Does campfire smoke get into escape trailer?

[MyronL]

My trailer has always been smoke-free. No, I have never, ever had campground smoke enter my Escape. Just wouldn't allow it.

[scubarx]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

The Maxx Fan Escape uses, if I recall correctly, can be used to exhaust air from the trailer or bring fresh air in. When the fan is reversed from the typical exhaust mode to the intake mode and all windows and the door are shut, a positive pressure will be built up inside. This should help keep the smoke out of the trailer. Also helps keep dust out if you know you will be driving on dusty roads or camping where wind driven dust is common.
Give it a try sometime.

Ed

You are correct that to create a positive pressure room you have to blow air into it so that the pressure inside is greater than the pressure outside. However, if your source of air is from outside (where the fire is) I would expect you're going to suck a lot of smoke into the camper.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by GeorgeN

Escape artist, thank you for your response! Just to make sure that I understand, do you mean that you do get smoke inside the trailer when it is parked downwind from a fire? I would centrally do my best to choose a spot with that in mind, but the wind direction/speed can change enough through the day to negate such efforts, especially if your neighbor is a pyro.

Hi: GeorgeN... The only smoke/smell we get in the trailer is off our clothes. Doesn't matter where you stand near a campfire you will smell of smoke. It seems to follow you around!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

Set it to blow outside!

It blows two ways!

Don't forget!

If it is set to blow out, it will draw air in from any slight gap. If it didn't, the trailer would collapse in on itself ( given enough time ).
I have COPD. I avoid campfires, but I have never found smoke in the trailer to be an issue.
If this is a problem, I don't know how you get from one place to another, without enduring exhaust fumes on the freeway.

[padlin]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I have COPD. I avoid campfires, but I have never found smoke in the trailer to be an issue.

Ditto. If we close up the trailer and stay inside it's tolerable. You can still smell it a bit, but not much. In reality, if you can't take smoke at all, then camping in a campground may not be for you. Thankfully, the times we have to lock ourselves in are few.

[75thRanger]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

The Maxx Fan Escape uses, if I recall correctly, can be used to exhaust air from the trailer or bring fresh air in. When the fan is reversed from the typical exhaust mode to the intake mode and all windows and the door are shut, a positive pressure will be built up inside. This should help keep the smoke out of the trailer. Also helps keep dust out if you know you will be driving on dusty roads or camping where wind driven dust is common.
Give it a try sometime.

Ed

How is the fan on intake going to not suck smoke into the trailer?

[steve dunham]

How is having the windows & doors closed tight and the roof fan on exhaust going to keep smoke out of your trailer , you’ve caused a negative air pressure inside of the trailer .
You can’t exhaust air out of a space without replacing that air .

[Raider47]

As several others have pointed out, any airflow in equals air flow out and vice versa. Any pressure differential will not be significant.

[Mike G]

An exhaust fan will try to draw air in through cracks; if the fridge vents aren't sealed off really well the air will draw through them into the trailer. An intake fan will suck air in from outside, including smoky air. And setting the fan to intake with the vent closed won't do anything to pressurize the trailer.


But if you keep the door, windows and vent closed and use a HEPA air filter with charcoal element, the little bit of smoke (and its scent) that might worm its way in should be filtered out quickly. I have had this Levoit unit for about 2.5 months (for my smoke-and-pollen-sensitive wife) and we are quite happy with it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The fan sound is modest on medium and just a whisper (23 dB) on low, yet if one needs to filter a lot of air quickly in a trailer I think running it on high for 3-4 minutes would clean the smoke right out. Of course, one would need either an inverter or shore power to run it (it only needs 55W on high).


An Escape is far tighter (better sealed) than a typical stick-built trailer.

[GeorgeN]

Hi Mike,
Thank you for the suggestion! Since you've thought of how to deal with smoke,
perhaps you've thought of adding a HEPA filter into the Maxx fan? I wonder if it would be possible to attach HEPA filter cloth (see below, for example) to the insect screen in the Maxx fan? Or am I missing something?

https://www.amazon.com/Carbon-Purifi...6515188&sr=8-9

[Jim Bennett]

I have never had an issue with campfire smell in my trailer, as that on my clothes after an evening of enjoying the warmth and comfort of one is much stronger.

I just love a real campfire, and have had thousands of them over time. They are a huge part of camping for me, and have been since my days of backcountry camping. Cocktails, music, conversation and just plain having fun are so very enjoyable while sitting around a campfire.

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Not these ones, more like compressed coffee grounds? There is a very faint aroma of coffee. Jim B. would love his campfire even more with them.
I will stick to real coffee, thanks.


Ron

Actually, I have never once bought or used a fake fire log.

