15 amp service and...

[Fixmeupscotty]

I am to plug into my son's house Friday. This is my first use of an RV ever.
Will my furnace, water heater and refrigerator run off propane? I mean, can I run everything off propane since power will be limited? Can I leave the fridge on electric? How do I switch it to propane? 2021 Forest River Cherokee Grey Wolf 25RRT?
Thanks.

[007matman]

I would run as much as you can off of Propane. It's more efficient anyway.

More than likely, the only thing you're going to have issues with is the AC. If you shut off everything except the AC you may be able to get it to run but make sure you're using a heavy duty extension cord (and as short as possible).

A 20A outlet would be better if you can get access to one.

[tomkatb]

You will be fine.

Got to know the numbers.

When you plug in the converter(battery charger). Will draw 1-5 amps perhaps topping off the battery. After an hour or so it’s going to be the lowest level. Wait to turn the ac on unless you know the batteries are topped off.

The water heater on electric would draw 80% of the available amps. So you want to avoid that.

The fridge on gas draws minimum 12 volt which you should have plenty from the converter. Minimal propane. On ac it draws a lot.

The furnace is dc only.

After the trailer sits an hour one ac unit plus lights etc. wil be fine. You should own premium extension cords! Biggest wires easily available.

Adding the coffeemaker or microwave will over load it. So you have to be careful. Again the ac is a high draw. Running over 50% of the available amps. Starting takes much more.

Two full propane bottles will last a long time unless you use the furnace. A month. Days with the furnace.

Gotta know the numbers.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Fixmeupscotty

I am to plug into my son's house Friday. This is my first use of an RV ever.
Will my furnace, water heater and refrigerator run off propane? I mean, can I run everything off propane since power will be limited? Can I leave the fridge on electric? How do I switch it to propane? 2021 Forest River Cherokee Grey Wolf 25RRT?
Thanks.

This thread may help and is for new rv owners like yourself. The very first link in it will explain the electric systems.


https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ts-157524.html

[TheWolfPaq82]

Keep the AC and WH out of the equation and you're good to go. Tried running AC on my old Jayco on 15A service.....wiring and plug got WAY TOO hot for my comfort level. Installed a 30A service in my garage and all was good.

[itat]

First, welcome to the forum from just east of Toronto and congrats on your new toy hauler!

The link that wmtire provided will give you lots of info on what runs on 120V AC (like your house) and what runs on 12V DC (the battery). Be sure to read that before your trip.

If the air conditioner is only 13,500 BTU you may be able to run it on the 15A service but turn off the breakers to everything else to avoid blowing the breaker in the house. Make sure you use a thick gauge wire, preferably your 30A power cord connected directly to a dogbone style adapter. If the air conditioner is 15,000 BTU I'd refrain from using it. Don't try to run the air conditioner and the microwave at the same time.

[Fixmeupscotty]

I’m in Wisconsin. Don’t need A/C. Just logistically want to know how to turn on propane to fridge, water heater and furnace. What is this process? Of course, when plugged into electricity.

[Comanchecreek]

What brand of refrigerator do you have? Some have a switch to chose from gas or electric. Some don't. My Norcold requires that I unplug the 110 volt cord to keep it on gas. Don't worry, it will still work fine on Propane and battery. Also your water heater should have a switch to chose between gas and electric if it is even a combo unit. It may be gas only. If there is no switch on the inside of the trailer, look under the outside cover as there may be a switch there. Leave your converter turned on to keep your battery level up as your furnace runs 12 volt for the fan, and the refrigerator control board requires 12 volt to operate. Probably all of your lights are 12 volt as well. Forget the AC and you should be good. Periodically check the cord ends for heat, and as others have said use a heavy gauge cord, and as short as possible.

[Adrian Gordon]

Originally Posted by Fixmeupscotty

I’m in Wisconsin. Don’t need A/C. Just logistically want to know how to turn on propane to fridge, water heater and furnace. What is this process? Of course, when plugged into electricity.

