2003F350

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Isn't it illegal to drive with your propane valve in the open position? I don't recall where I heard that. But I live in California so I assume anything I do, want to do, or have done is illegal. Writing this message is probably illegal. Don't tell Gavin.
If it is I have never heard of this law, and I have been RVing for my entire life.
 

CamperMike

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I run with the fridge set to auto pretty regularly. As far as fridge "pilot", some smaller fridges such as those in popups have to manually light the gas flame. Most of the time those are able to stay lit while traveling... the one in my old popup did. I don't shut the fridge off when fueling.
 

Earl Zeis

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Isn't it illegal to drive with your propane valve in the open position? I don't recall where I heard that. But I live in California so I assume anything I do, want to do, or have done is illegal. Writing this message is probably illegal. Don't tell Gavin.
Totally false
 

mtofell

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I roll with the fridge on. I suspect the reason there are no longer signs advising turning propane off while fueling is the newer methods of capturing/controlling fumes. My first job was pumping gas and it was just a metal nozzle loosely into the gas tank. Now days there is that flexible shroud that catches fumes and presumably puts them somewhere safe.

This gets argued about for pages on RV boards and no one can ever cite an accident but I get it if people want to be cautious. I suppose if I had a class A/B/C I might reconsider since the flame is so much closer to the fueling location. My trailer fridge is probably 30 feet from my truck's gas tank.
 
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