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Old 03-24-2021, 11:32 AM   #1
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battery charging and 12v fridge while towing

New to the forum, but not new to forums....


I may be posting this in the wrong place. If so, forgive me.


I have a question that so far I haven' been able to figure out. I've searched rv forums and f150 forums, so I'm taking a shot to see if I can find a definitive answer.


Will a 2021 F150s camper charging wire provide sufficient power to keep a camper battery charged while towing? this is with the 12v only fridge running.


My understanding is that the f150 can maintain a fully charged camper battery while towing, however I'm not sure of it's ability to maintain a camper battery while towing with the fridge running.


If not, perhaps we bought the wrong camper, or I need to improve or add an appropriate charging circuit to accomplish my goals.


Also, we're camping/rv noobs, so don't assume I know stuff that I should already know, lol.


Thanks
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Old 03-24-2021, 11:46 AM   #2
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Amperage provided by truck vs. amperage used by trailer.

The 12v wire from the truck may help maintain the trailer's battery to not be depleted, but I doubt the truck can fully power the trailer's 12v system.
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Old 03-24-2021, 11:53 AM   #3
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Without modifications, you F150 will only provide a trickle charge at best.
Personally I'm not a fan of these new 12v only fridges, even if they are bigger than 2-way fridges. But we dry camp a lot.
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Old 03-24-2021, 12:07 PM   #4
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Longest trip to date I have made with new rig and 12v frig is 200miles. I was on the road for about 4 hours. I always leave my shore power connected up until I leave my driveway. I also have a 50 watt solar panel that helps to charge battery. Saying that my battery stayed in good shape and the frig was cold. I have had three other units with the standard RV frig and never had an issue but so far, and two trips in I like this 12V frig. It is much colder the the standard RV frig.
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Old 03-24-2021, 12:23 PM   #5
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Longest trip to date I have made with new rig and 12v frig is 200miles. I was on the road for about 4 hours. I always leave my shore power connected up until I leave my driveway. I also have a 50 watt solar panel that helps to charge battery. Saying that my battery stayed in good shape and the frig was cold. I have had three other units with the standard RV frig and never had an issue but so far, and two trips in I like this 12V frig. It is much colder the the standard RV frig.

this has been my experience so far, however in april we plan to drive 8 hours straight for our next excursion. that's why i'm a little concerned about the battery over that distance...well...and the food.
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Old 03-24-2021, 12:25 PM   #6
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When we first got our trailer, we had similar concern. One 12v battery would only keep the fridge up for about 6 hours, while sitting in front of our house prior to a trip. This time limit was as described by the dealer. I turned on the fridge in the morning about 6 am, but we wouldn't be leaving until around 2 pm. Around noon, I noticed the battery level was on the low side as indicated by the panel on the inside. On top of that a storm blew through, which could delay our trip longer.

I started the truck, made sure it was "connected" by testing the brakes and brake controller. Went inside and checked the panel and the level was higher. In all honesty I don't recall if it read full level because it was connected to the truck or not, but I think it did. I let it run for a half hour or so, shut it off, rinse and repeat until we left. Fridge stayed on all the way to camp, which was at least 3 hours away.

This was a 2020 f150. I can say that remote starting of the truck did NOT work. Key had to be in and truck started with key.

We now have two 12v batteries connected in parallel. I have yet to see if it will double the run time of the fridge by itself, but in theory it should. We cannot park in front of the house, so keeping hooked to shore power won't work.

Also, I think as the fridge cools, the compressor works less hard and draws less power. So maybe 2 milk jugs with frozen water in them would help cool the fridge compartment faster and put less load on the battery.
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Old 03-24-2021, 12:33 PM   #7
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When we first got our trailer, we had similar concern. One 12v battery would only keep the fridge up for about 6 hours, while sitting in front of our house prior to a trip. This time limit was as described by the dealer. I turned on the fridge in the morning about 6 am, but we wouldn't be leaving until around 2 pm. Around noon, I noticed the battery level was on the low side as indicated by the panel on the inside. On top of that a storm blew through, which could delay our trip longer.

I started the truck, made sure it was "connected" by testing the brakes and brake controller. Went inside and checked the panel and the level was higher. In all honesty I don't recall if it read full level because it was connected to the truck or not, but I think it did. I let it run for a half hour or so, shut it off, rinse and repeat until we left. Fridge stayed on all the way to camp, which was at least 3 hours away.

