# Stay warm at -10C for information



## 91645 (May 1, 2005)

Well we were off this weekend to the lake of Thun (Close to Bern in Switzerland) and stayed at a parking place for the night. So no electrical hook-up. So I decided to use the Truma 2400 heater to save elecrical juice.( This one in fact is too small for a 25ft Winnebago but maybe it worked). After a while the red lamp illuminated the heater stopped and it started to get cold. So I decided to start the Webasto diesel heater which went fine. After a while I noted that the battery voltage dropped and I decided to start the generator to help with the elctrical situation and load the batteries. Well for the first time ever the generator (Onan on gas) did not start. In order to help the battery I started the engine at 4 in the morning and that worked: battery was charged and the Webasto heater started also again.
The reason that the Truma and the Onan did not operated is most probably due to the fact that the gas (LPG in a tank) that was in the tank contained gas with summer properties (filled in Italy) i.e. a high content of Butane that does not evaporate below 0 degree C because when I came home the temp was slightly above 0 C and both the Truma and the Onan started right away. Conclusion is that you have to realise that in the winter some things are a bit different than in the summer and I have to replace the two 6V batteries in series. They are 7 years old and problably have reached the end of their life time.


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## nobbythehobby (May 9, 2005)

Hi,

The issue regarding the gas has been covered a couple of times before in these pages and I think Peejay has suffered the same way as you.

I guess that you were probably using Autogas in your tank?? If so, then you may or may not be aware that Autogas on the continent can have anywhere between 20 and 50% butane content. This is true at any time of the year, not just summer. 
This is irrelevant for automobile engine purposes as the liquified gas does not need to 'gas off' from the tank when used in an internal combustion engine. Feed for a car engine is taken in liquid form from the bottom of the tank, whereas it is taken in gas form from the top in a domestic system.

You may or may not know that Autogas in the UK is 100% propane and so it is well worth filling up before you leave the UK for continental touring. In any case, the UK is currently surprisingly cheap for Autogas compared to many if not all European countries.

Nobby


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