I just got a 2015 fith wheel. Getting ready to take our first trip. Have gone through everything, and its lookong good. I have a question, can you run the refrigerator in gas mode while your driving? It takes so long to cool down, it would be nice to have it in cool mode while we are headed to our destination. I cant find anything in the owners manual. Thanks for any info, we are excited to tame our first trip.
Sun, 07/07/2019 - 21:22
#1
Refrigerator
Many people including myself run the frig. on propane while traveling on the road. You just have to shut off the propane for refueling and entering tunnels. Others are uncomfortable with using LP on the road and run on 12 VDC. If trying to use 12 VDC a robust battery and solar system is almost a must. There are many who have strong opinions on both sides of this subject. The final decision us yours.
Eddie
we learned right away that if we wanted our food kept cold as we wanted it to run it on propane when traveling, like you say, people have their own opinions
Launey and Earlene
Yes it is a controversial topic. And depending on which fridge you have, you might or might not even have an option to run it on 12 VDC. My Dometic RM2410 is AC or propane only, I either run it on propane on the road, or I use it like an ice chest / cooler until I get set up at camp. BTW, it also has no electronic control board so it runs fine on propane with no power whatsoever, which is a plus. Anytime and anywhere you run an absorption fridge on propane, remember that there is an active flame. Anytime and anywhere that you have the valve open on your propane tank (cylinder), remember that there is a slight chance of a leak developing. While the amount of risk is debated and you should certainly turn off the propane at the tank when refueling your vehicle, I have only heard of one fridge fire at a gas pump. That was when somehow the gasoline from the pump got splashed onto the side of the trailer at the fridge vent. A major fire followed.
For the last 30 years we traveled with the fridge running on Propane with our two past Motorhomes. Never had an issue but it was necessary to turn off occasionally in tunnels or fueling as stated. Also both had auto light feature so never was off when we arrived. We have a new 2019 S13 And So far we have traveled with the 12 volt turned on and it ran off the house and car battery and it was working well. I will travel this weekend 150 miles each way on propane to see how it goes. I read somewhere that it was common for the propane to blow out while traveling.. I am interested to see how it goes. Just remember to park with the camper relatively level when ever operating or it will be shorter lived fridge
2019 Scamp 13 standard
I am well aware that our Dometic absorption fridges are sensitive to high ambient temps and preform poorly when very much above 90 deg. I ran into another situation yesterday. it was 94 deg F and the fridge was hard pressed to stay at 40 deg with only 3 times opening the door all day to check the temp. . I noticed the incoming voltage was only 106 Vac and this is not uncommon here. and also common in some Campgrounds in summer. I also know that these fridges require a specific amount of heat to work properly. ( too hi and too low are both bad ) Is 106 low enough to affect the cooling and might it be better to switch to propane. On my past campers I installed a 12 volt small muffin fan to help move the hot air out of the enclosure with some benefit. This was on our new 2019 13 without AC so the inside temps were 94-95 also. On all my other campers the heat exit was at the roof and the intake vent much lower., This helped create a better convective movement and you could see the air being sucked in the lower intake if a smoking stick was placed close. The 13's only have two vented doors that are fairly close together and possibly less natural movement. I am not complaining and only looking for others to chime in and look to improve the operation if possible.
2019 Scamp 13 standard