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Old 03-01-2018, 08:53 PM   #1
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Need a little help. Fridge

Had the fridge on auto 5 setting while plugged in at home temp was very cold 35 or so. Got on road early this morning. 12 hour drive set up camp plugged in and lights are still on auto 5 but it’s warm 51. It’s like it’s not even on. Put stuff in ice chest turned it off. Last 7 hr trip it didn’t do this. Any suggestions on what to check when we try to turn it on again.
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Old 03-01-2018, 09:17 PM   #2
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Check the little white plastic slider inside on the fins. (Mine is on the left). You can try sliding it up or down depending on where it is at now. That might help.
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Old 03-01-2018, 09:29 PM   #3
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Check the little white plastic slider inside on the fins. (Mine is on the left). You can try sliding it up or down depending on where it is at now. That might help.


It was up I slid it down. Turned back on. Will see if it’s working in morning.
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Old 03-01-2018, 09:42 PM   #4
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You did not say, but I assume you expected the fridge to run on propane while traveling. If it had not run on propane for a while, it may not have lit. After a few fails to light it will go into safety mode. Removing the fuse will reset it. Occasionally the flame will blow out while traveling if it is windy. You could also have foreign stuff ( mud dauber ) in the chimney. If it ran on shore power at home before leaving, it should run on shore power where you are. There should be a graphic on the inside wall of the fridge that indicates the warmer/cooler setting location of the slide.
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Old 03-02-2018, 07:54 AM   #5
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I turned it on last night before bed and this morning it’s 33. Working fine. So it was on shore power at home. Battery on drive now shore power again. Wondering if battery couldn’t keep up because the truck failed to charge it fully? It was on close to 13 hrs on dc on the drive. Never went that long before.
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Old 03-02-2018, 08:03 AM   #6
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Are you sure your fridge even works on DC? Most don’t — only AC or propane.

Bruce
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Old 03-02-2018, 08:04 AM   #7
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Do you have a 3 way fridge??
AC
DC
LP?

Way back I had a little trailer with a 3
way. I discovered it would half drain
my trailer battery while on the road in DC mode. Yes my truck did have the 12v
fuse and it was supposed to be sending DC to the trailer while on the road.

The only way to tell if your battery was drained on the road in DC mode would be with a volt meter on the battery.

My truck nearly failed to start after a long lunch stop with the fridge in DC mode so we never used it again.
We traveled in LP mode and it worked great.
You do have to purge the LP lines if you've had your LP tanks shut off while in storage. Just turn on a stove burner and make sure it will light.
Then put the fridge in LP mode and listen carefully for the spark and the subtle fluttering sound of the burner when it lights.

Good luck!
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Old 03-02-2018, 08:59 AM   #8
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It is 3 way. Barely a year old. We have never used lp only shore and DC power. When we leave I am going to check battery with the volt meter as soon as we get home.
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Old 03-02-2018, 09:24 AM   #9
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Check the AUX pin on your TV Bargman connector. On some vehicles, it is not powered unless you insert the fuse and relay in the fuse block. For some reason this is not done at the factory and they are left in the glove box. If you do have 12VDC on the Aux pin, it is likely that the wiring is insufficient to do much more than keep a charged battery charged. The fridge uses a lot of current when on DC and for that long a drive with out sufficient current from the TV you would deplete the battery. if you plan to use the 12VDC side of the fridge during long trips, you might want do do the following.
Upgrade the wiring for the 12V aux pin
Insure you have an ignition activated relay on that line so you don't kill the TV battery while parked for lunch/sightseeing.
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Old 03-02-2018, 12:40 PM   #10
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What Flybob said or use LP mode! (Wondering why you seem hesitant to try it?)
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Old 03-02-2018, 01:28 PM   #11
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You have to turn the propane OFF when you drive down the road or you are taking a terrible risk of a horrible explosion. BOOM?

Let's no go back to that argument again.
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Old 03-02-2018, 01:44 PM   #12
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You have to turn the propane OFF when you drive down the road or you are taking a terrible risk of a horrible explosion. BOOM?



Let's no go back to that argument again.


LOL!

“Let’s no got back to that argument” ... with the way you phrased that?!

You wrote it in a polarizing way that begs people to argue and disagree.
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Old 03-02-2018, 03:01 PM   #13
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Let's no go back to that argument again.
Right... let's no go back to that argument again... just turn on the propane and keep your stuff cool like ~~78.1% of us do.
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Old 03-02-2018, 04:59 PM   #14
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What Flybob said or use LP mode! (Wondering why you seem hesitant to try it?)


Not hesitant. Just never needed to before on shorter trips. . This trip was so long I should have.
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Old 03-02-2018, 05:49 PM   #15
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Been running ours on the road and boon docking on LP for 3 years and never a problem!!
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Old 03-03-2018, 04:52 AM   #16
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Are you sure your fridge even works on DC? Most don’t — only AC or propane.

Bruce
That was my thought they don't often have a 12 mode any more. I usually test run the propane at home to be sure Even if I run it on AC while
Packing and loading at home. And whole other issue of controversy, but. We run it while we're driving.
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Old 03-03-2018, 06:56 AM   #17
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Your reefer will draw around 12 amps from your battery when running on DC. 10 hours and you would kill a single battery (assuming the reefer runs all the time...which it won't). Agree with others, check your charge line from the TV to make sure it is working. Without it you can't run that long on DC and when you get where you are going you will have nothing left.

Its a personal choice but LP works great...if you have it. If you aren't going to use the LP, a standard $200 bar compact refrigerator draws less than 25% of what your unit draws when running on a small inverter. 3 way units are not really designed to run that long on DC and some won't even cool down when on DC but just maintain a cooled state.
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Old 03-03-2018, 11:06 AM   #18
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What Flybob said or use LP mode! (Wondering why you seem hesitant to try it?)
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Old 03-03-2018, 12:51 PM   #19
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It is 3 way. Barely a year old. We have never used lp only shore and DC power. When we leave I am going to check battery with the volt meter as soon as we get home.
I thought they gave up on 3 way RV refrigerators, DC is a really bad choice. The element that makes an RV fridge work is a heating element. Running on DC it is a pretty big drain on the battery. We have always run on Propane unless we are plugged into shore power. No Problems since 1995.
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Old 03-03-2018, 01:15 PM   #20
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I thought they gave up on 3 way RV refrigerators, DC is a really bad choice. The element that makes an RV fridge work is a heating element. Running on DC it is a pretty big drain on the battery. We have always run on Propane unless we are plugged into shore power. No Problems since 1995.
If people would pay attention to what section this thread is in, they'd see that it's in the A-frame section, along with Popups/Tent Campers and Truck Campers.

The OP is talking about their A-frame trailer.

All of these RVs use 3-way fridges and have for decades.
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