Propane explosion below cooktop

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Outside I cook with butane.

FWIW, my daughter and son-in-law blew up a butane stove by using too large a pan on the burner. Shards of metal became embedded in their cooler and shredded the tent fly.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

FWIW, my daughter and son-in-law blew up a butane stove by using too large a pan on the burner. Shards of metal became embedded in their cooler and shredded the tent fly.

Interesting, have had no issues with a medium sized cast iron pan.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Interesting, have had no issues with a medium sized cast iron pan.

Just see the instructions with your unit. It will list the maximum size pan. I'm quite sure the pan they used covered the burner and part of the area that contains the butane cylinder.

[Telescopist]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

The problem is NOT the tubes. The problem is nuts that loosen and cause the tubes to shear. IOW's sheared tubes are the result of ever loosening nuts.
Enjoy, Perry

I agree. Everyone who has one of these stoves should reread Perry's #2 post where he writes: "I can’t say this enough, “EVERYONE SHOULD PERFORM A COMPLETE INSPECTION OF THEIR SDS2, INCLUDING THE FITTINGS AND TUBES UNDERNEATH!”

In Post #3 he writes: "I would perform this correction/prevention even if my nuts were currently tight." This is a relatively simple job and if you are lucky like I was, the nuts were still snug - no threads yet exposed. I used a wrench in order to loosen them. But they were not snug and tight. This probably accounts for the fact that my propane gas lines had not been damaged yet.

Perry's instructions, procedures, and photos are straight forward in #3.
A cheap keep-in-the-trailer gas detector is my plan going forward. Cheap. $30 (US) I will not install a CO detector in the cabinet under the stove. They can throw out errant alerts and drive one nuts.

[Bobbie54]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

t's quite simple. Vibration. Your camper is like a rolling volcano going down the road. There are no lock washers or Loctite to stop the nuts from loosening, so they loosen, causing the pipe to vibrate at the burner, and eventually the pipe shears.

Enjoy,

Perry

How does the piece inside the control connection vibrate and break off at the flange? I can see what you are saying if it broke outside of or at the edge of a connection where you have a more stationary part connected loosely to a pipe. But if the pipe and flange are held inside the connection, it would require lengthwise vibration to move them separately. I guess that could happen but still requires that the flange be a weak spot. What happens when you hold two parts tight so they can't vibrate when forces are trying to cause vibrations? Something breaks.

[Telescopist]

Originally Posted by Bobbie54

How does the piece inside the control connection vibrate and break off at the flange? I can see what you are saying if it broke outside of or at the edge of a connection where you have a more stationary part connected loosely to a pipe. But if the pipe and flange are held inside the connection, it would require lengthwise vibration to move them separately. I guess that could happen but still requires that the flange be a weak spot. What happens when you hold two parts tight so they can't vibrate when forces are trying to cause vibrations? Something breaks.

I'm not a material engineer. That said it seems reasonable to assume after all of the reports, that there is a cause & effect relationship between the loose nuts and the failure of the pipe/flange. I have a problem conceiving of the problem as the cumulative effect of towing the trailer down admittedly decrepit roads in the US of A. The stove is well secured to the countertop. Such disruption as to effect the stove-countertop-base cabinet combo should also cause the upper cabinets to come tumbling down! My thought is that the nut to valve connection is poorly under engineered. This is the source of the problem which has led to other much more catastrophic issues such as two people and one dog getting the fright of their lives.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by Bobbie54

How does the piece inside the control connection vibrate and break off at the flange?

Easy, loose nuts that hold the gas control tight no longer hold it tight, causing the weak point (the pipe) to break where it is attached, from the vibration originating at the gas controls.

When the pipe is held solidly at the burner and the gas controls are solidly mounted to the unit the gas pipe will never vibrate at the burner. With loose nuts, the pipe at either end is where it will shear and my understanding it shears at the furthest distance from the stronger gas controls.

The pipe is the weak point and was never made to hold the entire system. With tight nuts held in place with a star lock washer and/or Loctite this will never happen. The stove is safe when the gas valves are held properly in place. It's simple physics.

Enjoy,

Perry

[RangerMan]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

Easy, loose nuts that hold the gas control tight no longer hold it tight, causing the weak point (the pipe) to break where it is attached, from the vibration originating at the gas controls.

When the pipe is held solidly at the burner and the gas controls are solidly mounted to the unit the gas pipe will never vibrate at the burner. With loose nuts, the pipe at either end is where it will shear and my understanding it shears at the furthest distance from the stronger gas controls.

