fridge on gas ???

[Charles Firth]

My Windjammer is in storage with no power hookup. I need to cool the fridge before loading it up. What is the best way ? Can I run the fridge on LP and battery over night to cool it down ? How long can I run the fridge on 12 volt power ? I am thinking about running it over night , Load it up the next day and hit the road. I need to travel with the gas off, I will have a tunnel to go through that requires the propane be off. The campground is on the outer banks just a few hours drive. The other method would be to load the coolers with food. Start the fridge at the campground, leave the food in the cooler till the fridge cools off. I am aware that the propane only needs to be off while in the tunnel, but believe me there is no SAFE place to pull off the road and start the fridge after I exit the tunnel. From my storage area to the tunnel is about a 30 minute drive, it would have to be turned off at the inspection area.

[bikendan]

as long as the battery is fully charged, it should be fine.
the fridge electronics are not big power eaters, like the furnace fan.

[Soga65]

Turn it off before entering the tunnel an should stay good an cool to you get the campground with no problem

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by bikendan

as long as the battery is fully charged, it should be fine.
the fridge electronics are not big power eaters, like the furnace fan.

If you have a Dometic fridge with the condensation door heater strip, you may want to disable it. See attached for a how-to. I haven't done this mod yet, and I ran my fridge overnight and had no problem.

You might want to get a remote temperature indicator. I've got this one: AcuRite® Digital Refrigerator/Freezer Thermometer with Temperature Alerts - BedBathandBeyond.com

You can put the readout in your TV and monitor the temps as you drive down the road. You should be able to do about 4 hrs before you loose too many degrees.

[tjmezzan]

I have let mine run on gas many times with no problems. Consider if you were dry camping somewhere. The fridge is made for this sort of thing.

[hotzfamily]

If you are worried, throw a few frozen water bottles in the fridge. Will help with cooling.

[MCTroy]

2x the frozen water bottles to get it chilled down quicker. I always do that and it really helps. And then I have ice for the way home. We leave our camper on a summer site so I take some food home and can use a frozen water bottle or two then.

[Jonol]

You could install a 400 watts converter that you use only when on the road.
It can be install with a relay that switch your frig to the inverter 120 volts
as you turn it on.
No more frig on gas if on the road. Be safe!

[dieselguy]

Everyone has their own comfort level ... there are virtually boatloads of us that have towed with the fridge on gas over the years. Like mentioned ... tunnels and fueling up ... they should be switched off momentarily. You should have no problem turning it off before the tunnel as it will stay reasonably cold for a few hours.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Jonol

You could install a 400 watts converter that you use only when on the road.
It can be install with a relay that switch your frig to the inverter 120 volts
as you turn it on.
No more frig on gas if on the road. Be safe!

400 watts is over 30 amps on 12VDC. You TV may not be able to push that much current down the (normally) relatively small aux power wire on your TV AND could blow the aux power fuse on the TV (I think mine is 30 amps, if I remember correctly). All depending on what your TV is, of course.

[Jonol]

The 120 volt frig element take 250 watts that it.
I run a direct 16 gauge line to the relay and the 400 watts converter is going with a 10 gauge wire to the battery and the battery is charge by truck.
My converter has a internal fuse protection.

See my simplefied diagram.

[Jonol]

Here is the diagram.