fire started under caravan

[bimbo65]

Hi everyone.. I recently picked up a older Jubilee Rallyman caravan as a starter to my caravan use. I got a really good deal and it is in great shape in every respect, I towed it home. Over the last week I have been cleaning and testing everything. The fridge, water pump, water system are all working fine on gas and battery. Today I fired up the gas fire (a Carver trumatic SB1800.) After a few attempts it was going well and getting quite hot. I could smell something burning but simply though it was dust from lack of use and continued with my cleaning inside. Steam had been coming from the water heater but I had turned it off and thought what I now know was smoke coming from the underside. I sat down for 10 minutes and the smell grew stronger. On going outside to investigate I found a fire had started under the gas fire and plastic (on fire) was melting onto the ground. Fortunately I was at home and could quickly get the garden hose to put the fire out after disconnecting the gas and electric supply. I found that the air intake cover for the gas fire had melted and the plywood had also started to burn with smoke getting into all the storage areas inside. Thankfully due to getting the fire out quickly prevented the destruction of the caravan and thankfully it happened when it did. I am wondering if this is a frequent thing with caravans or that particular make of heater or what I can do to prevent such a thing happening again.

 

[Gafferbill]

........most likely the burner has suffered from rust deterioration and is allowing the flame to travel to the jet and ignite parts of the heater it should not be able to reach.
You most likely need to get the heater burner refurbished.
Try contacting Gary at Arc Systems ..........these fires are now obsolete.........he may be able to help and give advice as he specialises in the repair of old Carver products.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Bimbo,

I am sorry to read of your experience, and I am glad that you were able to extinguish the fire. Sadly this is the second recent report of a SB1800's in the forum that have become dangerous, and whilst it is regrettable. it emphasises the importance of regular inspections of the appliances.

Due to EU regulations and British Standards before them, some parts of these heaters cannot be made from corrosion resistant materials due to working temperatures. Consequently it has always been the case that these heater should regularly checked for corrosion and parts replaced when it arises.

That is one very important reason for people considering buying or owning older caravans to have the gas systems checked properly.

 

[saint-spoon]

I agree wholeheartedly Johnny.
I assume that these things are checked by the service engineer when they service the caravan as well (if they are properly accredited anyway).

 

[otherclive]

Unfortunately it's not always so as the service doesn't necessarily cover the condition of gas and electric appliances. Its always recommended that the fridge and heater should be checked by an approved technician competent in those appliances. I suspect few owners actually have such checks carried out.

 

[ProfJohnL]

As Otherclive points out, unless these detailed appliance checks are not normally part of a standard caravan service, You have to (and should) request them specifically, particularly with older products.

 

[Raywood]

A very unfortunate start to life with a caravan. I do agree with the others though that it is essential that on this type of purchase you have a competent person inspect these things.

 

[bimbo65]

Thank you all for the posted replies, much appreciated. I don't think I could ever trust the existing fire and planning to replace it with some form of electric heating as a safer option. The caravan is wired for mains electric (Which I have not yet tested) I will be only using it in the autumn and winter as I spend spring and summer in Niagara Falls, Canada. For the sites I will use without electric supply I will buy a diesel generator and park up where it will not disturb anyone. Looking forward to caravan travels!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thank you all for the posted replies, much appreciated. I don't think I could ever trust the existing fire and planning to replace it with some form of electric heating as a safer option. The caravan is wired for mains electric (Which I have not yet tested) I will be only using it in the autumn and winter as I spend spring and summer in Niagara Falls, Canada. For the sites I will use without electric supply I will buy a diesel generator and park up where it will not disturb anyone. Looking forward to caravan travels!

Hello Bimbo,

I can understand your reticence to replace the heater with the same model ( even if you could find one) but please be assured that provided the appliance has been fitted correctly and regularly checked, it is quite safe.

For the corrosion to reach the stage where it became dangerous, it must have gone unchecked for many years. but with checks done at the recommended interval by the manufacture, problems would have spotted in plenty of time to allow corrective work to have been carried out.

I feel I should point out that using a small generator to produce electrical energy which you the convert to heat, is economically poor, as with the losses in the engine and generator you will be lucky if get anywhere near 10% thermal efficiency. So you will be wasting roughly 90% of the fuel you use, and Ill bet its the expensive road fuel from a forecourte.

By comparison the SB1800 is a quite remarkable product as in the 1960's when it was developed it easily achieves a 96% or better thermal efficiency, without the use of fancy control systems or blown combustion. It managed this by being a condensing unit which extracted the heat from the water vapour,and other products of combustion, before they left the appliances exhaust. which was below the level of the burner. Any thermo-dynamics or combustion engineers will appreciate what this actually means and how advanced it was in its day. It will be much cheaper, and cleaner to run than a generator, not to mention the weight and noise advantages.

However I respect your choices becasue you need to feel confident in what you choose, so you must follow your own feelings.

Please enjoy your holidays. Good luck

 

[chrisn7]

Here's a response from an engineer on another forum 10 years ago which seems very relevant:

"The SB1800 is about the most simple heater made but before you try and light it there is a couple of gas feed pipes that need checking. These are under the van and supply gas up to the gas valve then back down to the burner and corrode very badly where they are exposed under the van.Unlike the main pipe system which is copper they are made of steel and can develop deep pits in the tube walls very much like car brake pipes, particularly the thin pipe where it turns a tight bend into the burner"