Refrigerator On or Off While Traveling!!

[Ken Washington]

You must have 12 volt power for the electronic part of the refrigerator to work. I for one run mine while traveling.

Ken

 

[trdeal]

Have always traveled with our gas on.

 

[nhunter]

Chulinw, we had a 8 cubic foot 3 way fridge in our 1994 24 Corsair 5th wheel. Didin't get as cold as propane but it worked.

 

[iefpro01]

That's weird - I wonder if they run it through an inverter or something. I have owned a class C and a Class A Diesel and they both worked while traveling without gas... Now I am unsure about the TT – haven’t used it a lot. Anyway, I have never run with gas on – but it seems that you would have an issue with food spoilage if you were doing 8-10 hour travel days…
Maybe the answer is to make sure that the gas lines have really good protection around the tires.

 

[Dirt1st]

I always travel with my fridge on propane. I will turn it off before fueling at a busy gas station if I am at gasoline pumps. Only one of my two previous campers had a 3-way fridge. When on 12 volts, they pull a lot of current, I don't remember the amperage, but is is significant, and the fridge will discharge a 12 volt (or 2-6 volt batteries) in a very short time if you are not moving and the batteriy is being charged. Also, my perception was that the cooling provided by the 12 volt system was marginal at best. It would not keep the fridge cold when traveling across Idaho in the summer, 90 to 100 degress. I finally gave up on the 12 volt part of the system and used propane, or the 120 volt system when hookups were available. It would take multiple solar panels and a large battery bank and a lot of sunshine to run your fridge on 12 volts when camping.

The last trailer I had (Weekend Warrior) had cast iron gas pipe bolted to the frame rails, so flexing and chaffing wasn't a problem, and I doubt a blowout would damage that pipe. Copper tubing was used only for the last, short run to the appliances.

 

[iefpro01]

I read an article in the Good Sam magazine last night - The RV Doctor Said he suggests leaving the gas on for the heater and other appliances as needed. He seems to think as long as you check the gas lines for leaks periodically then there is no issue.

I never had any problems with cold fridges on the Class C and Class A on 12V. Of course the coaches were cooled while running. As for Solar – I am not talking about those wimpy over priced Camping World models. The residential grade solar panels pump out 80 to 208 watts at 12V. Camping World’s biggest model is a 15 watt one – LOL. One of those 208 watt babies could run the fridge on 110 with an inverter… LOL.

How are the Big Horns set-up? Do they use cast iron or all Copper? Haven’t gotten mine yet to see.

 

[nhunter]

My main line running down the length on coach is cast and then from the T's to the appliance is copper.

 

[Sundance_kid]

Always on for the last 37 years and no problems, but piece of mind for you is what counts.
Travel safe

 

[Oldlthrneck]

I know there haven't been any entries on this thread for awhile, but wanted to add something I was told by the dealer when we picked up our BH 3670 last Friday. I was asking him about the fridge and he told me that it was a 3 way, I doubted it, at the time because the Coachmmen that I traded in had a 3 way, same make fridge, and it sure did look different. I work 7-10s so haven't had time to check things out yet. But he did tell me something very interesting. He said that if the coach isn't level, when operating the fridge, that it would lock out and could not be run again until it was brought back to the dealer and they had to unlock the fridge. He said that Heartland was doing that to keep from being sued by people that had accidents, on the road, and got hurt by explosions, fire, etc. Has anyone else heard this or was he just blowing smoke? It seems that that would pretty much preclude leaving it on while traveling. This is my third RV and I have never left my gas on when traveling. I work in refineries for a living, (both natural gas and oil) and have seen to many incidents to be comfortable traveling down the road with a gas fed flame burning.

 

[jwb187]

Been Rv'ing for 27 years and always traveled with the Frig on LP, never had a problem.....also a State Trooper for 30 years and never worked a wreck where LP was suspected as a cause of fire. Most fires on RV's in my experience are caused by underinflated tires that overheat. Jmho....Jwb

 

[svd]

Mine is a two way, and works fine unlevel. That sounds like a story. I also thought one of the reasons the propane industry went to the new bottle valves was safety. I don't believe they will discharge when the line is cut down stream of the regulator, or when the bottle is upside down.

When I had my new bottles purged, they would not discharge when the valve was opened, but when the dealer opened the bleed valve, there was quite a discharge.

 

[Scott]

Official Word

The refrigerator is not 3-way it is cooled by 120V and Lp Gas only.
The refrigerator does not lock out when used in an un-level condition. The only consequence is that it does not cool as efficiently. For maximum efficiency the unit should be operated in a level condition.
Please - Please - Please don't believe everything you hear.

<O>ST</O>

 

[Oldlthrneck]

I never said I believed him, that was just what he told me. lol