# Could've Been Bad



## JimO (May 20, 2007)

We were headed out for the weekend, and stopped at the grocery store for a few last minute items. DH was towards the back of the parking lot and my mom and I noticed the trailer was alarming. WTH???







DH got out to check out the trailer and our gas alarm is going off. The whole trailer smells like gas. Turns out our 3 year old must have turned all the nobs on the stove on and the trailer filled with gas.

Lesson learned, nobs come off stove when not in use. I still shudder to think of us driving down the highway with a burning trailer.

Oh and it was our first time taking anyone else with us. Dear ol mom enjoyed the "truckhouse". Thats what my 3 year old calls it.

Jeni


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## HTQM (May 31, 2006)

Jeni,

Your not alone, Ryan did the same thing. He also discovered that he can make the wall move, he uses that trick when his siblings are at the table playing games and they won't let him play. Then there was the time he shut the hot water heater off while his sister was taking a shower. The list goes on and on (ask Humpty about his dog). He does keep camping interesting though.

Dave


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## mollyp (Aug 10, 2005)

Wow. Thanks for posting about this and for the suggestion to remove the knobs. It could have had a very bad outcome. Luckily you caught it and nothing happened!


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## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

OH MY







Thank GOD your alarm was working properly & you found it in time. Glad no one was hurt.

Our son has special needs & when we needed a new stove I bought one w/ the knobs high up on the back of the stove instead of in the front for that very reason. Very scary indeed. Luckily he is in a better place now & understands the stove is a danger. Initially we were concerned about the stove knobs in the OB.

Tami


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## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

Yikes!

I don't know if some of those knob covers you buy for a regular stove would work, but it might be worth a try. You never know what little fingers can get into when you aren't looking...


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## Zymurgist (Apr 2, 2007)

Holy Canolli Batman!

Since the littlest member of our circus is now pulling herself up and getting into everything we'll have to take a very good look at this and how to prevent it.

Very glad that it turned into nothing more than a scare, that had the potential to be a whole lot worse.

So how did your Mom like the rest of the experience? Hopefully she took it in stride and had fun hanging out with her family.

Be well and thanks for the heads up.
Carl


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## JimO (May 20, 2007)

Zymurgist said:


> Holy Canolli Batman!
> 
> Since the littlest member of our circus is now pulling herself up and getting into everything we'll have to take a very good look at this and how to prevent it.
> 
> ...


She loved it. It was only 1 night, but she really enjoyed being out camping with her grandsons.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Close one. I am glad nothing happened.

I guess I will be turning the gas off at the tanks when not in use.

Thor


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## Herkdoctor (Dec 27, 2006)

Good thing the you heard the alarm. We have a three year old as well, we will have to add those knobs to our checklist.

Scott


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

I just saw this thread, we were still in Zion when it was posted...I just wanted to say that I'm relieved to hear that you all were ok. What a scary situation that must have been...someone was definitely watching over you that day


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

Jeni,

Same thing happened to us the first year we owned our trailer, but our alarm never went off. We were on our way to Mueller and stopped in Colorado Springs for a break. Open the camper...smells. Smells bad. But, new to camping, we had no clue what the deal was. We chalked it up to that new camper smell.









We keep going, arrive at the campground, open the door...the camper still smells. We are confused now. Oh well...open all the windows and turn on the fans! We are flipping on lights, walking around, turning on the water heater, etc. like nothing is wrong except for a strange smell. When the smell never goes away, I start to get angry. WTF is going on? I start tracing the smell with my nose like a bloodhound. Sniffing, sniffing, closer to the cooktop...closer..closer...the smell is coming from the range! I look at the knobs...one is turned, ever so slightly from the off position. It likely got knocked when we were putting the bikes in.

We could not believe our alarm was not going off. We had it in and replaced under warranty.

I am surprised the camper did not blow up. The fridge runs on gas when you travel (if you turn it on), and an automatic ignition keeps the fridge cool. Why didn't the ignitor on the fridge cause an explosion? I don't know, I don't care.

The last thing I do before closing the door is jiggle the cooktop knobs to make sure they are off.

Hope to catch up with you guys camping this season.

Randy


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## pjb2cool (Apr 8, 2004)

Castle Rock Outbackers said:


> Jeni,
> 
> Same thing happened to us the first year we owned our trailer, but our alarm never went off. We were on our way to Mueller and stopped in Colorado Springs for a break. Open the camper...smells. Smells bad. But, new to camping, we had no clue what the deal was. We chalked it up to that new camper smell.
> 
> ...










WOW...You are sooooo blessed (or lucky if you choose to call it that). Really glad







to hear that you (Randy) and also (Jeni)didn't become vaporized. Reading this thread made my little arm hairs stand on end


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## Toolmaan (Jan 11, 2007)

Glad you are ok. We don't ever travel with the propane bottles on too risky.


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## Txcamper (Apr 3, 2006)

That is a scary situation, glad everyone was ok.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Yikes...just saw this. Our kids are too old to do this, but taking the knobs off if you have little ones, is a great tip.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Just seen this, I wonder if it would be possible to put a inline shutoff in the stove line. The same thing could happen in a campground. Kids will be kids.

My nephew did the same thing in his house. Imagine me getting up at 2 am for a fire tone and the address that comes over is my brothers house.









John


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## kristina (Mar 23, 2009)

Never even thought about the knobs being in front..that is something to lookout for. It would be easy to knock against them when packing, if your just not paying attention or in a hurry. Our old house had a Jenn-air with the knobs on the front...we got some locking safety covers for them. You can get them at www.leapsandbounds.com or other places that sell stuff for childproofing you house.


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## JLWilson717 (Apr 24, 2008)

Our dogs once turned on a burner trying to get to something we had left on the cooktop. Fortunately, no one was injured and nothing was damaged. After that, I put some recycled popsicle sticks behind the knobs, preventing them from being pushed in, thus keeping them from being turned. This works well since we don't move our camper. For those that travel, I'm sure some velcro would hold something behind the knobs.


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## Southpaw (Jul 14, 2008)

You should add this to the Top 10 Things you shouldn't do with your Rv.


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## russ&katie (May 8, 2010)

bought the knob covers from walmart and solved the problem with our 2 1/2 year old. the problem I had with removing just the knobs was that if she turned the stem, I wouldn't know. covers were like $3


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

Thor said:


> Close one. I am glad nothing happened.
> 
> I guess I will be turning the gas off at the tanks when not in use.
> 
> Thor


I've been debating with myself if I should leave the gas tank on or turn it off while traveling. I know some states have laws about tunnels and gas stations but besides that this sure is one thing to keep in mind as the grandkids gets older and so do we. I've got a 6 hr trip that I'm taking tomorrow with a fridge full of food. So I will probably leave the gas on.


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