Newbie question bringing refrigerated items

[Jfr]

Hello All. I apologize if this is not the right place to ask this question.
We will b taking our first trip in our new Cherokee in a few weeks. What is the recommended way to bring items that should b kept cold. Do u bring a cooler and xfer the food to the fridge or can u keep the fridge on running off battery power? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question.
Thanks all!
John and Diana

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Jfr

Hello All. I apologize if this is not the right place to ask this question.
We will b taking our first trip in our new Cherokee in a few weeks. What is the recommended way to bring items that should b kept cold. Do u bring a cooler and xfer the food to the fridge or can u keep the fridge on running off battery power? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question.
Thanks all!
John and Diana

Does your trailer have a RV fridge or residential fridge?
If RV fridge, most of us cool it overnight by plugging it in to electric, then switch it to propane while on the road.
If residential fridge, it runs off the batteries, through an inverter.
Sorry that your dealer did a poor PDI/walkthrough because this should have been explained to you.

[tomkatb]

On an rv fridge all food must be pre chilled.

Freeze two gallons of water at home and place these in the fridge. Becomes drinking water. Do not pack tight. Need air space.

Pre cool 24 hours or more.

On a residential fridge it should be precooled on electricity unless you have many batteries. A single 12 volt battery will not last long.

[CHICKDOE]

it would really help if we knew what type of refrigerator you had, rv style or residential style. also, where do you keep the rv prior to loading up for a trip? do you have access to electricity where it is stored?

the simplest answer is to start the refrigerator a day or two before you leave. then when you are loading it will already be cold and capable of keeping your food cold. then while you are traveling just keep the refrigerator running. if it is a residential refrigerator you will run it using the batteries through an inverter. if it is a rv style refrigerator you can run it on propane while traveling.

[Hoyt]

Originally Posted by bikendan

If RV fridge, most of us cool it overnight by plugging it in to electric, then switch it to propane while on the road.

I'm not sure about the US (or Canada for certain) but I think in Canada you are supposed to shut the propane off at the bottles. I believe it is a fire prevention thing if you should have a wreck or pull in to gas up. Having said that, I run my fridge on propane while traveling.

[Jfr]

Thank you! Our camper is a 2019 Forest River Cherokee 26Dbh with a Dometic fridge freezer. Not sure about domestic fridge or rv fridge. I'm assuming rv fridge. It runs on both electric and propane but electric has priority. As of now I only have one battery. Thanks again!
John

[CHICKDOE]

i do not have a rv refrigerator so what i am going to say will be restating what others have said on the forum.

first cool it down ahead of time. if you have electricity available hook up to that and start the refrigerator in electric, at least a day ahead of time, perhaps two. many people will tell you to turn of an automatic defrost function in order to save battery power. many people save milk containers, fill them with water, freeze them at home, and place them in the refrigerator to help the cool down process. we do this with our residential refrigerator. you will need to have your battery connected but the refrigerator will not use much electricity during this cool down. make sure you other electrical loads are off and that the batteries are full.

on the day you leave the refrigerator should be cold. load it up. when you disconnect from you electric source it should switch (via the auto feature) to propane. your tanks need to be open and have propane in them. i'd watch to make sure that the switch over actually happened and the propane was ignited. if you had air in the line the refrigerator might try to ignite but won't. it will then go into lockout and not try to ignite again until reset. you do not want that while you travel.

many people will don't worry about running it on propane as the refrigerator insulation will keep the food cold during travel. i guess that depends on how far you are travelling. check the refrigerator each time you stop to ensure it does not go into a lockout condition. also, when you refuel you should stop first and turn off the propane. refuel, move out, and then restart the propane. this is for safety. the odds of a fire are small, but the consequences of one would be huge. you will get many people that will post that this is not necessary. your call, but just don't me fueling next to me with the propane going.

hope this works. once you do it once it will be second nature. then sit back and enjoy yourself which was the objective in the first place.

[jking46]

As was asked before, do you have the capability of plugging your camper into shore power while in storage between trips, either at home or remote?
If so, start the fridge 2 days before the trip. After 1 day, it will be cold and you can load it. Only load it with already cold food. If you have room, the frozen water jugs are a good idea.
As for traveling with the fridge on propane, I only do it if the trip is more than 2 hours. The fridge will easily keep things cold for that long.
If you can't precool the unit, I would suggest you run the fridge on propane as soon as you pick it up. Put the frozen water jugs in. Keep your precooled and frozen food in a cooler until the fridge is down to temp.
FYI your fridge will not run off battery power unless you have an inverter. You will not have one.

[K2Kevin]

Originally Posted by Jfr

Thank you! Our camper is a 2019 Forest River Cherokee 26Dbh with a Dometic fridge freezer. Not sure about domestic fridge or rv fridge. I'm assuming rv fridge. It runs on both electric and propane but electric has priority. As of now I only have one battery. Thanks again!

John

That’s an RV fridge.
Is it 3 way or 2 way? Shore power (AC), propane, and 12v? It’s not clear what you have... Some are just AC and propane like mine unfortunately.

Since my RV is parked at home I use an adapter to plug RV into outdoor 20amp plug and start it at least one or two days before leaving to pre cool it. I put some frozen bottles of water and some freezer packs in fridge when packing it right before we leave. I can say, after about 2 hours on the road in the summer heat ice cream will melt, but all other items stay fresh for awhile longer. On trips longer then 3 hours I turn fridge on propane depending on what’s packed.

If your not running it while driving, don’t open door until you can plug back in.

[rockfordroo]

Sounds like your dealer did a poor PDI with you. Seems to becoming more and more common.

You SHOULD have an owners manual for your fridge. If you don't have one, open the outside access door to the fridge and look for the model number, then go online and do a search for the owners manual.

