Refrigerator while traveling

[norty1]

Ours stays on when we are traveling. Never had a problem in 30 years. It is made to be on unless a law like in a tunnel. We have only gone thru tunnels a few times in our camping life.

[CAG]

The chances of that happening are probably close to the same as getting hit by an aircraft while driving down the freeway. But then I am fearless, so I will continue to leave mine on.

[bstuck69]

We also have a 28.5. I run on gas when not hooked to outside power. Its safe for travel.

[Lorraine]

My Norcold fridge keeps everything cold (and frozen food frozen) for several hours. I rarely travel more than 3 or 4 hours on a driving day anyway, so it's all good. Because I'm traveling solo and cautious, I just feel more confident driving with propane OFF!

[videoarizona]

I've lived in Arizona for over 50 years. Never seen a sign yet... But the day is young!

However, it's common sense to turn off fridge when gassing up. Once done, I pull out, park and turn fridge back on. Ensuring the gas light is steady. Get back in truck and leave.
In tunnels and ferrys, yes. Turn off propane and appliances. Fridge will stay cool for a few hours easily. Again, common sense.
Rest of time, when traveling, fridge runs a 24/7 on propane unless I plug in to AC.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by videoarizona

I've lived in Arizona for over 50 years. Never seen a sign yet... But the day is young!

However, it's common sense to turn off fridge when gassing up. Once done, I pull out, park and turn fridge back on. Ensuring the gas light is steady. Get back in truck and leave.
In tunnels and ferrys, yes. Turn off propane and appliances. Fridge will stay cool for a few hours easily. Again, common sense.
Rest of time, when traveling, fridge runs a 24/7 on propane unless I plug in to AC.

Again, it is but in most cases I forget and don't really stress on it. The fridge is on the opposite side from the fuel inlet and even if you are between pumps the pump across the isle is 10 feet away. This situation is not like turning on the blower before starting your boat. There are videos of boats blowing sky high when failing to vent the bilge. I have not seen one video of a RV blow up in a gas station. This is the old "cell phone blows up gas pump rumor". It could happen but so could getting hit by a plane while driving down the freeway-oh, wait I said that OK i'm done haha.

[garywilson]

Originally Posted by TMullarkey

We travel with the Auto switch on and the propane gas open because it is HOT in Arizona and we do not want the food to spoil in the fridge. With that said, I understand it is illegal to have an open propane tank while you are at a Gas station in AZ (not sure about other states). Not that anyone would check, but it is worth closing off the propane tanks for the short time you are filling your truck with fuel.

Hmmmm.... so if your vehicle runs on propane??

[norty1]

Originally Posted by garywilson

Hmmmm.... so if your vehicle runs on propane??

Then why would you be in a gas station?

[Scott]

Originally Posted by norty1

Then why would you be in a gas station?

Well...propane is a gas.

I leave my fridge off if traveling under 3 hours. If over I switch it to gas. All of our weekend trips are under that time frame. Only our vacation was over it.

[PhillyPhan]

The frustrating thing about this is they have fridges that run off 12V too, so why not install fridges that run 120V, 12V and Propane. Then you wouldn't have to run propane while driving. I live in AZ too. I've towed my trailer every other weekend up north and always travel with propane on. I leave Mesa and fuel up in Payson and sometimes the fridge turns off just in that hour of driving and with the heat here the fridge warms up quickly. Your fridge is basically useless if you can't drive it with the fridge on propane keeping it cool.

[madmaxmutt]

Live and camp free

Propane on, and fridge cold for every trip

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by PhillyPhan

The frustrating thing about this is they have fridges that run off 12V too, so why not install fridges that run 120V, 12V and Propane. Then you wouldn't have to run propane while driving. I live in AZ too. I've towed my trailer every other weekend up north and always travel with propane on. I leave Mesa and fuel up in Payson and sometimes the fridge turns off just in that hour of driving and with the heat here the fridge warms up quickly. Your fridge is basically useless if you can't drive it with the fridge on propane keeping it cool.

I'm not certain, but I think it probably has to do with how much 12V would be required to keep the fridge running? A lot of rigs are still not equipped with all that much 12V capacity these days. Ones that are seem to be higher end units and use residential fridges anyway.

I think it all comes down to money. It would cost more to put a decent-sized 3-way fridge in, and then have to re-work or increase the 12V system to support it.

In the case of the fridge, there's really no reason to go to all of that trouble. Running with the fridge on propane does not generally cause a dangerous situation. So long as you abide by the recommended procedures when fueling and traveling on ferries or in tunnels (and the oh so rare common sense), it's generally safe. So why go to all the trouble and expense to fix something that's not broken.

That being said, I can totally see your point. Right now I'm looking at it from a generator perspective. Why oh why don't we have a commercially available, capable of on-board install, inverter generator yet? They're more quiet, if you equip them with an "eco" feature, they're more efficient, produce cleaner power, they're more quiet, more fuel efficient, and quieter. Did I mention how much quieter they are?

It CAN'T be that hard to design one that can be mounted in an RV chassis like the veritable Onans. Why don't we have this yet?!

[PhillyPhan]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I'm not certain, but I think it probably has to do with how much 12V would be required to keep the fridge running? A lot of rigs are still not equipped with all that much 12V capacity these days. Ones that are seem to be higher end units and use residential fridges anyway.

I think it all comes down to money. It would cost more to put a decent-sized 3-way fridge in, and then have to re-work or increase the 12V system to support it.

In the case of the fridge, there's really no reason to go to all of that trouble. Running with the fridge on propane does not generally cause a dangerous situation. So long as you abide by the recommended procedures when fueling and traveling on ferries or in tunnels (and the oh so rare common sense), it's generally safe. So why go to all the trouble and expense to fix something that's not broken.