This was a 2020 f150. I can say that remote starting of the truck did NOT work. Key had to be in and truck started with key.

We now have two 12v batteries connected in parallel. I have yet to see if it will double the run time of the fridge by itself, but in theory it should. We cannot park in front of the house, so keeping hooked to shore power won't work.

Also, I think as the fridge cools, the compressor works less hard and draws less power. So maybe 2 milk jugs with frozen water in them would help cool the fridge compartment faster and put less load on the battery.

thanks, perhaps i'm concerned for nothing


we're able to stay connected to shore travel before traveling, so there's no issue there. perhaps i need to just try it and see on our next trip. i'm posting about this on another forum so without re-reading everything i've said, the next trip will be about 8 hours driving time and it should be a fairly good test perhaps, of what the truck/camper can or can't do.
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Old 03-24-2021, 12:46 PM   #8
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In terms of the food - A few tricks I do as I leave the "home" and head out is I fill the fridge with al the items and pack a bunch of Blue Ice packs or bricks in the fridge, then drive away
If for some reason my fridge stops running while driving or I turned it off, I know the ice helps keep the items in the fridge from spoiling. Its not unusual for me to drive 6-8 hours and those ice packs do the job.
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Old 03-24-2021, 12:54 PM   #9
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A way to check - measure your RV battery voltage with the tow vehicle running, fridge off. Turn fridge on, and observe RV battery voltage.

If the RV battery voltage stays above 13.2V in both cases, you are in good shape.

- 13.2V You are able to trickle charge the RV battery even with the fridge running. While stopped, fridge running, you will deplete the RV battery some.

- 13.7V You can charge the RV battery (5-8 amps) to some extent while running the fridge, and can make up for stops in about an hour of driving.

- 12.8 to 13.0V TV is keeping the fridge going, but is not charging RV battery

- less than 12.8V. You are draining RV battery with the fridge while you tow.

I had a more demanding situation when I had to run my manual RV fridge on 12V while towing - fridge drew 10 amps running on DC. Tow vehicle could keep up (12.8V) but RV battery would drain while stopped. Turning running lights on (another 8 amps) was a disaster. Replaced RV running light bulbs with LEDs put me back square. Learned to turn off fridge when we stopped for meals while towing. Next A-frame had a self-starting propane mode on the fridge, so I could tow with fridge on propane. This allowed the 10 amps (before voltage dropped too far) for battery charging with same tow vehicle.

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Old 03-24-2021, 01:21 PM   #10
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Do a search on here for DC-DC chargers.
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Old 03-24-2021, 03:42 PM   #11
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some good advice here, thanks to everyone who posted
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Old 03-24-2021, 04:10 PM   #12
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You might be over thinking it.....Last fall we took a trip with our new rig from Michigan to Tennessee and stayed in a parking lot overnight. Ours has the 50w solar panel which is supposed to help not sure if yours does.
Our fridge stayed cold the whole way plus the battery had plenty of juice to fire the genny in the am so the wife could use the hair dryer.
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Old 03-24-2021, 04:25 PM   #13
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You might be over thinking it.....Last fall we took a trip with our new rig from Michigan to Tennessee and stayed in a parking lot overnight. Ours has the 50w solar panel which is supposed to help not sure if yours does.
Our fridge stayed cold the whole way plus the battery had plenty of juice to fire the genny in the am so the wife could use the hair dryer.

it doesn't have a solar panel, but it's been a consideration.



i assume the solar panel helps to charge the battery(s) while driving along with the TV charging circuit? seem likes a viable solution as most of our driving would be during the day.
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Old 03-24-2021, 04:29 PM   #14
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it doesn't have a solar panel, but it's been a consideration.

i assume the solar panel helps to charge the battery(s) while driving along with the TV charging circuit? seem likes a viable solution as most of our driving would be during the day.
Its the Cherokee "Juice Pack" so I would assume that it does provide some charge going down the road too.
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Old 03-24-2021, 04:43 PM   #15
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i have no experience with the 12 volt refrigerators. we have a 120 volt residential refrigerator and i suspect it takes more power to run than the smaller 12 volt models do. we have towed our trailer all day (8-10 hours) running the refrigerator and connected to the tow vehicle. in all cases the two group 27 batteries were still powering the refrigerator when we stopped at our destination.

a couple of things we do.