The most common Dometic models seem to be the DM2652 and the DMR702. I've attached manuals for each of them.

Quick and dirty operation:

1. You always need 12VDC to power the "brains" of the fridge. This 12VDC comes from either your battery if you are not on shore power, or from your converter if you are on shore power.

2, On electric, the required heating is done by a 120VAC heating element, so you need shore power to operate on electric (120VAC for the heating element and 12VDC from the converter for the "brains").

3. On gas, the required heating is done with gas, so you only need LP gas and the 12VDC mentioned above for the "brains." So running on gas DOES use battery power (but not much). [Note that some (most?) of the DM2652 models have a 12VDC heater in the door to reduce condensation on the door. It pulls about 0.5 amps, so if you plan to boondock, you may want to disable it. There are threads here on the forum that show you how.]

4. For initial cooling before you go camping, you can cool the fridge down on either electric or gas if you have shore power available. If no shore power, you cool down on gas and the battery. You should start it up 24 hours before adding food.

5. About 50% of us run the fridge on gas while going down the road. The other 50% shut the fridge off. (It will keep food cold for a few hours at a time with no problem). Those who don't run on the road see it as a "safety" issue. You'll need to decide what you think.

6. If your fridge has the thermistor that slides up and down on the fin inside, UP is colder, DOWN is warmer. Bouncing down the road can cause it to slide down to warmer, so always check it's position when you get where you're going. Also realize that the thermistor slides up and down in the plastic piece that holds it to the fin. So either or both can slide down. So the white plastic piece may be up, but the thermistor may have slid down inside it.

[Jfr]

Thank you so much! Everyone has great information and has helped a lot!

[jmalanio]

Ok so we’ve been RVing for about a year now and have a Class C with RV fridge(propane and electric). I was told I can run the generator for the fridge while traveling because using propane was illegal while traveling. Do I NEED the generator or can I run the fridge on electric without propane and no generator? Side note, my parking space for the RV is sloped enough to cause me NOT to use the propane on that slope and run a heavy duty cord to the RV to keep batteries charged and run a light or two if we’re inside cleaning, loading or unloading.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by jmalanio

Ok so we’ve been RVing for about a year now and have a Class C with RV fridge(propane and electric). I was told I can run the generator for the fridge while traveling because using propane was illegal while traveling. Do I NEED the generator or can I run the fridge on electric without propane and no generator? Side note, my parking space for the RV is sloped enough to cause me NOT to use the propane on that slope and run a heavy duty cord to the RV to keep batteries charged and run a light or two if we’re inside cleaning, loading or unloading.

Whoever told you it was illegal is wrong.
Only a few tunnels in the East, is it illegal.
NO you can't run it on electric without the generator, while driving, UNLESS you install an inverter for the fridge.

[CHICKDOE]

i do not think it is illegal to run the propane while travelling unless it is clearly marked such as at a few bridges or tunnels. i see paving trucks pulling trailers with the burners running to keep the tar hot. and i'm sure a few of those food trucks are burning propane along the way.

there are many, many people running the refrigerator on propane while travelling. just be careful and safe when pulling into a fuel station as the combination of fumes and an open flame can lead to a bad result. but i'll bet many people don't even think about the propane running in the refrigerator and don't turn it off when they pull in.

[CHICKDOE]

you mentioned the slop as being to much to run the refrigerator on propane, so you run a heavy extension cord when loading up. do you run the refrigerator on electric on the slope?

the issue of the slope is not related to either propane or electric. the refrigerator needs to circulate vapors and condensate through the various tubes. the tubes are sloped to allow the fluids to drain properly when the refrigerator is level. if it is off level it could affect the angle of the tubes such that they will not drain. when this happens the condensate can accumulate in the tubes and build up a deposit in the tubes that will clog them so that they will no longer drain even when level. so if you are off level you should not run it using either source.

[K2Kevin]

About running the fridge when not level. I found when I’m parked in my storage spot (which is not level, I’m on a slope and fridge in on the low side of the angle), my fridge will run just fine.

If I’m not level in the opposite direction (fridge is on the high side of Trailer) it will not cool.

Hope that made sense.

I’ve heard some states might not allow the running of propane when moving, not sure and never looked into it. I do know ferry boats, some bridges and tunnels want propane off.

[CHICKDOE]

i just thought i would point out the level issue as it is said it may contribute to a failure by having stuff condense in the tubes and not drain. at least that is what i have read. and immediately the question is asked how level do you have to be front to back and side to side. again i do not know. there have been many posts about this. if it works for you fine. it seems you are aware and have it handled so i'm going to fade into the background. the goal is to enjoy and have some fun.

[K2Kevin]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

i just thought i would point out the level issue as it is said it may contribute to a failure by having stuff condense in the tubes and not drain. at least that is what i have read. and immediately the question is asked how level do you have to be front to back and side to side. again i do not know. there have been many posts about this. if it works for you fine. it seems you are aware and have it handled so i'm going to fade into the background. the goal is to enjoy and have some fun.

I don’t know what damage can be done, the fridge does preform much better when level, my comment was just an observation, since I do run it for 24 hours before a trip and it’s not very level.

[KFX450RXC]

We have driven 10 hours before with the fridge already cooled and fairly full of cold food. When we arrived home, everything was still quite cold.

No propane or anything. Just something to experiment with sometime.

[K2Kevin]

Originally Posted by KFX450RXC

We have driven 10 hours before with the fridge already cooled and fairly full of cold food. When we arrived home, everything was still quite cold.



No propane or anything. Just something to experiment with sometime.

That’s one for the record books! My fridge can’t do that unless I’m traveling during cold weather.