Fridge on during travel?

[jas451]

I know that this has been asked a thousand times before - but in our Salem Hemisphere it is a 2-way (AC/Propane) will the Fridge remain on while towing and hooked up to the TV. There's no temp adjustment or anything and everything is so 'automatic' it seems. Not like the 3-way that we had in
our Hi-Lo..........Thanks!

[CampingGator]

The fridge in our Hemisphere switches over from electric to propane when the electric is turned off, I believe. Just check the lights at the top of the fridge to see what is what. We also listen to the fridge on the outside of the trailer to be sure we have heard it switch over to propane.

[Hugeez]

X2. Same in our Puma. As long as the switch on the fridge is set to auto, it will switch to LP once the priority electric is lost.

[Jlreeves]

Not only will it cut over to the best fuel source at the time but the agitation of simply driving will help cool it down. Add a simple battery operated frig fan to that and they cool down fast.

[Lovelandtraveler]

I have heard people talk about fridge fans, but haven't been able to find one. Suggestions?

[CedarCreekWoody]

We always travel with our fridge on propane. Never had a problem with it.

[bobbrown]

I picked up a tip awhile ago here and that is to put in a couple of frozen freezer packs in both the freezer and the fridge at the start of your trip.

I found that this helped cool them right down. I use the larger size freezer packs that you can pick up just about anywhere and they are inexpensive. After the first day on the road I just remove them and store them until the next trip!


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2013 Sunseeker 3170ds

[BusyRetirees]

We turn off our propane while driving and turn off the fridge. It is like an ice box and will not thaw while travelling. We turn it back on when we stop for the night.

[Jlreeves]

Originally Posted by Lovelandtraveler

I have heard people talk about fridge fans, but haven't been able to find one. Suggestions?

Nothing magic here. Look for Camco 44123. Got mine at a Walmart.

[Grimshaw Traveller]

Better check with your insurance company. If you have an accident and the propane is on and you have a fire your insurance may be null and void. I do know that when you board a ferry with your unit the propane has to be turned off.

[jkoenig24]

Even when running on propane, modern RV refrigerators MUST have some 12VDC power to run the electronic control board. Older RV fridges that had pilot lights could operate entirely on propane. So, if the house battery has normal power and you have propane, you should be able to run the RV fridge while you're underway.

That said, many folks don't like the idea of having the propane in service while underway. Should you be involved in a crash, were a propane line to be breached, the danger of fire would be greater. These folks make sure everything is well chilled before starting out and, "fire up" the propane fridge once they stop.

If you do decide to run with the propane on, do NOT pull into a gas station. When you need fuel, stop well before the gas station and turn off the propane. Then proceed to get fuel. Get well away from the gas station before stopping to turn the propane back on. Tunnels also require propane to be off before entering them.

[OldCoot]

We've run with the frig on ever since we've had frigs (1973 or 74). Have never shut them off while fueling even when we had the 2 El Camino slide ins with the fuel door within 2 feet. Gas fumes are heavier than air and drop to the ground.

BTW, the 81 was home made and the 72 was a factory built.

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by Grimshaw Traveller

Better check with your insurance company. If you have an accident and the propane is on and you have a fire your insurance may be null and void. I do know that when you board a ferry with your unit the propane has to be turned off.

TOTAL NON-SENSE regarding your reference to the accident reference. Look at it logically, not from the eyes of slip and fall lawyers, that have seemed to some how entered the very fiber of our society, how they make us all paranoid, and not in a good way. Autos have gas tanks in the rear and engines in the front, which are delivered fuel in "fuel lines". Oh, yeah gasoline on a fire is pretty bad too. Just use your fridge in flight, or don't, and make yourself a mayonnaise sandwich when you stop at your destination.

The reason the turn off is mandatory on a ferry, is because a fire fueled by propane in a boat is NOT good. That is the extra layer of maritime laws kicking in, after many poor souls were burnt to a krisp, before the errors were understood and laws were enacted on vessels.

[Middleburg Redneck]

Originally Posted by BusyRetirees

We turn off our propane while driving and turn off the fridge. It is like an ice box and will not thaw while travelling. We turn it back on when we stop for the night.

That wouldn't work for me in the Summer. I live in Florida and most of my travel is done South of the Mason Dixon. I turn it on when I leave and it says on until I get back home and unload the fridge. Might be a year, 6 months, a month, two weeks, but it stays on.

[SkipBest]

Here are a few refrigerator thoughts:

Freeze a few bottles of nice drinking water. As it slowly thaws in the refrigerator you end up with nice chilled water. We use empty store bought water bottles, the good clear plastic ones not the frosted milk bottle type.

The battery powered refrigerator fan helps.

Make sure your supplies are already cold before loading your RV refrigerator. It cools down faster if the contents are cold when loading.

We load up the night before leaving with the unit running on shore power. When we shove off the unit is cold and power is off. After a four hour drive things are still nice and cold.

We have also tried running with the propane on, so far so good. However the idea of keeping the gas off makes me feel better. Once in a campground the shore power takes over saving propane.

Skip

[Edmund]

Originally Posted by BusyRetirees

We turn off our propane while driving and turn off the fridge. It is like an ice box and will not thaw while travelling. We turn it back on when we stop for the night.

I agree with the above 100%. We have full-timed for 20 years and have never traveled with the fridge or propane on. Too dangerous. We have never had anything thaw out or go bad. If you take a break and want to get something out of the fridge don't take a long time. I know those that travel with them on-fine, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

[NMWildcat]

This is another one of those WAY over thought threads. I realize everybody has their own phobias about stuff and will do crazy things because of them. I think this is one of them.

We can't turn off our fridge in the southwest while traveling as the cool will not last all day in the heat. And I've never seen any rules at gas stations about RV propane being off. But then I don't travel much back east where they seem to have a rule for EVERYTHING. I've also never read anything about insurance not covering accidents due to your propane being on. That one made me snort out loud

Since the advent of the modern refrigerators w/o the pilot light, I don't personally know anybody that turns off the propane at gas stations. Even when I had one I never did.

Our RV group was discussing this a while back due to a similar thread and most of us had never even heard of turning off the fridge on travel day.

So, if the propane being on bothers you... turn it off. Otherwise do as most of us do and don't worry about it and pick another phobia to focus on

[Sandstone]

Just got our Forester this week and haven't traveled yet; hope to this week. How much propane is used over a 24 hour period if the fridge is on LP?

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Sandstone

Just got our Forester this week and haven't traveled yet; hope to this week. How much propane is used over a 24 hour period if the fridge is on LP?

Fridges use VERY little propane. Not enough to even worry about. We could probably go months on one tank with only the fridge on propane.

[DaveandSue]

Sandstone,probably not enough to measure.It's not a roaring fire or like a furnace.