On-road refrigerator use

[X213_2015]

A couple questions on the fridge. I have a norcold unit with propane and AC. We'll be doing a pretty epic trip this summer with considerable amounts of driving. Was wondering if you run (or even can run) the fridge burner while on the road or if it is worth getting an inverter to power it in AC mode while on the road. I see they have a new 12V-DC/120V-AC/gas conversion one can do....but I don't really want to spend money on that.

Second what's the wattage of the heater in the fridge when it does run on AC? 300W continuous would be a fair amount of current to pull from the tow vehicle - 20A or there about.

-Thanks!
Mike

[sennister]

Run it on propane. Though you may want to test it. I think mine has gone out while driving. I have noticed it flashing when we get to the campsite but I am still working to confirm. Our normal trips are short so not really an issue.

[Les7h]

We only turn ours off to refill propane or fuel - leave on auto & it will switch to electric when you have power

[aqua]

it's just a very little flame - no worries

[farnik78]

I leave mine on auto which means when traveling down the road it's on propane. Never had an issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stateboy]

I run it on ac electricity at home the day before departure to get it to chill. I switch to propane to hit the road and then back to ac electricity if available while I'm at the camp site. I go back to propane if I have perishables left in there for the return trip.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[hoppers4]

I leave it in auto so on the road it's running on propane and as soon as get on shore power, it switches to electric. Some folks don't like to leave their fridges running while underway as they're concerned about the additional fire hazard.

[Grumpy]

Been running on gas while traveling since 1977.. No problems.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by farnik78

I leave mine on auto which means when traveling down the road it's on propane. Never had an issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

X2 never had any issues but I always confirm it is running on propane before I lock up the door.

[X213_2015]

Thanks All! Propane it is!

[SkyBound]

Yeah you'll want to bleed the propane line before you unplug electricity and/or switch it to gas. You can do this by lighting up a stove burner. If you don't it will fail to light and the orange and green light will be flashing indicating an error. always confirm that solid orange Gas light and listen through the outside vent for the sound of the flame. I run mine on propane on the road all the time and as far as I'm concerned it's the way to do it.

[hoppers4]

Originally Posted by SkyBound

Yeah you'll want to bleed the propane line before you unplug electricity and/or switch it to gas.

I've never had to do that on any of my MHs. Perhaps your rig is different than mine.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by hoppers4

I've never had to do that on any of my MHs. Perhaps your rig is different than mine.

When the camper (MH) is new or if the propane tanks were disconnected you could get air in the lines if the system was never used. Though a good dealer would have at least tested it before your PDI. The fridge will try and light 3 times. Since it can't light air, it will fail and give up after the 3rd time if there is air in the lines. So by purging the air from the system you are get rid of most of this air to give the fridge a better chance to light on the 3 tries.

This likely comes down to procedure. If you haven't unhooked the tank since last use and if there are no propane leaks, which there shouldn't be, then you shouldn't need to do this. If you did refill a tank but are running the propane system in the recommended way of running one tank until empty, switching over and filling the empty tank, well you will likely introduce very little to no air in the system. So you shouldn't need to purge it. Well maybe a little from the tank connector to the tank selector but that isn't very much.

However if your fridge doesn't start, the first thing to do is see if the stove works and if it does turn off the fridge and try again. Using the stove will verify that you are not out of propane and it also purges any air in the process and will likely mean the fridge should start as long as there isn't another issue like a bad igniter.

[X213_2015]

Originally Posted by hoppers4

I've never had to do that on any of my MHs. Perhaps your rig is different than mine.

After mine sits for a while I need to bleed out the line as well. Once it's going it's good to go. My guess is the quick connector on the outside of the camper may be less than perfect or perhaps I have a very small leak somewhere. I never smell propane.

[RPreeb]

Originally Posted by X213_2015

A couple questions on the fridge. I have a norcold unit with propane and AC. We'll be doing a pretty epic trip this summer with considerable amounts of driving. Was wondering if you run (or even can run) the fridge burner while on the road or if it is worth getting an inverter to power it in AC mode while on the road. I see they have a new 12V-DC/120V-AC/gas conversion one can do....but I don't really want to spend money on that.

