Mel B Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 [QUOTE]peacock312 - 2012-12-14 4:41 PM Chatting to a specialist caravan gas tecnition recently,he stated just about every gas problem on caravans and motorhomes is caused by = NEGLECT, UNQUALIFIED MODS BY OWNERS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Replies 53 Created 19 yr Last Reply 11 yr Mel B Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 [QUOTE]maggyd - 2012-12-13 9:21 PM I hope you didnt mind me bumping your thread up ?[/QUOTE] No Maggy, no problem at all with you doing this, for all those who think it OTT, if it makes one person stop and think about what they are doing/ensure they do things correctly, then it is fine by me. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Derek Uzzell Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 A few countries (eg. France and Australia) have national laws that specifically forbid operating any gas-fuelled appliance in a moving vehicle. However, (within the EU) there is an overriding regulation relating to vehicles fitted with gas-fuelled HEATERS. If the HEATER has been designed to function safely while the vehicle is in motion, and the vehicle also has an accredited ‘safety system’ (eg. Truma’s “Secumotion” set-up) to provide protection against gas leaking as a result of a road accident, then the gas-fuelled HEATER can legally be used while travelling even in France. Even if a motorhome has a ‘safe while travelling’ heater and the requisite ‘safety’ add-ons, operating a fridge (or a hob or oven) on gas while travelling in France will still be illegal, as the exception override only applies to gas-fuelled HEATERS. The French national prohibition should not matter with ‘smart’ fridges (eg Dometic’s AES or Thetford’s SES models) as (when in auto-mode) the appliance will automatically select 12V cooling when the motorhome’s motor is started, and there will be a significant delay after the motorhome’s motor is stopped before the fridge will attempt to switch to gas-operation. Hence, with an AES or SES fridge in auto-mode, it’s impossible to drive a motorhome with the fridge running on gas, so the French law won’t be broken. Nevertheless (should one feel so inclined) it may still be possible to break the French national law with a ‘smart’ fridge, as some models (Dometic 7-Series AES appliances for example) permit manual selection of gas operation. This would allow the fridge to operate on gas while the motorhome was being driven, which would be illegal in France. Obviously, if a motorhome has an appropriate gas-fuelled heating system that can legally be operated while travelling, the gas-supply to the heater needs to be turned on to allow this to happen. And, if a motorhome has a ‘smart’ fridge, having the gas-supply turned off while the motorhome is being driven tends to defeat this type of fridge’s design rationale. I switch off my motorhome’s gas-bottles when I drive from home to a UK ferry-port and during the ferry crossing, and vice versa when I’m returning home. Otherwise, I leave the gas-bottles turned on because it’s a nuisance for me to turn them off every time I drive the motorhome and on again when I stop. This is what I do - if other people choose to do otherwise that's fine by me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Clive Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Then again I could tell the story of the failed Camping Gas regulator that put full bottle pressure on the appliances. There was a blowlamp at the back of the fridge which set the inside bodywork alight. Lucky I was present and alert otherwise we would have all perished. I still have the evidence to this day .i.e. a badly designed non fail safe regulator, in fact two of them in blue. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Prev 1 2 3 Next Page 3 of 3 Archived This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.
Mel B Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 [QUOTE]maggyd - 2012-12-13 9:21 PM I hope you didnt mind me bumping your thread up ?[/QUOTE] No Maggy, no problem at all with you doing this, for all those who think it OTT, if it makes one person stop and think about what they are doing/ensure they do things correctly, then it is fine by me. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 A few countries (eg. France and Australia) have national laws that specifically forbid operating any gas-fuelled appliance in a moving vehicle. However, (within the EU) there is an overriding regulation relating to vehicles fitted with gas-fuelled HEATERS. If the HEATER has been designed to function safely while the vehicle is in motion, and the vehicle also has an accredited ‘safety system’ (eg. Truma’s “Secumotion” set-up) to provide protection against gas leaking as a result of a road accident, then the gas-fuelled HEATER can legally be used while travelling even in France. Even if a motorhome has a ‘safe while travelling’ heater and the requisite ‘safety’ add-ons, operating a fridge (or a hob or oven) on gas while travelling in France will still be illegal, as the exception override only applies to gas-fuelled HEATERS. The French national prohibition should not matter with ‘smart’ fridges (eg Dometic’s AES or Thetford’s SES models) as (when in auto-mode) the appliance will automatically select 12V cooling when the motorhome’s motor is started, and there will be a significant delay after the motorhome’s motor is stopped before the fridge will attempt to switch to gas-operation. Hence, with an AES or SES fridge in auto-mode, it’s impossible to drive a motorhome with the fridge running on gas, so the French law won’t be broken. Nevertheless (should one feel so inclined) it may still be possible to break the French national law with a ‘smart’ fridge, as some models (Dometic 7-Series AES appliances for example) permit manual selection of gas operation. This would allow the fridge to operate on gas while the motorhome was being driven, which would be illegal in France. Obviously, if a motorhome has an appropriate gas-fuelled heating system that can legally be operated while travelling, the gas-supply to the heater needs to be turned on to allow this to happen. And, if a motorhome has a ‘smart’ fridge, having the gas-supply turned off while the motorhome is being driven tends to defeat this type of fridge’s design rationale. I switch off my motorhome’s gas-bottles when I drive from home to a UK ferry-port and during the ferry crossing, and vice versa when I’m returning home. Otherwise, I leave the gas-bottles turned on because it’s a nuisance for me to turn them off every time I drive the motorhome and on again when I stop. This is what I do - if other people choose to do otherwise that's fine by me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Then again I could tell the story of the failed Camping Gas regulator that put full bottle pressure on the appliances. There was a blowlamp at the back of the fridge which set the inside bodywork alight. Lucky I was present and alert otherwise we would have all perished. I still have the evidence to this day .i.e. a badly designed non fail safe regulator, in fact two of them in blue. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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