Maintenance & Restoration

camper1887 · 05-29-2012, 10:04 PM

Do you leave your propane on while traveling to have the fridge on? I have talked to people that do it both ways. Curious as to what other folks do. Thanks!

Mike Magee · 05-29-2012, 10:06 PM

Yes.

Byron Kinnaman · 05-29-2012, 10:14 PM

No, absolutely not.

Dave Fish · 05-29-2012, 10:17 PM

Leave it on most of the time. I always turn it off when filling the gas tank and must turn it off for the ferry.

Rene · 05-29-2012, 10:34 PM

Yes I always have the fridge going. I depend on my fridge all day, every day and over long distances.

Carol H · 05-29-2012, 11:04 PM

Nope - never and I also cover a lot of long distances. When I start out on a trip I always start the fridge up the day before so it starts out cold and everything I put in it is also cold before it goes in. I also start out with a large frozen plastic jug of water in the fridge & once that melts I have 4 freezer packs that are always in the freezer & when on the road I put them beside items that must stay cold such a milk etc & I don't open the fridge while traveling other than to switch the freezer packs back into the freezer and put the fridge over to DC only long enough to refreeze them. If its really hot out I might leave the fridge on DC if I dont think the freezer packs can handle the heat. The tow vehicle charges the battery while driving so I just need to remember to unplug if its on DC when making long stops.

Raz · 05-30-2012, 03:34 AM

No. While I doubt there is much risk, it is just not something I am comfortable with. Raz

Darrell O · 05-30-2012, 09:03 AM

Isn't the fridge pilot flame liable to get blown out by the air turbulence, drafts, and vacuums at highway speeds?

Carol H · 05-30-2012, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darrell O

Isn't the fridge pilot flame liable to get blown out by the air turbulence, drafts, and vacuums at highway speeds?

Yes and thats the risk of driving with it on.

fusedlight · 05-30-2012, 09:28 AM

I like the idea of loading up with a hunk of ice (or lots of frozen food!). Thermal momentum is your friend.

Raz · 05-30-2012, 04:10 PM

The flame blowing out doesn't bother me. There is a thermocouple powering a shut off solenoid that I check regularly to take care of that. I guess I am more concerned with driving down the road and coming upon a volatile environment, say an accident where gas vapor is present. Or forgetting to turn it off when gassing up. As I said, I am just not comfortable with it. Raz

Rene · 05-30-2012, 05:07 PM

My burner tube is completely enclosed and has never blown out even at over 60 mph and in stiff winds. If it did the thermocouple would shut off the gas flow. Packing with ice and waiting until I arrived at my destination would never work for me. I always at a new destination where ever I go. I eat 3 meals a day in my trailer and eat out only occasionally.

**Frederick L. Simson** · 05-30-2012, 05:25 PM

I used to, but I no longer do it since I had a refrigerator fire.

I found that running my 30+ year old refrigerator on gas while driving was no more effective at keeping it cold than using frozen "blue-ice" packs while driving. Each method kept the inside no colder than 50 degrees.

The risk of loosing the trailer (or worse) is not worth it to me. I just need more ice packs.

ThomasE · 05-30-2012, 05:33 PM

I tow with the fridge on propane, it works really well at keeping things cool. 120V is a near second in terms of coldness, 12V is a bit better than nothing. I towed it for 3000 miles over 3 weeks on last year with no problems. But I do worry sometimes especially in case of a crash or something like that. Flame has never blown out when towing.

Byron Kinnaman · 05-30-2012, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frederick L. Simson

I used to, but I no longer do it since I had a refrigerator fire.

I found that running my 30+ year old refrigerator on gas while driving was no more effective at keeping it cold than using frozen "blue-ice" packs while driving. Each method kept the inside no colder than 50 degrees.

The risk of loosing the trailer (or worse) is not worth it to me. I just need more ice packs.

I came very close to having a fridge fire last year. We took off on our normal winter trip to Death Valley. Got all leveled and tried to light the fridge. I usually light it with a BBQ lighter, thank goodness. Usually when I light it there's a small "whumph" sound then I verify with the BBQ lighter unlit. I noticed some smoke from near the gas inlet. I turned it off and tried again paying close attention to where the flame was. NOT GOOD. The flame was at the air input ports, burner plugged.
Ice worked well for a few days, then at an RV repair place they were able to blow out the spider nest. Fridge has worked great sense, with me spraying spider killer into both vents about once a month while sitting at home. And I keep the fridge running on electricity when parked in it's cubby.

BCDave · 05-31-2012, 06:40 PM

Until last year it never would have occurred to me to tow with the propane on. I was shocked when I found people turning their propane off before getting onto a ferry in BC's interior. When I asked a couple of them they commented to the effect that they ALWAYS run the fridge on propane while traveling.

Then, later last year we went to Texas to pick up our new-to-us Bigfoot and found that - at least in that trailer - the fridge LIKES to have propane ON while towing - if the flame blows out, I guess the electric lighter re-starts it! And in the "zillion above" temperatures of Texas, New Mexico etc in August, it seemed like a really good idea, too!

So now, Its ON all the time, unless I'm parked at home - which is about 99.9% of the time anyway!

Darrell O · 05-31-2012, 07:14 PM

Why not flip the switch to 12v and let the battery (and alternator) run the fridge?

BCDave · 05-31-2012, 08:04 PM

My fridge does not have a 12V option. It is 110V or propane (its a BIG, 2 door fridge with separate freezer that keeps things at minus 20C, even in the desert, and its not as good on 110 as it is on propane

**RogerDat** · 05-31-2012, 08:15 PM

I'm puzzled. Everything I have ever heard about the older propane, or propane/electric fridges says they are really touchy about needing to be level when run, both for effective operation and to prevent damage. Pretty sure not going to stay level being towed.

Plus the air flow needs to be across the heat exchanger but not the generator or separator which need to boil the ammonia, don't want to have heat loss from there. Don't see 60 mph driving airflow being effecient.

We always packed freezer with blue ice packs, froze when parked good for at least one day of keeping fridge cold enough for food storage.

Not saying it don't work just wondering how well and what long term effect running while driving would have on the fridge.