The pipe is the weak point and was never made to hold the entire system. With tight nuts held in place with a star lock washer and/or Loctite this will never happen. The stove is safe when the gas valves are held properly in place. It's simple physics.

Enjoy,

Perry

Physics.. Simple? )

[Iowa Dave]

“You got your Boyles Law, Charles Law, Lavoisier, all them guys.” That’s a quote from my cousin, Ron Preston. He was a heavy equipment mechanic and certified crane inspector for his entire 40 year career. Towards the end of his career, his company changed hands and new management required him to attend some training. It turned out not to be germane to what he did but it did include a segment on physics. Ronald dutifully listened and told me as we drove to a pheasant hunting spot “it did me some good though. I always wondered who figured all that stuff out.” And hence followed the quote. He had a high school education, was a Marine, and had great respect for higher education and the abilities of his fellow man or woman. 6’5” 325 lbs he was one of the most gentle people I’ve ever known. His work shirts embroidered with “Tiny”. He was a premature baby in the 30’s. His mother and my grandmother kept him warm wrapped in a blanket and placed in a shoebox on an open oven door that first winter. It was the depression. He died at 75 a few years ago.
Iowa Dave

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by RangerMan

Physics.. Simple? )

I'm not sure it's simple to Escape. )

Enjoy,

Perry

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

“You got your Boyles Law, Charles Law, Lavoisier, all them guys.” That’s a quote from my cousin, Ron Preston. He was a heavy equipment mechanic and certified crane inspector for his entire 40 year career. Towards the end of his career, his company changed hands and new management required him to attend some training. It turned out not to be germane to what he did but it did include a segment on physics. Ronald dutifully listened and told me as we drove to a pheasant hunting spot “it did me some good though. I always wondered who figured all that stuff out.” And hence followed the quote. He had a high school education, was a Marine, and had great respect for higher education and the abilities of his fellow man or woman. 6’5” 325 lbs he was one of the most gentle people I’ve ever known. His work shirts embroidered with “Tiny”. He was a premature baby in the 30’s. His mother and my grandmother kept him warm wrapped in a blanket and placed in a shoebox on an open oven door that first winter. It was the depression. He died at 75 a few years ago.
Iowa Dave

Dave, you need to write a book. I'm dead serious. Call it 'Iowa Tales' or whatever, but these stories should be recorded somewhere. Once you're gone my friend, the stories will go with you.

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Dave, you need to write a book. I'm dead serious. Call it 'Iowa Tales' or whatever, but these stories should be recorded somewhere. Once you're gone my friend, the stories will go with you.

I agree 100%!

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by brroberts

I agree 100%!

Thanks Randall and Robert. I enjoy relating life’s anecdotal stories if they somehow relate to the topic at hand probably just so I don’t have to apologize for drifting the thread. Which I do regularly anyhow..
Members of the Escape Crew from New York , Mr Peter Styer and Nancy stopt by the Rancho this spring on their way west. We went for a little drive after dinner one night and ended up at my Uncle’s filling station/museum in Belle Plaine. My cousin Ronald’s daughter now owns the property and they came down and opened the station for Peter and Nancy. I only did this to validate with at least a couple of good Americans completely more trustworthy than me that some of the crazy B.S. I come up with is true. Gotta have a witness.

I have to say, I thought that when I retired I was done making new friends and having many new adventures but the reverse has been true since we got the first Escape. To paraphrase the old Camel’s advertisement, “I’d walk a mile for a Camel”. My mantra is I’d drive 2000 miles to camp with fiberglass trailer owners.” And I have every year but 2020. Looking forward to the Mississippi River Rally next week. Gotta dredge up some new, old material.
Iowa Dave

[rubicon327]

Just trying to close the loop on some of these cooktop threads for anyone doing future searches. Below are links to the Suburban SDS2 cooktop recall information on the Escape website, as well as, a video discussing the recall. Another thank you to those that reported this issue to the appropriate agencies. It's the reason a recall was initiated and hopefully it has prevented anyone else from being injured.

**June 14, 2022
We would like to formally notify USA Escape customers that Suburban has registered a NHTSA Recall #22E-035 for the SDS2 2 Burner Drop-in Cooktop.
In accordance with the United States NHTSA requirements Escape Trailer Industries has also logged a NHTSA Vehicle Recall #22V-388
In accordance with Transport Canada requirements Escape has logged a vehicle recall 2022-281 (Canada does not have a separate equipment recall requirement)**
https://escapetrailer.com/recalls/
https://escapetrailer-5474298.hs-sit...ooktop-1?ecid=
https://escapetrailer-5474298.hs-sit...rop-in-cooktop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WGsk0iJ1LQ