Gas Refrigerator Question

[wags999]

Originally Posted by MagooIsBoo

I use empty Iogo yogurt silver foil bags. I fill them with water, and freeze them. They don’t leak and they stay somewhat insulated. We don’t often camp with hook ups and this keeps items in the fridge cool for days without having to run through our propane. I’d rather have my propane for hot water.

A frig uses very little propane... a small fraction of your water heater..

[MagooIsBoo]

Hi, I’m just trying to be more environmentally aware. If I can get away with using less resources, I will.

[Kim Gass]

Originally Posted by MagooIsBoo

Hi, I’m just trying to be more environmentally aware. If I can get away with using less resources, I will.

I agree.. We freeze soda bottles 3/4 full of water. This means two things: We don't have to refill the propane tank as often ( which is hard to do when boondocking in National Forests) and the second is that we need not have a second propane bottle on the unit and jury rig a second bottle mount. After 45,000 miles no one is going to convince me of the need to run the propane while on the move.

[Cannon]

Originally Posted by MagooIsBoo

Hi, I’m just trying to be more environmentally aware. If I can get away with using less resources, I will.

It takes very little propane to run fridge. Your may use a 1/4 gal of clean burning propane for every 100 gals of gas in tv.

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by WeRJuliian

This article may be of interest to all you "Never had a problem" folks....

Gas-station fire destroys Indiana couple’s RV - News - Houma Today - Houma, LA

It might be more appropriate to say "Never had a problem.. yet"

I had exactly the same thing happen to me at a pump in NC in March (the prank, not the fire). Some ID10T had latched the handle open after shutting the pump off, leaving it as a booby trap for the next guy to come along (me). As soon as I hit the grade button, gas started spewing from the nozzle. I slammed it into the filler pretty quick; probably only spilled a half cup of gas, and managed to miss spraying myself, but I was pissed.

And yes, I know that best practice is to put the nozzle into the filler before turning the pump on, but lets face it, many of us do it the quicker way, as you only have to turn around once. I now understand why they removed the latches from the pumps in Canada a couple of decades ago. What an absolutely stupid and dangerous prank!

[RAurand]

We turn out fridge on 2 days before leaving. (Plugged in to a 30 amp outlet alongside my house) We load the fridge the day before leaving. When we are ready to leave, we switch over to gas and I confirm the burner is lit. Refrigerator stays cold and stuff in the freezer stays frozen. Plus, we don't take up needed food space with frozen water bottles.

[33 RLDS]

Originally Posted by WeRJuliian

This article may be of interest to all you "Never had a problem" folks....

Gas-station fire destroys Indiana couple’s RV - News - Houma Today - Houma, LA

It might be more appropriate to say "Never had a problem.. yet"

"
Binder, 73, said the blaze started as he prepared to fill up the Roadtrek recreational vehicle and the nozzle spewed gasoline, igniting when it came into contact with a pilot light on the RV."

Don't be an idiot like Binder and your fine

[wags999]

Originally Posted by bankr63

I had exactly the same thing happen to me at a pump in NC in March (the prank, not the fire). Some ID10T had latched the handle open after shutting the pump off, leaving it as a booby trap for the next guy to come along (me). As soon as I hit the grade button, gas started spewing from the nozzle. I slammed it into the filler pretty quick; probably only spilled a half cup of gas, and managed to miss spraying myself, but I was pissed.

And yes, I know that best practice is to put the nozzle into the filler before turning the pump on, but lets face it, many of us do it the quicker way, as you only have to turn around once. I now understand why they removed the latches from the pumps in Canada a couple of decades ago. What an absolutely stupid and dangerous prank!

Yep plenty of idiots driving RV and other vehicles. If you read the report, it shows exactly what we all have recommended. Run your propane turning it OFF when refueling. This guy was really an idiot, spilled fuel all over the Rv and the ground the vent was near the fuel fill, didn't turn off the Frig. As the fire department said they have never seen anything like that before.

Because one idiot had an accident doesn't stop me and millions of others to change what we do. I will still leave the propane on, turn it off when refueling, even tho I'm at least 20 feet away from the fuel fill to the frig, plus it's on the other side of the RV. I always use the outside lane so there are no other pumps on the frig side..

This is not something I am going to worry about. I worry more about the guy in the RV passing me going 75 or 80.. he's the real threat on the highway.

JMHO.

Happy Camping

[Isaacs]

Originally Posted by SkyBound

Tons of people do it, including myself. Apparently it makes other people nervous, which is fine, and they choose not to. The biggest thing with fridges burning propane is to keep them reasonably level so the flame stays centered in the burner tube.

The reason the trailer has to be level is so the refrigerant can travel down the the sloped tubes under or behind your 'fridge and do its magic. If it gets "stuck" in one place the 'fridge will stop cooling until it is leveled out. If this happens too often it can crystallize the refrigerant and do damage to the system.

Having said that, it's not necessary to keep the trailer level when traveling. The motion of the trailer on the road keeps things moving; quick unlevel stops aren't worth worrying about. You might want to shut it off while you're parked unlevel enjoying a meal.

Carry on and keep that beer cold!

[triangulum33]

I drive with it on.
Some of our trips take us half a day's drive through the 100* California central valley.

[80 Cruiser Rod]

From all the post I'm reading those who do drive with their refrigerators on many run them on shore power for 2 days prior to the trip. Is that the general rule of thumb and why 2 days and not just over night or 1 day?

[EvilDoer]

I feel like running the fridge for two days on shore power rather than one gives a "deeper" cold. Turn the fridge on and the air is cold in an hour, the surface of the walls and shelves are cold after several hours, and after two days that chill has penetrated everything so it takes longer to warm up. Also, either the fridge is loaded a couple days before departure, or anything that is added is prechilled.

[wags999]

We load over a couple of days so the frig is on for a few days. Cold is cold no need to do a few days I would suppose. But typically when were getting ready to leave it's close to 100 so...

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by RAurand

We turn out fridge on 2 days before leaving. (Plugged in to a 30 amp outlet alongside my house) We load the fridge the day before leaving. When we are ready to leave, we switch over to gas and I confirm the burner is lit. Refrigerator stays cold and stuff in the freezer stays frozen. Plus, we don't take up needed food space with frozen water bottles.

X2. But we generally only plug it in 24 hours or so before leaving. The food we load in is already cold or frozen, which also helps. Switch to propane right before leaving. We typically have to light the range burner(s) to get gas flowing and ensure fridge is running on the gas. Sometimes shut off tank valve, then back on slowly, to work.

[lfcave]

When we traveled the east coast had had to go through one of the longer tunnels, state employees would as us if our propane wD off before entering and one state (maybe Maryland) actually had the driver get out and show them the propane was off.