Frig

[MarkandTeri]

I am curious to know if we can run our refrigerator off the DC while we are driving, I also have a 190 w solar panel.

We don't want to drain our tow vehicles battery.

Input is appreciated.

[Skip12]

I use the mobile version, so cant see if your rv model is in there but it would be useful to know if you have a RV fridge, and if so, is it both electric and propane? Or do you have a residential fridge and if so, do you have an inverter?

RV fridges may be powered via of AC, DC, or Propane (plus a little DC, I beleive). You'll need to determine what your fridge is capable of.

The short answer is most camper refrigerators can run offshore until you run out of what resource its using.

And you will be using your RV's batteries, not your tow vehicle's batteries.

Hope that helps.

[CHICKDOE]

again we don't know what type of refrigerator you have, rv or residential.

but regardless the answer is you can run it while towing.

if it is a rv refrigerator it can be run using propane. search for the thousands of threads with a title something like 'do you leave propane on while driving'.

if it is a residential refrigerator you can run it from the trailer batteries using your inverter. search the thousands opf posts for something like 'residential refrigerator while towing'.

[MarkandTeri]

It is a 4 cu. Ft. Dominic RV frig, 3 way power, dc , ac & propane.

Thank you for the input.

[CHICKDOE]

being that it is a 3 way with 12 vdc option you could also use that while towing.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

being that it is a 3 way with 12 vdc option you could also use that while towing.

Yep, you don't need a solar panel to run the DC side of the fridge. The DC side allows for use of trailer battery power to cool the fridge. The tow vehicle's alternator should keep the battery charged.
Just realize is the most tow vehicles only provide a trickle charge at best. So if the trailer battery is low, it won't fully charge the battery if you're using the DC side of the fridge.

[OYO]

Not trying to complicate things, but are you wanting to cool with 12vDC or propane? Either way the refer will use a small amount of 12vDC for the controller.

Not sure what model you have, but the newer versions automatically switch between 120v and propane based on availability of 120v. If you want to cool with 12vDC it is a manual process on the control panel.

If you do go 12v for cooling I'd have a battery monitor on the camper. The tow alternator will have a though time keeping up and the refer will as well. I know from experience.

FYI: Many just keep their propane open while underway and let the refer use that. There are pages and pages of discussions on this board on the safety of that. The propane is far more efficient, but some are concerned about the risk. Plus open propane is illegal in some tunnels.

Edit.
There is no inverter, so it's propane or 12vDC

Good question.

[MarkandTeri]

12vDC.

I figured that the solar would charge the 2 golf cart batteries, I don't know if that would be overridden by the toll vehicle.

We purchased a Forest River / Flagstaff T21TBHWSE

Originally Posted by OYO

Not trying to complicate things, but are you wanting to cool with 12vDC or propane? Either way the refer will use a small amount of 12vDC for the controller.

Not sure what model you have, but the newer versions automatically switch between 120v and propane based on availability of 120v. If you want to cool with 12vDC it is a manual process on the control panel.

If you do go 12v for cooling I'd have a battery monitor on the camper. The tow alternator will have a though time keeping up and the refer will as well. I know from experience.

FYI: Many just keep their propane open while underway and let the refer use that. There are pages and pages of discussions on this board on the safety of that. The propane is far more efficient, but some are concerned about the risk. Plus open propane is illegal in some tunnels.

Edit.
There is no inverter, so it's propane or 12vDC

Good question.

[pgandw]

I have the same model A-frame - Flagstaff T21TBHW. The high walls have the bigger fridge which will run very nicely on propane while being towed. The standard walls do not auto-start on propane, and have a shorter chimney effect, so when the flame blows out, it can't restart.

If the high wall fridge flame blows out, it will automatically restart. I use a wireless thermometer to measure internal fridge temp from our minivan, and the fridge stays less than 40 while towing. Since the fridge is running on propane, battery usage is next to nil, and the tow vehicle readily charges my dual GC-2 battery bank, so I arrive at the site with a cool fridge and a fully charged battery.

When I get ready to camp, I plug in the camper a day or 2 ahead, and pre-cool the fridge by turning it on "auto". It switches automatically to propane when I unplug, and back to AC if I plug into electric at the site.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[OYO]

Originally Posted by pgandw

I have the same model A-frame - Flagstaff T21TBHW. The high walls have the bigger fridge which will run very nicely on propane while being towed. The standard walls do not auto-start on propane, and have a shorter chimney effect, so when the flame blows out, it can't restart.

If the high wall fridge flame blows out, it will automatically restart. I use a wireless thermometer to measure internal fridge temp from our minivan, and the fridge stays less than 40 while towing. Since the fridge is running on propane, battery usage is next to nil, and the tow vehicle readily charges my dual GC-2 battery bank, so I arrive at the site with a cool fridge and a fully charged battery.

When I get ready to camp, I plug in the camper a day or 2 ahead, and pre-cool the fridge by turning it on "auto". It switches automatically to propane when I unplug, and back to AC if I plug into electric at the site.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

Fred is spot on here. Or at least that's what I do.

[MarkandTeri]

Thanks for all the great information

Originally Posted by OYO

Fred is spot on here. Or at least that's what I do.