Ok to run fridge while driving? What do you think?

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

My guess would be that those of us who have never seen such a sign don't get on the road much.

Or we have our eyes glued to the phone or tv while driving.

Two bad guesses.

[KEN9XL]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

Most highways? Really? At the age of 73, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a sign.

Dan, guess I should have rephrased that differently other than No Propane.

I think the sign said Propane Prohibited or No Propane Transport, use alternate route, more so if a tunnel was involved. Saw a few of those signs two years ago while traveling south to Florida. Can't recall which route.

My GPS when traveling through New York gives me warnings, stating Turn Propane Off or No Propane Usage and there are actually signs stating that fact.

I live in Massachusetts and the DOT states you can not travel in the tunnel under the city of Boston, if you are transporting propane tanks, whether filled or empty. If you are caught you can be fined for transporting Hazardous Material. Do people still do it? Yes. Obviously they get lucky.

Same applies to trucks transporting Oil and Gas. They must route around city as myself if going north or south with travel trailer. The fear is accidents, explosions, or other situations the state wishes to avoid.

[Cruzrtwdgt]

Originally Posted by IvoryHemi

Same as above, plug it in on electric a day before we leave. Run it on propane on the road, uses less that way as it just needs to maintain the cold rather than cool down

It takes the same amount of propane cooling down as it does to maintain. Just a little flame to heat the ammonia.

[Freetyme]

Do it all the time. We pre cool on 110v 6-8 hrs before loading the fridge and switch to propane when departing. Usually will remove the outside panel to visually insure it has switched to gas with the unit on auto when shore power is unhooked. May take several attempts turning the fridge off then back to auto. Ignition tends to time out if LP line has air in it. Helps to open a stove top burner momentarily to bleed off and fill the lines.

[KEN9XL]

Originally Posted by Slow Moon

Seems that most propane restrictions are for the underwater tunnels around coastal areas, where the tunnels have a low spot in which propane may accumulate. This link includes information:

https://rvblogger.com/blog/are-rvs-a...rough-tunnels/

You can see such signs at Google Images if you type
"'no propane' sign for tunnel" in the search box.

Thank-you Slow Moon. I appreciate you Googling info and posting.

That is more what I meant to say in reference to tunnels not thinking how vague it was till Dan (article #20) pointed it out to me.

As you can see, I originally wrote (article#19) then corrected myself, but it did not appear until article#42 after everyone jumped on my error.

Hey, once in awhile the finger work quicker than the brain. Someone gives you a dope slap and you do wake up to see your mistake.

Sorry about misleading information. Thank-you all for making it right.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by JimMorrell

Since the 1979's, I have always run the fridge while on the road. Some will say that it is dangerous if you are running it while refueling. I agree that could be a problem. However if you refuel in an open space with plenty of ventilation, I doubt it would cause a problem. You can always shut it off while refueling if you are concerned.

Any flames or cigarettes' within 20 feet of gas pumps is illegal in most states.

Here's Virginia's law...

2011 Code of Virginia
Title 46.2 MOTOR VEHICLES.
Chapter 8 Regulation of Traffic (46.2-800 thru 46.2-947)
46.2-819.4 Smoking in proximity to gas pumps; penalty.

Universal Citation: VA Code § 46.2-819.4 (2001 through Reg Session)
46.2-819.4. Smoking in proximity to gas pumps; penalty.

Any person who smokes or uses an open flame within 20 feet of a pump used to fuel motor vehicles or a fueling tanker being used to deliver gasoline to a gasoline station is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor if smoking or the use of an open flame is prohibited by a sign at the pump. Any person who causes a fire or explosion as a result of a violation of this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by KEN9XL

Dan, guess I should have rephrased that differently other than No Propane.

I think the sign said Propane Prohibited or No Propane Transport, use alternate route, more so if a tunnel was involved. Saw a few of those signs two years ago while traveling south to Florida. Can't recall which route.

My GPS when traveling through New York gives me warnings, stating Turn Propane Off or No Propane Usage and there are actually signs stating that fact.

I live in Massachusetts and the DOT states you can not travel in the tunnel under the city of Boston, if you are transporting propane tanks, whether filled or empty. If you are caught you can be fined for transporting Hazardous Material. Do people still do it? Yes. Obviously they get lucky.

