Keep refrigerator cold while driving

[Dunegoon]

Propane on is fine till you have blow out and steel belts create a spark and you are towing a fire ball.I have done it but I knew the risk.
We started using freezer packs from Hello Fresh deliveries.These packs were the best part of the deliveries.
Now we have 12 volt in new rig so all is well.

[Camp CA]

Jaykol.....we operate our 110v/propane and 110v refrigerators on the inverter while while traveling......no propane But if you do not have an inverter some ice packs will work during long travel days, which is what we use if the refrigerator is not cold (normally when leaving home and not allowing ~2 hours to cool refrigerator while plugged in).

[robloos]

We went New Orleans to Utah and back. Fridge ran on propane while driving. Out of the 30 days we cooked about 12. Only used 45% of one of the 30lbs tanks

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by robloos

We went New Orleans to Utah and back. Fridge ran on propane while driving. Out of the 30 days we cooked about 12. Only used 45% of one of the 30lbs tanks

What's your point? This thread is about safety, not economy.

[Johnynorthland]

Once my wife started reading about propane refrigerator fire incidents, AND our 3 rd rig with LP fridge started acting up for the 4th time, it was easy to make the decision on going 12V! And in my eyes it cost nothing to run! Especially now that we have solar!

[Kim Gass]

Can't run the fridge whike driving over the next two days
We found out at subfreezing temps it freezes up and takes a while to thaw
The weather people speaketh of warmth ..somewhere not here
12 v
Just a reminder for those travelling in the winter

[Johnynorthland]

Originally Posted by Kim Gass

Can't run the fridge whike driving over the next two days
We found out at subfreezing temps it freezes up and takes a while to thaw
The weather people speaketh of warmth ..somewhere not here
12 v
Just a reminder for those travelling in the winter

I installed a 12V, 150W heater in the back of my 12V fridge, in the compartment where the compressor is located. Worked like a charm in freezing temps. These compressors don’t kick on below 35ishF!

[Kim Gass]

Originally Posted by Johnynorthland

I installed a 12V, 150W heater in the back of my 12V fridge, in the compartment where the compressor is located. Worked like a charm in freezing temps. These compressors don’t kick on below 35ishF!

That may be correct but the fridge is still frozen
Its been below freezing most of the winter
We aren't real
handy like you guys so what we are doing is not buying food that turns to mush when frozen
Your heater; does it run while driving and what are its temp limits?
last year we left at zero F and I wonder if your solution would have worked.This year its 18 so alot warmer

[Johnynorthland]

Originally Posted by Kim Gass

That may be correct but the fridge is still frozen
Its been below freezing most of the winter
We aren't real
handy like you guys so what we are doing is not buying food that turns to mush when frozen
Your heater; does it run while driving and what are its temp limits?
last year we left at zero F and I wonder if your solution would have worked.This year its 18 so alot warmer

I keep A remote temperature thermometer in it, when it drops below 50 I turn it on, but I plan on installing a thermostat to make it automatically go on/off. I did notice the more the compressors cycles it kept it warm enough on its own to operate in Ambien temps that were above 35°F

If your fridge is frozen on the inside, you might need to thaw it. When I was full time I had to thaw my fridge every few months. Ice will build up when you use it for long periods at a time. There’s nothing wrong it’s just physics with these fridges.

[Big1]

When we did have our I always had my propane tank on but that's me, just remember to turn off your propane in places.

[Jaykol]

Originally Posted by Kim Gass

That may be correct but the fridge is still frozen
Its been below freezing most of the winter
We aren't real
handy like you guys so what we are doing is not buying food that turns to mush when frozen
Your heater; does it run while driving and what are its temp limits?
last year we left at zero F and I wonder if your solution would have worked.This year its 18 so alot warmer

While you are at home if you have shore power, a utility light with a old-school incandescent bulb makes a nice warmer for a small space. Very easy and safe as long as the bulb is not in direct contact with anything.

[Johnynorthland]

Originally Posted by Johnynorthland

I keep A remote temperature thermometer in it, when it drops below 50 I turn it on, but I plan on installing a thermostat to make it automatically go on/off. I did notice the more the compressors cycles it kept it warm enough on its own to operate in Ambien temps that were above 35°F

If your fridge is frozen on the inside, you might need to thaw it. When I was full time I had to thaw my fridge every few months. Ice will build up when you use it for long periods at a time. There’s nothing wrong it’s just physics with these fridges.

I also forgot to mention that the vented, exterior panel hatch for the refrigerator access that I have has been heavily insulated. This also helps keep the cold out and heat in in the winter. I built a box around the inside of the doors hatch, and sprayed expanding foam into it.

[Kim Gass]

the q was about driving
no way will driving at 65 with an outside temp of 14 allow the fridge to work
In this case windchill counts

Fridge is off and ice cream happy
the carrots not so much

[cekkk]

Windshield can be a confusing word. Wind chill affects us. It's effect on vehicles is different. Wind chill will cause the parts of your automobile or trailer to get down to ambient faster than if it were standing still at the same ambient temperature. So if you have a windshield of 15 below zero but the actual temperature is 0, your vehicle will not get down to 15 below but it will get down to zero faster than if it were sitting in your driveway.

[craigav]

On a related note, I need to install some new wind chill wipers soon. Winter is hard on them I suspect. ~CA

[FISTEP]

Originally Posted by cekkk

Windshield can be a confusing word. Wind chill affects us. It's effect on vehicles is different. Wind chill will cause the parts of your automobile or trailer to get down to ambient faster than if it were standing still at the same ambient temperature. So if you have a windshield of 15 below zero but the actual temperature is 0, your vehicle will not get down to 15 below but it will get down to zero faster than if it were sitting in your driveway.

Not to be THAT guy, but a comparable phenomenon does happen. If your car has been sitting in 0 degrees for a time, every part of the car down the very innards of the engine and interior will be at 0 degrees whether in calm or hurricane force winds.

But if you start the car and warm the engine and interior up, the increased airflow over the surfaces of the radiator and exterior of the car will extract, or maybe more properly convect, the heat away more quickly.

We experienced this a couple weeks ago when the wind picked up from calm to rocking the trailer in the space of an hour at about 10F. The walls are not well insulated and windows are single pane so the heat loss increased very noticeably. That is heat being extracted from the surface of the trailer, and to a smaller degree, from getting sucked out the cracks around the door etc. It's the same principle though without the added vector of the moisture of the skin.

So, not the definition of windchill, but wind chillin'!

[us71na]

Originally Posted by cekkk

Windshield can be a confusing word. Wind chill affects us. It's effect on vehicles is different. Wind chill will cause the parts of your automobile or trailer to get down to ambient faster than if it were standing still at the same ambient temperature. So if you have a windshield of 15 below zero but the actual temperature is 0, your vehicle will not get down to 15 below but it will get down to zero faster than if it were sitting in your driveway.

You are confusing terminology. Wind chill is the effect of moisture evaporating from your skin making it feel much colder than the ambient temperature. It only applies to people and animals.

The only effect wind chill has on inanimate objects, such as car radiators and water pipes, is to more quickly cool the object to the current air temperature. The object will NOT cool below the actual air temperature.

It would not be possible for you vehicle windshield to be 15 blow zero if the ambient temperature is zero.