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Old 07-20-2016, 12:14 PM   #1
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Cooling the fridge

Next month I am making a 4 hour trip.. I will not be adding any food to the fridge before leaving. I will be buying a few things when I get there. I do not want to run the fridge on propane on the way to the CG.. Do you think it would cool down quicker, upon arrival.. if I put some frozen water jugs in the "turned off" fridge for the 4 hour trip? Or would they just melt in that length of time?

Anybody tried anything like this? Would the closed, turned off fridge, work like a cooler? or an oven?
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Old 07-20-2016, 12:20 PM   #2
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If you can, cool it down before you leave home. Turn off propane and don't open fridge until you get to site.

Or, just run the propane, I use to(now have residential fridge) and many others do also...
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Old 07-20-2016, 12:23 PM   #3
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If you can, cool it down before you leave home. Turn off propane and don't open fridge until you get to site.

Or, just run the propane, I use to(now have residential fridge) and many others do also...

Thanks.. thats what I usually do now.. for shorter trips.. didn't know how if the "cool" would last 4 hours.
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Old 07-20-2016, 12:47 PM   #4
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We cool our fridge down the day before on AC power. We then add the cold food and a half gallon milk jug of frozen water. We have the 3 way fridge. When traveling we switch to DC, powered by the tow vehicle ! Works great .
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Old 07-20-2016, 01:45 PM   #5
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Thanks.. thats what I usually do now.. for shorter trips.. didn't know how if the "cool" would last 4 hours.
Should be a good experiment then. cool at home and add the frozen ice jugs and let us know how it held up...or just cool it down at home and see how it holds up without jugs since you are not putting food in until you get there. That way you will know for future reference
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Old 07-20-2016, 05:01 PM   #6
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Basically what I do before travel. Cool 24 hours before I start travel. Have at lowest setting usually reaches 27 degrees. Have a cool of containers of frozen water in the bottom. And have my added fans going after six hours max I travel usually at about 37 degrees. When On multi day trips will stop and add ice to the containers. Will be switching out the 3 way this winter. Replacing with a compressor 2 way system
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Old 07-30-2016, 04:15 PM   #7
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We just returned from a 15-day trip. Plugged into house current 24-hours before we started our trip and turned the refrigerator on. Pre-chilled all the food prior to putting it in the refrigerator. Ran the frig off the battery while traveling. Travels days were 6-8 hours long. No problems. Food remained cold throughout our trip.
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Old 07-30-2016, 04:35 PM   #8
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Just curious why you don't want to cool the fridge at home and then run on propane while travelling. Is it the because of the chance of fire? I travel with the propane on whenever we travel.
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Old 07-30-2016, 06:53 PM   #9
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Just curious why you don't want to cool the fridge at home and then run on propane while travelling. Is it the because of the chance of fire? I travel with the propane on whenever we travel.
Sometimes these three way fridges on small campers blow out when driving.
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Old 07-30-2016, 08:22 PM   #10
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When I had my popup camper with a "ice box" not a refridge, I used dry ice to cool it. It does not melt and drip water like regular ice and will last for several days. WARNING: DO NOT TOUCH DRY ICE WITH YOUR BARE HANDS! WEAR GLOVES OR KEEP IT WRAPPED IN NEWSPAPER.

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Old 07-31-2016, 06:06 AM   #11
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Just curious why you don't want to cool the fridge at home and then run on propane while travelling. Is it the because of the chance of fire? I travel with the propane on whenever we travel.
With the 3 way fridge you are not forced to . The DC side works .
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Old 07-31-2016, 08:01 AM   #12
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With the 3 way fridge you are not forced to . The DC side works .
Does this run down the tow vehicle battery? Or does it pull DC from the camper battery? In that case.. would it be a drain on the camper battery?
I have a 2014 Rockwood a122s.
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Old 07-31-2016, 10:04 AM   #13
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Does this run down the tow vehicle battery? Or does it pull DC from the camper battery? In that case.. would it be a drain on the camper battery?
I have a 2014 Rockwood a122s.
If your tow vehicle is set up properly the 7 pin charges the camper battery from the tow vehicle ! I have traveled as much as 8 hours with the refrigerator on battery with no sign of battery discharge on the trailer.
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Old 07-31-2016, 11:00 AM   #14
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I agree. We had no drain our our tow vehicle battery. We have a three-way frig, we put it on Auto, turned it on, and it worked like a charm.
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Old 07-31-2016, 01:08 PM   #15
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You know. . I'm not sure I have a 3 way fridge.. it's a 2014 Rockwood a122s aframe. I haven't had the cover off and looked in the access panel for awhile. . I might be thinking of a previous camper.
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Old 07-31-2016, 01:16 PM   #16
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I guess I have a two way refer, gas or elect. It stays in the auto position. On gas while traveling and elect when plugged into shore power. Why is everyone scared to travel with ref on gas. Am I missing something.
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Old 07-31-2016, 01:23 PM   #17
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Why is everyone scared to travel with ref on gas. Am I missing something.
Everybody has their own phobias. We always run with the propane on but have friends who go to great lengths to NOT run with propane on. Just their phobia but it makes them feel safer and they are happy in the long run. That's what matters.
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Old 07-31-2016, 02:43 PM   #18
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The great thing about the 3 way is you have another choice ! You people with 2 ways are limited to drive without or drive using gas.
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Old 07-31-2016, 03:11 PM   #19
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The great thing about the 3 way is you have another choice ! You people with 2 ways are limited to drive without or drive using gas.
That is very true. There are occasions when I miss our pop-up and the way it could go anywhere the truck would go, but then I sit in the recliner until that passes
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