[sherminator]

Wood campfire smoke is considerably reduced by burning kiln dried wood. There are several places in my area that give away wooden pallets. I take them home and use a circular say to reduce them to firewood in about 2 minutes per pallet. Stacks well, splits well, burns well.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by sherminator

Wood campfire smoke is considerably reduced by burning kiln dried wood. There are several places in my area that give away wooden pallets. I take them home and use a circular say to reduce them to firewood in about 2 minutes per pallet. Stacks well, splits well, burns well.

Any dried firewood burns clean. Properly feed wood into a hot fire burns very clean too.

To many folks that are not real familiar keep dumping lots of wood on without allowing the fire to get hot enough. Ideally, adding one or two sticks at the right time is better, rather than waiting until somewhat to late for effective ignition, then adding too much.

We burn many cords of wood a year from trees we harvested ourselves. Much less when traveling as paying for the wood sees costs add up.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by sherminator

There are several places in my area that give away wooden pallets. I take them home and use a circular say to reduce them to firewood in about 2 minutes per pallet. Stacks well, splits well, burns well.

There are some places that are posted prohibiting the burning of pallets in campfires. The reason is that some folks include the nails with the wood and that's no longer acceptable.

Ron

[dfandrews]

A tangent to the main topic:

If you use a campfire, or any of the propane or gasoline fueled stoves outdoors, in California, you must have a campfire permit. The good news is - they're free. but you must have one.
This is CalFire's way of educating people on fire safety.


Go here: https://www.readyforwildfire.org/permits/campfire-permit/



Watch the video, answer the quiz questions, then print out your permit.

[sherminator]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

There are some places that are posted prohibiting the burning of pallets in campfires. The reason is that some folks include the nails with the wood and that's no longer acceptable.
Ron

I have not seen any such notices at any places I have camped. I can see banning burning pallets, as pallet fires can get very large very quickly. I haven't been concerned about burning nails, although I do go through the ashes and pick out any un-burnt items, including nails, and throw them away before vacating my campsite. My concern about nails centers around safe handling.

If it becomes an issue in my area, I will bring only the slat portions, and leave the ribs and their nails for use in my backyard fire pit. Thanks for pointing out that it is prohibited in some areas.

[Bea]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

A tangent to the main topic:

If you use a campfire, or any of the propane or gasoline fueled stoves outdoors, in California, you must have a campfire permit. The good news is - they're free. but you must have one.
This is CalFire's way of educating people on fire safety.

Thank you Don & Teresa for this convenient link! Just printed ours out. With all our terrible CA fires recently, Kudos to CalFire to educate the public like this. Bracing for this year's fires...fingers crossed for a mild year, especially with Covid...

As for campfire smoke, here's my theory. Murphy's law dictates that the newer the trailer, the closer and smokier the neighbor's campfire will be with winds blowing in the exact direction towards the new trailer. Happened to us several times coming down from Chilliwack last year on the Oregon coast.

We just closed up all the windows on the smokey side, closed both roof vents, and opened a couple windows on the other side. I recalled Reace saying on one of the videos that you could run the Maxxfan with the lid closed to help circulate the air inside, so we did that and the inside of our trailer has yet to smell smokey... from campfires, that is. On the other hand, the smell of large amounts of spilled over burnt Berry Cobler in the oven, however, will give you similar smokey fragrances. Spent all day yesterday cleaning that booboo up. Back to happy clean-smelling status again!

-Bea

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by sherminator

If it becomes an issue in my area, I will bring only the slat portions, and leave the ribs and their nails for use in my backyard fire pit. Thanks for pointing out that it is prohibited in some areas.

That's what I do, run the skill saw along beside the 3 frame pieces and use the slats. Since the slats are then just wood I do use them also.

Ron

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by GeorgeN

Dear All,
We are thinking about buying an Escape trailer, but, for health reasons, we are concerned about campfire smoke getting into the trailer. Does smoke get inside with the door/windows closed (can you smell smoke)? If yes, is there any way to fix it?
Thank you very much!

Smoke in campgrounds is really bad in general.

I was disappointed at how much smoke was coming from the campgrounds at Yellowstone Nation Park when we were there.

So if you're concerned about smoke from other people there really isn't much you're going to be able to do, except avoid larger parks and campgrounds.

If you're concerned about smoke from your own personal fire, you can get a propane firebowl, that is smoke free.



In this post quick propane / grill question, I give the parts needed to convert it to plug into your trailers quick connect, as well as preserving the ability to use a separate 20/30 lb propane tank.

[steve dunham]

For those of us who heat our homes with wood , the secret to low / no smoke is well dried firewood , a clean chimney , and a hot fire
What gets me are the people who throw a bunch of green / wet wood on a campfire and then go in their trailer for the evening and let the fire smolder and smoke all night for everyone to enjoy .