Leaving External power on permanent? & Gas on while Driving? (1 Viewer)

[davidathomas42]

So I am wondering do people leave there van permanently plugged into the mains when its parked at home?

I have mine plugged in at the moment (Swift Escape 696 2015) but when collecting the sales guy said to just put it one once a week or so for a top up. Will it deteriorate the battery or are they smart enough now to do no damage? My Harley is permanently plugged in to a battery tender and has no issues. I mean if your on a site for a week or more its plugged in permanent.

Also Gas.
When we rented a van in the summer the owner of it (large rental place) said don't worry about the gas bottle. Just leave it on.
The sales place said switch it off before driving.
Now my thought it that it should be off for the reason of if you have a bad crash you have the risk or rupturing the gas connections in the van and then a potential kaboom. Otherwise it should be fine to leave on.

What do others do?

 

[MC 55 FUN]

We charge the battery via ehu every other day for a few hours whilst at home & always travel with the gas off.

 

[Riverbankannie]

A lot of people leave connected to EHU permanently when at home. We do not as the trailing lead would be a problem. We do have a solar panel which gives enough trickle to keep battery condition ( attached to a Battery Master that will top up cab battery too) as we prefer to be able to leave and forget.
We always turned off gas at the bottle when driving on our last MH. However we now have a GASIT tank under slung so not practical to get underneath. It is designed to be left on and has an automatic shutoff in the event of a crash.

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[Deleted member 29692]

No EHU at our storage site so can't leave it plugged in. The solar copes year round though.

Always travel with the gas on apart from when we go through the tunnel.

 

[Lenny HB]

With your van it will be OK to leave the mains plugged in all the time.
You can only leave gas bottles turned on when traveling if you have anti-rupture hoses or cylinders with anti-rupture valves built in.
The anti-rupture hoses have a bit green button on then that has to be pushed each time you turn the gas on, anti-rupture cylinders are only available in some of the latest refillable cylinders.
If you have anti-rupture hoses and a Secumotion regulator (they have a crash sensor) you can run heaters that are designed to be used on the move such as the Truma Combi range.

 

[Allanm]

Our vans charger is a 3 stage smart charger. It sounds cleverer than me, so we leave it on EHU all the time we aren't using it.
We always travel with the gas left on. We have a Gas-It system now, but before we had a normal lpg bottle. I always forgot to turn it off, so it stays on, except when travelling through the channel tunnel.

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[Neckender]

Underslung tank on our Broadway so no way am I going to get on my back and slide underneath to switch the gas off.

John.

 

[pyro]

We leave EHU connected all the time, supposedly smart charger

Regarding gas, never left on whilst travelling. We do have a collision detector fitted, but the manufacturer (Chausson) states that gas must be off whilst travelling, so having read the manual (and seen the sticker telling me so) I figure that they're being serious. I think the reason is more connected with the fridge, and concern that the pilot burner could be blown out

Heating is diesel, and is designed to be used whilst mobile. Water is gas/mains (elec) so that goes on when stationary or on EHU

 

[Tootles]

Regarding gas, never left on whilst travelling.

Same here! We keep the dog in the gas locket. She's trained to switch the gas on when the engine stops. This really helps on rainy days.

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[ABZSteve]

Permanently connected to EHU over winter with CTEK MSX5 charger conditioning the battery. Always travel with the gas off.

 

[two]

"Smart" chargers are not that smart. They always start from the beginning again, to go through a full charge regime before settling into the maintenance state. If you don't want to leave your van permanently on charge over winter, I'd only recharge the batteries once a month.
If you're bothered about travelling with the gas bottles switched on, shut them. I don't think many people do that, though.

 

[Reallyretired]

Our battery charger is not smart at all. It just floats up to around 13.6v and thus never fully charges the batteries. Luckily the solar regulator is Smart and does a much better job of charging if theres a bit of sun, even in the winter (4x100w panels). Our MH is in storage so not on ehu. We leave the gas on all the time except on the tunnel but it does have Secumotion.

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[Larrynwin]

We leave plugged in in winter months and have never switched gas off on American RVs or Eurovans.

 

[mustaphapint]

Ours is permanently connected to ehu at home as we leave the fridge on mains but I do switch off the battery charger and only top up every couple of weeks. I turn the gas off when travelling when I remember.

 

[sdc77]

Always on EHU and we normaly leave the gas on all the time too (except tunnel).
We can't use our heating whilst on the move but we have "road heating" which is pretty good for passengers.

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[mercianman]

Our 696 has one of these: Link Removed so yours should as well. We travel with gas on all the time. Mine is plugged in a lot in storage and we haven't noticed any problems.

 

[Lenny HB]

Our 696 has one of these: Link Removed so yours should as well. We travel with gas on all the time. Mine is plugged in a lot in storage and we haven't noticed any problems.

You also must have either the anti-rupture hoses or cylinders with anti-rupture valves as I said in my earlier post.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

You also must have either the anti-rupture hoses or cylinders with anti-rupture valves as I said in my earlier post.

Must?

Is there a law?

Do you have a link?

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[mercianman]

The Swifts do have rupture protection installed. Here is a quote from the handbook: "Safety features • MonoControl CS regulator incorporating a crash sensor which stops the gas flow in the event of the motorhome being involved in a traffic collision. • Gas flow monitor • Hose rupture protection is installed. The full system is Homologated in compliance with European Directive 2001/ 56/ EC,"

 

[Lenny HB]

Must?