Same applies to trucks transporting Oil and Gas. They must route around city as myself if going north or south with travel trailer. The fear is accidents, explosions, or other situations the state wishes to avoid.

I think they also call them "Hazmats" (hazardous materials)

[Oaklevel]

Yes have only seen signs at tunnels either no propane cylinders or must stop to be inspected to ensure propane is off before entering tunnel.

Only seen 2 or 3 trailers burn up over the years due to running the frig. (Its rare) but it has happened.

[mlmay12]

Originally Posted by 007matman

Yes. Run it on propane. I always start my fridge a day before we leave so the wife can stock it. It does not get turned off till we get home.

X2, on for entire trips works fine.

[Homebrew]

X3 for entire travel time with propane on. We do start the frig on propane a few hours before leaving to insure everything is working correctly on long travel days.We also take the alternate routes around tunnels when possible.

[B and B]

Run fridge on propane since 1967. Never blew up yet! Run a residential now with inverter with batteries! Need cold Beer or Diet Coke when we get there!

[Arnie M]

Originally Posted by John Coate

Hello there.... John here from Olympia, Wa. We just bought a 2020 Sunseeker 2400W MBS and I have a question about running the refrigerator while driving. It appears our fridge will run on propane, or, off of the Onan 4K generator while driving.

I’d appreciate any and all thoughts about these options. Or, is it just best to not run the fridge at all while driving?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Kind regards, John

For many years, with many RV's, we have not travelled with propane on to keep the fridge cold.
We freeze bottles of drinking water and place in the fridge when travelling.
We get our fridge cold then stock it up before travelling. Place frozen items in the freezer. Place frozen water bottles in the fridge.
We have travelled up to 6hrs and water bottles are still froze at destination so we do not find a need to put our RV, us, or others at risk by leaving propane on while travelling (and we have very cold drinking water at our destination).

[Racer310]

Don't want to steel the tread but I have a resident refrigerator with no propane. My question is can you somehow run the frig while driving?

[BLAND]

Turn on day before getting it nice and cold. Then normally turn off during drive. No reason too just feel better about it.

[Homebrew]

Originally Posted by Racer310

Don't want to steel the tread but I have a resident refrigerator with no propane. My question is can you somehow run the frig while driving?

Yes - with 2-4 batteries and a large enough inverter that can handle your frig.

The frozen bottle ideas is a great idea for people that don’t run there frig.

I freeze 2-3 1 gallon water jugs for my beer cooler , rotate 1- bottle out of the freezer every day, keeps the beer cold and no ice water. Problem is that you have limited space in freezer.

[NMWildcat]

Bottom line is, do what makes you comfortable.
If you feel better traveling with propane refrigerators off, then do it. Otherwise, run with it on, thousands do. I will never turn off the fridge when refueling, and feel perfectly safe doing so.
Of course, turn off propane when required in tunnels an such. Simple.

[Beachbourbon]

Originally Posted by KEN9XL

Just remember a couple of thoughts.

Most highways have big signs saying NO PROPANE, whether it be tunnels or something else. Usually they show a detour route around.

Next, depending on how far you are traveling. If you run your frig the night before and have it stocked, you should be able to go some four hours without the frig operational.

This is just my input

We did not find this to be the case on our 2019 USA trip. We went from SoCal to Orlando, up the coast to New Hampshire, across to Ohio and back another route to SoCal. The ONLY no propane sign was in Baltimore due to a tunnel and we had to go around on the 695 loop. The Chesapeake bay tunnel tells you to turn off propane too. These were the only two “no propane” issues we encountered. The result was turning off propane ONE time for a few minutes while in the Chesapeake bay tunnel.

[SlowrideHD]

I have had campers with 2 or 3 function (propane-120v, or propane-12v-120v) fridges since the 80's.
I run my fridge on propane while traveling and have never turned it off. Have never had a problem of any sort.

[BillyBass]

Yes as long as you have a cord long enough to get where you are going lol

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by BillyBass

Yes as long as you have a cord long enough to get where you are going lol

To whom are you referring? The post before yours says he runs on propane — doesn’t need a cord.