Am I missing something? Did you not get the manuals for all this equipment from your dealer when you purchased the unit?

[eye95]

Originally Posted by Adrian Gordon

Am I missing something? Did you not get the manuals for all this equipment from your dealer when you purchased the unit?

The manuals don’t cover everything. When I got my r-pod, there were manuals for each of the appliances and a generic manual for the TT itself. There as no manual that explained how the appliances themselves were integrated into the r-pod.

There is a lot of stuff that new-to-RVers have to figure out that are not in the manual or are not at all clear in the manual. Many of the manuals are for multiple models, and the diagrams don’t always match the exact model.

This forum exists to share knowledge about campers, camping, and equipment, knowledge that doesn’t always exist in the manuals. Sometimes it does, and the new guy has trouble gleaning it.

Let’s just help the guy. Someday, he’ll help someone else.

I know that if if weren’t for this site, I’d’ve long ago blown something in my camper up. Probably the black tank, because, you know, Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, it will go wrong. Corollary: In the worst possible way (i.e. the black tank blowing up).

This site is all about answering questions. There are no stupid questions.

[rebeltown]

Remember to run the gas burners on the stove first to make sure gas has filled all your lines or else your fridge and water heater may time out before they start.

[wharfrat48]

With no info on current draw for each appliance and trying to keep it simple... if it were me, I'd use propane for the water heater and run everything else with electric. I would not run the A/C

[Adrian Gordon]

Originally Posted by eye95

The manuals don’t cover everything. When I got my r-pod, there were manuals for each of the appliances and a generic manual for the TT itself. There as no manual that explained how the appliances themselves were integrated into the r-pod.

There is a lot of stuff that new-to-RVers have to figure out that are not in the manual or are not at all clear in the manual. Many of the manuals are for multiple models, and the diagrams don’t always match the exact model.

This forum exists to share knowledge about campers, camping, and equipment, knowledge that doesn’t always exist in the manuals. Sometimes it does, and the new guy has trouble gleaning it.

Let’s just help the guy. Someday, he’ll help someone else.

I know that if if weren’t for this site, I’d’ve long ago blown something in my camper up. Probably the black tank, because, you know, Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, it will go wrong. Corollary: In the worst possible way (i.e. the black tank blowing up).

This site is all about answering questions. There are no stupid questions.

Clearly you got a different set of manuals than I got. The point to my asking him about the manuals was to help him. He'll get his answers to these particular questions a lot faster and probably more clearly by picking up the refrigerator or whatever other manual and looking for it than he will by coming here and asking just like someone with weekly question about why his fresh water tank is filling while he's on city water could get a faster answer by using the search function.


Please note that we are now 24 hours and 13 posts into this discussion and he still doesn't have an answer to his question of how to switch each of his appliances to gas.

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by Adrian Gordon

Clearly you got a different set of manuals than I got. The point to my asking him about the manuals was to help him. He'll get his answers to these particular questions a lot faster and probably more clearly by picking up the refrigerator or whatever other manual and looking for it than he will by coming here and asking just like someone with weekly question about why his fresh water tank is filling while he's on city water could get a faster answer by using the search function.


Please note that we are now 24 hours and 13 posts into this discussion and he still doesn't have an answer to his question of how to switch each of his appliances to gas.

The information that came with my trailer was a bag of a lot of individual manuals and information sheets, most of which have nothing to do with basic operations. It can be overwhelming to new owners.

[eye95]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

The information that came with my trailer was a bag of a lot of individual manuals and information sheets, most of which have nothing to do with basic operations. It can be overwhelming to new owners.

True. And “Did you not...?” type questions won’t be helpful to the overwhelmed new person. Hopefully, someone with a similar model will be able to answer the OP’s questions.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by eye95

True. And “Did you not...?” type questions won’t be helpful to the overwhelmed new person. Hopefully, someone with a similar model will be able to answer the OP’s questions.

Actually, all that is needed is the make and model numbers of OP's refrigerator, furnace and water heater. The appliances are shared among many brands and sizes of rv's.