That being said, I can totally see your point. Right now I'm looking at it from a generator perspective. Why oh why don't we have a commercially available, capable of on-board install, inverter generator yet? They're more quiet, if you equip them with an "eco" feature, they're more efficient, produce cleaner power, they're more quiet, more fuel efficient, and quieter. Did I mention how much quieter they are?

It CAN'T be that hard to design one that can be mounted in an RV chassis like the veritable Onans. Why don't we have this yet?!

I was thinking you'd only run off 12V when the trailer is plugged into your tow vehicle. Once unplugged and trailer is set up at camp spot you'd switch it over to propane.

I 100% agree about the generator. When we were searching for a new TT in 2018 I was specifically looking for one that had a generator installed in it and realized that wasn't even an option although all the toy haulers have generators. Very frustrating.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by PhillyPhan

I was thinking you'd only run off 12V when the trailer is plugged into your tow vehicle. Once unplugged and trailer is set up at camp spot you'd switch it over to propane.

I 100% agree about the generator. When we were searching for a new TT in 2018 I was specifically looking for one that had a generator installed in it and realized that wasn't even an option although all the toy haulers have generators. Very frustrating.

And I get that, but the 12V from your tow vehicle doesn't offer much more than a trickle charge at best.

The ammonia absorption cooling system on the fridge requires somewhat significant heat to work. Heat takes A LOT of power. The 12V systems generally found in these rigs are likely not up to the task of doing it consistently and safely. Running that heating element while cruising down the road for 12 hours, even with the charge provided from the tow vehicle, probably isn't going to happen with an OEM setup. I assume that this coupled with the lack of a requirement for change is why we don't see this technology. Necessity is the mother of invention, and there's no perceived, widespread necessity here.

As for a generator, if you're in a towable, I wouldn't accept the on-board generator options anyway. It's better and cheaper to go with a stand-alone quiet inverter generator. Albeit decidedly less convenient.

Twice now, I've been REALLY close to putting an external generator on my rig and finding a way for it to get plugged into my shore power while under way. With my TT, I was going to install a robust carrier off the rear of the frame, mount the generator to it and literally plug it in and run it while cruising down the road.

On my MH, I seriously considered doing something similar during this time I've been having trouble with my on-board Onan generator.

In both cases I'm trying to keep the inside of the unit from getting so dang hot. Last trip out without the generator running the roof-top AC units, it got up to 81* in the "house" in under 2 hours of driving. That's with running BOTH rooftop AC units wide open until moments before departure, and running the dash AC wide open at max cooling the entire trip. Since my son rides on the couch, I try to keep it as cool as possible in the back. Not as big a concern for the TT except for how long it took to cool that unit down (33' box with 1x15K BTU unit).

Anyway, I digress...

[garywilson]

Originally Posted by norty1

Then why would you be in a gas station?

Generator?
Use both types of fuel in your vehicle? It used to be a fad.

Several places around here sell both gasoline and propane.
Just turn off the WH and Ref until you finish.

[spark of insanity]

Ours will switch to gas when the power is off. We keep the gas on while traveling otherwise the food will spoil.

[Pragmatic]

Originally Posted by dwisser1

We have a 2018 Jayco 28rls. Fridge says we can select auto, electric, or propane. Does auto mean our truck can power the fridge while driving?

Electric means 110VAC, not 12VDC. If you do not have an inverter, you cannot produce 110VAC on the road. If you do have an inverter, it might be possible to run the refrigerator on 110VAC, with the truck powering the inverter with 12VDC. I suspect your truck won’t be able to provide enough current to do it this way, though.

As for using propane on the road, consult your manual. My 2016 Jayco Eagle manual allows my refrigerator to be used with propane while driving, but not the propane water heater. We do so everywhere we go without a problem.

Regardless whether legal or illegal in any particular location, it is critical to turn off the propane valve on the bottle(s) at gas stations, in tunnels, on ferries, and on certain bridges (the long tall ones). Propane powered devices produce an open flame which can ignite fuel fumes always present at gas stations. Tunnels, ferries and bridges (the long tall ones) have had many tragedies involving fire and explosions. We RVers have an obligation to do our part to prevent more.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Electric means 110VAC, not 12VDC. If you do not have an inverter, you cannot produce 110VAC on the road. If you do have an inverter, it might be possible to run the refrigerator on 110VAC, with the truck powering the inverter with 12VDC. I suspect your truck won’t be able to provide enough current to do it this way, though.

As for using propane on the road, consult your manual. My 2016 Jayco Eagle manual allows my refrigerator to be used with propane while driving, but not the propane water heater. We do so everywhere we go without a problem.

Regardless whether legal or illegal in any particular location, it is critical to turn off the propane valve on the bottle(s) at gas stations, in tunnels, on ferries, and on certain bridges (the long tall ones). Propane powered devices produce an open flame which can ignite fuel fumes always present at gas stations. Tunnels, ferries and bridges (the long tall ones) have had many tragedies involving fire and explosions. We RVers have an obligation to do our part to prevent more.

I would agree that we do but there is also this. These regulations came about many years ago when the fueling systems did not have vapor capture that now, in most states and countries prevents large volumes of vapor from escaping into the atmosphere. So gas stations have far less vapor than years past. Tunnels and bridges have those regulations because of the outside chance of a fire that closes down those locations trapping other vehicles. Explosions from RVs are rare but could happen. Hence the regulations.



Bottom line with this thread, I think we have finally killed the horse

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Regardless whether legal or illegal in any particular location, ..... We RVers have an obligation to do our part to prevent more.

I owe no such allegiance to your stated opinion.

[ahaywood5785]

With that said, I understand it is illegal to have an open propane tank while you are at a Gas station in AZ (not sure about other states).


It is not recommended, but it is not illegal.