Is there a law?

Do you have a link?

It is covered in the EU directive that @mercianman refers too.
The regulation is not retrospectively applied to vehicles older than 2004, most newer vehicles have bulkhead regulators so therefore the system is at very high pressure before the regulator IMO only a fool who doesn't value their life, would drive with a high pressure system turned on without anti-rupture hoses or cylinders.
Also, it is illegal to drive a vehicle with an exposed gas flame (i.e.fridge) ref:1986 Road traffic Act.
I drive with the gas on but I do have a Secumotion & anti-rupture hoses, I never drove the last van with the gas on.
According to Truma's information it is illegal to drive with the gas on in France.

 

[adonisito]

Gas always off, takes about 5 seconds to do that, no Secumotion or anti rupture hoses on our's. EHU for about 24 hours each week, unless it's freezing when I run a small radiator in there while on drive. I know I don't NEED to do that as it's drained down, but it's easier to fiddle around in there if it's not sub zero.

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[Deleted member 29692]

It is covered in the EU directive that @mercianman refers too.
The regulation is not retrospectively applied to vehicles older than 2004, most newer vehicles have bulkhead regulators so therefore the system is at very high pressure before the regulator IMO only a fool who doesn't value their life, would drive with a high pressure system turned on without anti-rupture hoses or cylinders.
Also, it is illegal to drive a vehicle with an exposed gas flame (i.e.fridge) ref:1986 Road traffic Act.
I drive with the gas on but I do have a Secumotion & anti-rupture hoses, I never drove the last van with the gas on.
According to Truma's information it is illegal to drive with the gas on in France.

I've just had a read of that directive. I can only find two bits that are relevant, both in Annex VIII:

1.1.6.2. no uncontrolled release due to an accident can occur. Means shall be provided to stop the flow of LPG by installing a device directly after a cylinder or container mounted regulator or if the regulator is mounted remote from the cylinder or container, a device shall be installed directly before the hose or pipe from the cylinder or container and an additional device shall be installed after the regulator.

2.1.1. Permanent labels shall be attached on the compartment where the portable LPG cylinders are stored and in close proximity to the control device for the heating system, giving instructions that the LPG heater shall not be in operation and that the valve of the portable LPG cylinder shall be closed when the vehicle is in motion.

The second one is more relevant and seems to support what you say but it would appear to do so ONLY when they heating system is for stationary use only and the correct permanent label is installed. I've never seen such a label either in a gas locker or near boiler controls.

Also that directive was repealed 2 years ago and replaced by (EC) No. 661/2009. I can't see that it's covered in there at all but I've only scanned it so may have missed it.

 

[Larrynwin]

Interesting, a quote from my Hymer manual,

" Before commencing the journey, when leaving the vehicle or when gas equipment is not in use, close all gas isolator taps and the main isolator tap on the gas bottle "
This is in addition to same warnings when re fuelling and parked in garage.

I wonder how many follow those instructions

 

[Lenny HB]

I agree it is not that clear but common sense says with a high pressure system, don't do it unless you have the appropriate safety devices fitted.

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[Lenny HB]

Interesting, a quote from my Hymer manual,

" Before commencing the journey, when leaving the vehicle or when gas equipment is not in use, close all gas isolator taps and the main isolator tap on the gas bottle "
This is in addition to same warnings when re fuelling and parked in garage.

I wonder how many follow those instructions

Hymer as standard fit bottle top regulators, if you have the Secumotion option it comes with anti-rupture hoses.
Well I followed the instruction on my last van current one has all the safety bits so happy to travel with the gas on.

 

[adonisito]

Before commencing the journey, when leaving the vehicle or when gas equipment is not in use, close all gas isolator taps and the main isolator tap on the gas bottle "

Exactly, that's what it says on mine too. Although I only close off the bottle itself, not the taps under the sink.

 

[Larrynwin]

Having had RVs before this with no 12v option on fridge it is a practice to drive with gas on all the time bearing in mind RVs have a fixed gas cylinder.
Following this I haven't switched gas off with my Hymer , it is fitted with a Truma Mono control CS regulator , the CS indicating crash sensor so I don't see the need to switch off when driving.

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[Forestboy]

Connected to mains when at home and just solar when in storage.
Never turn gas off except for the tunnel, Alugas refillable system fitted.
Will use our heating when travelling if needed in the winter to warm the rear before we stop. Also turn gennie on as we're travelling for electric if we're running the Remoska for any length of time.
Each to their own, your van use it as you like.

 

[Lenny HB]

Having had RVs before this with no 12v option on fridge it is a practice to drive with gas on all the time bearing in mind RVs have a fixed gas cylinder.

Are the fridges different to European ones as our ones have an exposed flame. It is against traffic regulations to drive with a gas appliance with an exposed flame turned on.

 

[Larrynwin]

Are the fridges different to European ones as our ones have an exposed flame. It is against traffic regulations to drive with a gas appliance with an exposed flame turned on.

With no 12v option on RV fridges I guess US regulations could be different and I think it's an area that's escaped legislation as far as RVs imported for use in UK and it's a traffic regulation that most are probably not aware of or warned about by motorhome manufacturers .