Using gas appliances at 10,000 feet

[ShrimpBurrito]

We are considering camping in the Sierras next weekend at a campground which is at 10,080 feet. I'm concerned how well our gas appliances will function at that altitude. I've run them at 7,000 to 8,000 feet before with no problems, but that's as high as we've been.

I'm particularly concerned about the refrigerator, since we can ultimately do without everything else once we're up there. But if the fridge goes out and we don't have ice, we'll lose our food. I'm expecting evening lows to be in the 40s, so we may also want to use the furnace. Since it may run unattended (while we're sleeping), I want to be confident it won't wake us up in a ball of flame.

And of course, we'll want to use the water heater and stove as well.

I'm guessing most of the camping at this altitude in this country is done in Colorado. For those that have experience doing this, do you encounter any problems? I realize the appliances can be adjusted for every-day use at these altitudes, but since we'll just be up there for a few days, will we run into problems if we don't make these adjustments?

Thanks,
Dave

I've not had my TM quite to 10,000 yet, but Mueller State Park and Golden Gate State Park are both in the 9,000 foot plus range, and the appliances work fine at both of those parks (except I haven't run the fridge on propane because I had shore power available).

Of course I live in Colorado, and bought my TM from a Colorado dealer, so I don't know if there've been any special adjustments made (but they work at sea level, too).

I'll echo Larry's comments. We camp at elevations over 9000 ft on a regualr basis - the same parks that Larry mentions plus some others - and have never encountered any problems. I've never read anything about adjustments for altitude.

[Bill]

Dave -

I think (and this is just my surmise) that the gas flames will run a bit rich - too little air for the amount of fuel. If this is the case, the flame may generate some soot, so when you get home you might look at the burner tubes, and clean off any soot that has accumulated.

On the other hand, an open-to-the-air gas flame isn't nearly as finicky about proper mixture as the fuel-air mix in a gasoline engine. In an engine, a number of parameters are optimized, and some are quite critical. I can't imagine that an open gas flame is anywhere near as critical.

As you probably noted, the Norcold refrigerator manual says that at altitude above 5500 feet, you may experience reduced cooling or burner outages. Not too helpful, is it? But not dangerous - no "ball of flame" - since in an outage, the flame sensor will simply shut off the gas valve.

Like Larry, I've been up to about 8500 feet with no problems. When you get back, let us know how it all worked at 10,000!

Bill

I have not camped at 10k, but I have at 9K+ with no problems. A note that might help you if you have a problem with propane at high altitudes. In late June of this year we were at a Colorado State Park above 9k and my son-in-laws water heater would not stay on for more than 5 minutes. He took in to a RV dealer here in CS and found the propane auto switch over needed to be adjusted for the high altitude. There is a small volume/ pressure adjustment knob/screw on the unit. The water heater seems to be the most temperamental of all the propane devices.

[wbmiller3]

We've spent a week at Timber Creek in RMNP (8900 ft) with no problems.

Not sure what weekend you are talking about. For your information we are suppose to get snow down to 9,000 feet Thursday and Thursday night. Where will you be going we live in the Sierras along hwy 4.

At altitude up to 8,000 feet, our water heater causes the CO detector to go off, if the wind is blowing against that side of the camper. It doesn't do this at low altitude (less than 5-6,000 feet. I also notice the electronic ignition kicking off a lot on the water heater.

I've noticed the fridge having trouble staying lit at those altitudes (up to about 8,000 feet - never used it higher), but it does work, you just want to check on it a couple times a day.

The furnace doesn't appear to be a problem at all up to 8,000 feet. Don't know about higher.

In the passt my wife has said it takes longer to cook some things at altitude on propane.
Not very scientific but she's the cook.

Originally Posted by ib4classics

In the passt my wife has said it takes longer to cook some things at altitude on propane.
Not very scientific but she's the cook.

I expect she's right, John, except that it has nothing to do with propane -- you'll have the same problem with electric stoves. Water boils at a lower temperature at high altitudes, the boiling point dropping 2º or 3º for each 1,000 feet of elevation, and that controls how quickly a lot of things cook. Certain recipes also need ingredient adjustment at high altitude (baked goods, especially).

Joel, I've had our water heater do that to us on occasion, also, so we don't usually leave it on once the water is hot, unless we're about to use a LOT of hot water. The water will often still be warm (not hot) the next morning after doing the supper dishes.