-we put a few frozen milk jugs in the refrigerator when we leave.
-we only put precooled items in the refrigerator. don't put room temperature things in it and expect it to cool them down.
-we turn off the ice maker when towing.
-we make sure the batteries are fully charged before leaving.

we have no power where we store the trailer so the refrigerator is at ambient temperature when we leave. it works the hardest for the first couple of hours as it is cooling itself down to its operating temperature during this time. but after it gets to the operating temperature it just cycles as needed. this is only a concern on the first day when we leave. after that the refrigerator will have achieved it operating temperature so it does not have to go through the initial cool down process again.
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Old 03-24-2021, 04:48 PM   #16
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thanks to everyone who had posted.


it seems for several reasons the industry is more and more going to 12v refrigerators (generally speaking)....at least that's my perception from all the youtube videos i've been watching.



it seems the juice pack is a pretty good product or answer to my concerns. the other thing is probably i'm really concerned about nothing, unless we plan to boondock. maybe one day, but not right now.
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Old 03-24-2021, 05:43 PM   #17
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I think 12v are being seen more because they are A. Bigger (usually) and B. Cheaper (in cost and installation).

I’ll be honest, we fell in love with the floor plan so hard that once we found a unit in state we went and bought it. I didn’t think twice about the fridge until after and then realized it was 12v only.

Oops. Lol.

That said, your overthinking it. I’m not even going to say maybe, I’m going to say you are. Hooked up to shore power before you go, fridge cool and loaded, batteries fully charged (and I’m guessing this is a new unit so new battery?)?? I wouldn’t be thinking twice. We have been to Tennessee multiple times, albeit with a unit that was propane, but I understand towing for 8-9 hours at a clip.

My only concern would be if you stopped overnight not hooked to power to sleep. If that isn’t happening...carryon you will be fine.

When you get back, add a battery. Maybe a little extra tongue weight will help anyway.

Enjoy your trip!
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Old 03-24-2021, 05:48 PM   #18
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I think it's not to be worried about, with help from everyone here.


Thanks to all.


We'll be headed for Big Bend in a few weeks, so we'll get a good test. It's a 6 hour drive, but towing a camper we plan on 71/2 to 8 hours. That should give a good indication of what is or isn't do-able.
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Old 03-24-2021, 07:49 PM   #19
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I'm in the same boat as OP....we just upgraded our camper and we chose it because of the floor plan and the options checked all the boxes we wanted except for the 12v fridge. We don't boondock so that's not an issue but I was/am worried about a long drive in the heat.

Our fridge is the Norcold, the tag inside it states 8.3 amps day mode and 7.2 amps in night mode.

I tow with an F250 and the camper has a 50w panel on the roof. We just got back from a shakedown trip that was an hour and a half away from home with ambient temps @ 70 and sunny.

The camper battery actually increased in voltage by 2 points. After disconnecting shore power at camp I checked the solar controller and it indicated 12.6v. I did not check if the fridge was running at the time. After arriving at home I checked the solar controller before connecting shore power and the battery was reading 12.8v. Once again paid no attention to the fridge if it was running or not.

I was expecting to find a decently discharged battery but that was not the case. We have some longer trips planned over the summer and will be much hotter so curious how the single group 24 battery handles the fridge.
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Old 03-25-2021, 01:11 PM   #20
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New to the forum, but not new to forums....


I may be posting this in the wrong place. If so, forgive me.


I have a question that so far I haven' been able to figure out. I've searched rv forums and f150 forums, so I'm taking a shot to see if I can find a definitive answer.


Will a 2021 F150s camper charging wire provide sufficient power to keep a camper battery charged while towing? this is with the 12v only fridge running.


My understanding is that the f150 can maintain a fully charged camper battery while towing, however I'm not sure of it's ability to maintain a camper battery while towing with the fridge running.


If not, perhaps we bought the wrong camper, or I need to improve or add an appropriate charging circuit to accomplish my goals.


Also, we're camping/rv noobs, so don't assume I know stuff that I should already know, lol.


Thanks
My refrigerator will switch automatically to propane if there isn't adequate electricity to do the job. Does yours?
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