Second what's the wattage of the heater in the fridge when it does run on AC? 300W continuous would be a fair amount of current to pull from the tow vehicle - 20A or there about.

-Thanks!
Mike

Originally Posted by farnik78

I leave mine on auto which means when traveling down the road it's on propane. Never had an issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This. ^^

We took a 6 day trip in May and I hooked up to power at home the day before with the switch on auto. As soon as the electricity was unplugged, it kicked over to gas and I never had to think about it again. The fridge switched between gas and electric as it is designed to do all week long. Never an issue.

[Camper_bob]

+1 to those who travel with fridge running on propane. We have done it since we owned the trailer and never a problem.

LOTS of discussion on this around the forum. Good cases to be made either way IMO, but it's certainly not worth spending a bunch money on an inverter to run the fridge when it's already designed to run on propane. Of course, you want to be careful around fueling stations and pay attention to the warnings regarding tunnels and ferries. Use a little common sense, and all is well.

Ours went out once and I thought it happened in transit. Like the flame got blown out or something. Turns out I had unplugged the rig without bleeding the propane lines. So when the fridge went to fire on gas, it didn't light. It will try like 3 times to light, then give you an error and not try again until you cycle the switch. If you just keep cycling the switch, I've had it err up to three times before it finally lights. Since then, I've learned to bleed the propane lines using the stove after opening the tanks when the trailer has been in storage. I will also put an ear to the vent and listen for the flame at departure and at rest stops, you can hear it pretty clearly, sounds like a jet engine. No problems since then.

[stateboy]

I did not mention in my post (#6) that mine is not automatic. I manually go from one to the other (life in a 2010 model 1007 PUP). We're shutting camp down now so back to gas.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Studiovette]

I seem to be having an issue where my fridge will try to light up when propane is off then it relizes it's on shore power and gets stuck. I need to move it to off for a min then bring it back to Auto. Also since I'm new to these types of fridges. Does the freezer generally get cold the fastest? I plugged in about an HR ago ( preparing for trip Fri morn? and the freezer is down to 40deg while the fridge is still at 70! Wth?

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Ours went out once and I thought it happened in transit. Like the flame got blown out or something. Turns out I had unplugged the rig without bleeding the propane lines. So when the fridge went to fire on gas, it didn't light. It will try like 3 times to light, then give you an error and not try again until you cycle the switch. If you just keep cycling the switch, I've had it err up to three times before it finally lights. Since then, I've learned to bleed the propane lines using the stove after opening the tanks when the trailer has been in storage. I will also put an ear to the vent and listen for the flame at departure and at rest stops, you can hear it pretty clearly, sounds like a jet engine. No problems since then.

I just ran mine yesterday on propane for the first time since we picked up this new trailer. I had the same issue, it would fail to light until I lit the stove top.

[mike837go]

Originally Posted by Studiovette

I seem to be having an issue where my fridge will try to light up when propane is off then it relizes it's on shore power and gets stuck. I need to move it to off for a min then bring it back to Auto. Also since I'm new to these types of fridges. Does the freezer generally get cold the fastest? I plugged in about an HR ago ( preparing for trip Fri morn? and the freezer is down to 40deg while the fridge is still at 70! Wth?

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

Yes, the freezer will cool down faster than the fridge. There is more cooling 'effort' going into a smaller space in order to maintain 35F in the fridge and 0F in the freezer.

1 hour is NOT NEARLY LONG ENOUGH for a gas absorption fridge to cool down properly!

12 hours minimum. 24 is better.

You are dealing with a completely different process than a residential refrigerator. No motor, no compressor, no expansion valve, no fans. Just distilling ammonia out of an ammonia+water solution that travels through a hydrogen atmosphere and drips the expanded-then-cooled vapors past the metal plates in the back of the insulated box. To be mixed with the water and repeated.

Remember, your RV fridge is pulling heat out of the box by using heat (Propane, 120V heater or 12V heater). A slow process indeed. But fairly efficient. And the best part: Totally Portable!