Traveling with refrigerator lite with propane

[MG Carter]

In a Rockwood A122s pop up does anyone run down the road with the refrigerator on using propane? Small cube domestic 3-way refrigerator. The batteries only heat up the exhaust stack side and no cooling. Will the propane burner stay lit doing 60 mph?

 

[NCWanderers]

Since 2009, I have been running my fridge on propane going down the highway. It has always stayed lit no matter how fast I was going.

 

[BobA-FRF]

Same answer as NCWanderers.

I did make the mistake once of running the fridge on our 12 V house battery....and had a dead battery when we arrived at the campground 8 hours later.

 

[bikendan]

In a Rockwood A122s pop up does anyone run down the road with the refrigerator on using propane? Small cube domestic 3-way refrigerator. The batteries only heat up the exhaust stack side and no cooling. Will the propane burner stay lit doing 60 mph?

Been doing it for 35 years.
BUT why aren't you using the 12v DC part of the 3-way, while towing? That's what it's for.
Your tow vehicle will keep the battery charged IF you have 7-pin umbilical cord.
We used the propane side of the 3-way fridge, when dry camping or boondocking.
This is the beauty of 3-way fridges.

Moved thread from the Tech and Repair section to the A-frame sub-forum for better help from other A-frame owners.
OP, the Site Team always recommends that new members check out each section of the Forum and their sub-forums BEFORE posting. That way you'll have a better idea where to post or do research.
You probably would have found the A-frame sub-forum.

 

[moose074]

When I had that option, I always did propane always stays lit. Very efficient and no, I did not turn it off at the gas station or in Tunnel or when the asteroid was about to hit earth.

 

[NCWanderers]

If for some reason your trailer tow connection can not support your 12 volt fridge while running down the highway, run heavy gauge wire directly from the tow vehicle battery to the rear bumper of your tow vehicle. end at a wich connector. Then run the same gauge wire starting with a winch connector directly to you rv house batteries. You will have full batteries when you arrive at your campsite! Use appropriate in line breakers and be sure to unplug the winch connectors when you park at your campsite.

 

[5picker]

In a Rockwood A122s pop up does anyone run down the road with the refrigerator on using propane? Small cube domestic 3-way refrigerator. The batteries only heat up the exhaust stack side and no cooling. Will the propane burner stay lit doing 60 mph?

I'm perplexed by this statement.
The refrigerator should cool on 12v just as it does on LP or 120v.
If the stack gets warm, that would indicate the refrigerator is working on 12v yet you say, "no cooling". (your words)
While I'll agree that 3 way refrigerators do cool quicker and perform a bit better on LP or 120v (because both of those sources provide more heat) I've never had an issue keeping a 3 way refrigerator cold on 12v.

And to answer your question... yes... my 3 way refrigerators have stayed lit at 60 MPH when on LP.

 

[moose074]

Just an FYI I doubt the pilot light between being “tucked into the fridge and then the outside cover sees much wind so I doubt speed is relevant now if the pilot light was on the front at a trailer, or it was catching all the wind directly into the refrigerator the pilot light may not stay late

 

[pgandw]

My experience has been that by monitoring inside fridge temp with an $11 Walmart wireless thermometer, I was able to deduce what was happening.

The smaller fridge in the A122 series does (did) not have automatic relight, so periodically the propane flame would get blown out by the combination of wind and vehicle speed. I had never stay lit for more than 2 hours. When the flame blew out, the temp in the fridge rose pretty quickly. So I had to use 12V when on the road.

The 12V setting in the smaller fridge was iffy in cooling the fridge. Some days it worked well, and other days it didn't. What was important was to get the fridge as close to 32 as possible on gas or 120 before towing down the road.

What also made a huge difference in getting consistent cooling regardless of mode was installing a computer fan to exhaust air out the top grill.

The HW models have/had a different fridge, where the propane will relight automatically. These work for trailering using propane, which is my norm. Again, the 12V section is under-powered in comparison and struggles to hold fridge temp on hot days in the sun. On my A213HW, I normally run on propane while trailering, switching to 12V where required for tunnels. This is a PITA because you have to crawl into the folded camper and switch the mode at the panel. Normally I just leave the fridge in Auto, and it will select 120V when available, and propane when 120V is not available.

Again, the installation of 2 computer case fans on the upper vent was necessary to get good consistent fridge performance in warmer weather. There are more than a couple of old threads on making the A-frame fridges work well. They are generally NOT installed in accordance with Dometic instructions.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2022 Hyundai Palisade

 

[Chuck_S]

Will the propane burner stay lit doing 60 mph?

You'll only learn this by trying.

The 2-door refrigerator with the chimney on the roof in my Roo runs just fine on propane on the road but the little 3-way refrigerator in my popup with two grills on the side of the trailer would NOT stay lit on the road even after adding an automatic pilot igniter. Easy to find out. The 3-way was not kind to the battery of either the camper or Ford Explorer so even for lunch stops I was careful to switch from 12v to LP.

Memorial Day trip starting on Thursday and I'll find out if my 2-way refrigerator propane will automatically relight when the gas is turned back on after I stop at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and turn the LP cylinders Off as mandated in those tunnels. I'll turn the gas back on after exiting -- only 5 more minutes to where we'll be camping so it's not critical heading this way but may be on the way home on Monday. Something about the Navy not wanting to fill these tunnels with explosive gas and possibly blocking their ships from transiting the channel from Norfolk.

-- Chuck

 

[NCWanderers]

Memorial Day trip starting on Thursday and I'll find out if my 2-way refrigerator propane will automatically relight when the gas is turned back on after I stop at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and turn the LP cylinders Off as mandated in those tunnels. I'll turn the gas back on after exiting -- only 5 more minutes to where we'll be camping so it's not critical heading this way but may be on the way home on Monday. Something about the Navy not wanting to fill these tunnels with explosive gas and possibly blocking their ships from transiting the channel from Norfolk.

-- Chuck

Silly Navy....I guess they don't think that gasoline is explosive or propane powered vehicles are explosive....

 

[pgandw]

Silly Navy....I guess they don't think that gasoline is explosive or propane powered vehicles are explosive....

I doubt it's a Navy thing. All the tunnels in the Norfolk area have the same rule. But the CBBT still has live toll takers to enforce the rule.

I believe propane is totally banned from the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. And I believe the Holland Tunnel in NYC completely bans trailers.

Fred W

 

[RhumbleFish]

Got to thank AAA for some Tunnel, Bridge and Ferry guidelines:

https://www.happycampers.store/content/RV-Bridge-Ferry-Tunnel-Guide-3-26-20.pdf