Keepng Refrigerator Cold When Driving

[ackwired]

My fridge won't stay on while driving, and I feel more comfortable with the propane off when driving. We turn the fridge on a day or two before departure and turn it off when on the road. We sometimes freeze two or three bottles of drinking water and stick them in the fridge along with the food before we leave. Seems to work fine.

[bob213]

It won't be long before the MFG. and dealers recommend a helmet and fireproof suit to cover themselves for liability. We drive with ours on and don't turn it off unless required to in a tunnel or on a ferry. The lousy refrigerators hardly cool to begin with let alone turn it off.

[LaVern]

X4, we always travel with the propane and fridge on !

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

Who is "they"?

tim

That's always been my question.

Also, where are all the documented reports of explosions caused by one leaving the refrigerator on while towing?

There's a larger chance one's cell phone will suddenly burst into flames while plugged into the 12 volt outlet while driving down the road yet how many people don't give it a second thought?

[RussPastuch]

15 years of running with the fridge on and haven't gotten blowed up yet.

[Jesse]

We use these when relocating to save the batteries instead of using inverter.
We freeze four of them and when time to travel leave two in freezer and place two in frig. last up to 7 hours to 47 in frig 8 in freezer after 7 hours..
http://koolergel.com/product/koolerkube/

[Ortep]

We have an AFrame and travel with the refrig on DC. Two days before leaving I turn the refrig on AC, get it nice and cold and once we're "hooked up" to the TV switch it over to DC, stays nice and cold for the whole trip (keeps ice cream solid).

[spock123]

Originally Posted by 41ford

I run with just one of the tow propane tanks turned on for the fridge.



That way in case of an accident, I will only get half the potential boom from an explosion.

I'm pretty sure that two propane tanks sitting side by side one tank explodes it will take the other one out

[Dave Lyon]

Originally Posted by youroo

Yes turn on the Propane and the Refer,and Drive down the road! Youroo!!

X2........you'll get all the naysayers tell you the world will blow up if you do this, but, me like a million others have never had an issue.

[UT_Grandpa]

We leave the propane on. The newer fridges have an auto light feature so if they blow out they will try a few times to relight automatically.

Here are some fridge tips from a houseboat owner at Lake Powell, Utah (100F frequently): Freeze water jugs and put them in the veggie crisper. Your fridge just became an ice box. We would freeze them at night when the temps dropped to 80F and put them in the fridge during the hot days. Have been on that lake with 115F temps with no fridge issues (as long as the grandkids don't keep opening the fridge.)

On the lake they do require you to turn off the propane valves when filling the boat with gas. Fully fueled we were sitting on over 200 gallons of gas - a good time to not take any chances.

12V Volt fridge use pulls about all the tow vehicle can supply through the trailer connector. Keep this in mind.

You are smart to ask what to do. We bought our current trailer new and I bet there were over 50 warning labels everywhere on it.

[TomW]

What youroo said!

[Jmkjr72]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

I may misunderstand but isn't there a shut off valve built into the tank valve that activates if it detects fast flowing propane such as a cut hose?

The shut off won't work for a minor leak or if the valve shears off or the tank gets damaged

[UT_Grandpa]

The valve inside the propane tank is to prevent overfilling. It is a float valve. It has no effect on the release of gas. There is a valve in the regulator that shuts off gas flow in the event of a large outflow of gas. It is most often triggered when the low pressure lines are empty (no pressure) and the valve is quickly turned on to the regulator. To reset it you have to turn off the tank, loosen the fitting on the tank to let the pressure bleed and then rehook everything up.

I helped pull a family out of an overturned Jeep Cherokee pulling a trailer downhill when the trailer whipped and flipped them. Both propane tanks were hanging from the hoses when I turned them off and extracted the family from the Jeep. No gas leak externally was detected.

[tomrob1161]

The only time you are required to shut off the propane is when traveling where there are warning signs stating to cut off propane tanks, i.e. tunnels, etc.

[lbrunning]

The op has a fr3 motorhome if he is concerned a bought running with the propane on start the generator.

[Kenny kustom]

I would assume, your fr3 came with an inverter to run the fridge, so turn it on.
The engine alternator will have no problem keeping the inverter running the fridge.

[Kenny kustom]

I would assume, your fr3 came with an inverter to run the fridge, so turn it on.
The engine alternator will have no problem keeping the inverter running the fridge.

[timfromma]

Run it on propane. That's what it was designed for,

[Kenny kustom]

Why waste propane when you have a perfectly adequate charging system that will supply the needed current to run the fridge?

[DrLewie]

Google "RV fires" and look at pix of burning rigs that ignited at gas stations because fumes from the pumps were sparked by the WH burner. It's rare, but it has happened. If it happens to you its a risk of 100%. A shut off fridge with the door closed loses 1 degree an hour, which means you have virtually no risk of food spoilage or frozen food thawing during an 8 hour drive.

And yes, I know lots of folks think this is being over cautious, and I also know this response will result in a lot of name calling, which I won't respond to. I was a Boy Scout and I take the scout motto "Be Prepared" seriously.