Almost Catastrophic HUGE Propane Leak 1 SPARK & DEATH
Almost Catastrophic. I purchased a Tandara 5th wheel which was delivered on 9/21/23. A few hours before my anticipated departure on 9/27/23 , I turned on the unit’s furnace, which started as expected. The morning was chilly, & I wanted to warm up the interior as 3 of my dogs would be riding inside, in secured crates, for the trip. I closed the door & went back into my house to finish packing. About an hour or so later, I went out with some travel items. When I opened the door, the unit was so full of propane that I could barely breathe & was immediately becoming lightheaded. I shut off the furnace & went back outside to catch my breath. I then went back in & opened every window that I could & the vents. It took another 2 ½ hours to clear the propane out of the unit. The carbon monoxide detector was not activated. At this point, there was no possibility of getting the problem investigated & repaired for our trip. So, I took along an electronic space heater for use in Kennewick. I felt my chances of getting repair help were hopeful since we would be so close to Broadmoor RV or at least more mobile repair providers. We arrived late in the day, & it was that evening that I also discovered that we had no hot water. Although the water heater fired just fine & I read the manual, checked every setting on the Nautilus water station, watched YouTube videos, I could not get hot water. So, for the weekend the hot water became the leading issue because we had the space heater for heat. I spoke with the Broadmoor RV service department several times, but even with telephone trouble shooting, I still could not get hot water. I also contacted 5 mobile repair companies. To no avail. Some returned my service request calls after we’d returned home. Upon returning home, I contacted a highly rated repair company that also provides mobile repair, P & M RV Repair. I scheduled their first available appointment which was this past Monday 10/23 to repair furnace & water heater (or at least help me figure it out) & to winterize both of my units. Mike arrived as scheduled at noon. Mike started with the hot water issue. Short version is that after checking all of the Nautilus unit plumbing, he finally discovered that the red lever had been attached with the valve exactly 90 degrees off. No matter what I did, or anyone advised, hot water would not occur as water could not get into the water heater. Mike also repaired a leak at the hot water heater & tightened 3 other fittings to stop drips. The far more major issue was the propane leak. There was a MAJOR leak! When Mike started the furnace, as we were standing there, with the door open, he noted that it did smell a bit like propane. I reminded him that I had closed the door & left the unit for a good hour or so. He advised me as to scope of work &I confirmed that I wanted him to do whatever it took to fix the furnace / leak. What Mike discovered was a “major LP leak at gas valve due to loose fitting at burner tube…” (Video sent to Broadmoor) This “leak” was so substantial that it was literally blowing propane. When piping leak tests are performed, leaks are usually evidenced by bubbling (of the sprayed material) at the leak. This leak was so substantial that the material couldn’t even reach the pipe/fitting. Mike also discussed that the furnace motor had been replaced without the proper procedure of removing the furnace. So, what had happened is that when I turned on the furnace, the interior of the unit did, in fact, fill with raw propane. All it needed was a spark or flame of any kind & the unit would have exploded, resulting in my death, the death of 7 of my dogs who were sitting at my front window watching what I was doing, & the destruction of a substantial portion, or all, of my home. It was a bomb sitting at my front door. If I had not started the furnace until bedtime the evening that we arrived at Columbia Park. The unit would have filled with propane, we could have died in our sleep. As well, it would have been a “bomb” sitting amongst hundreds of people, families, kids, dogs & RV’s. Something fell seriously short of the thorough systems’ check that Jermey described to me, which was to happen prior to delivery of this unit to me & performed by one service technician person to assure thoroughness & accountability. Reading other reviews, this lack of thorough check seems to be a theme. I wrote the above to John Rodriguez and Jeremy Simanton on 10/25/2023. Not even the courtesy of a response. BUYER BEWARE! ANY persons that have experienced similar LACK of "PROMISED AT TIME OF OFFERANCE AND SALE BY SALESMAN" Specifically, the oral, yet also written and posted on Broadmoor's site, GUARANTEE OF FULL SYSTEMS REVIEW AND CHECK, as well as any defects for "FITNESS FOR INTENDED USE", please do respond to my review. Rcvg another review request today. I saw DEATH again. CARELESS!