Traveling with refrig ON

[Treeclimber]

Rick, just for info...I like running the fridge with 120v ac going down the road! Gots to do a bit more research, but sounds like an inverter (about 1500 to 2000 watt) will do the job. Hook it up to the battery, plug in the refer and while the TV charges the battery, the inverter runs the refer. Must remember to disconnect the inverter before plugging in to shore power or I'll fry something. I'll let you know what I do. I think renoites has been doing it this way for some time.
Tree

 

[hilltool]

huh! (?) plug in the reefer? I assume you do not mean plug in the shore power cord. So you run an extension cord from where the reefer cord plugs in in back of the fridge via the outside access panel ( unplugging from receptacle first, of course) and then to the inverter? Any idea how many ac amps that draws??

Rick

 

[Treeclimber]

I just searched "inverter" and renoites explains it a bit better than I. But yes, instead of it's normal outlet, a short extension cord could be used to plug the refer into the inverter. renoites says the inverter shows the refer uses about 200 watts, with the inverter hooked to the battery, the TV recharges that battery and the refer runs on 120v. The initial out lay may be a bit costly, but it depends on where you get one. Amazon!
Tree

 

[JackandJanet]

Tree, I'm not convinced you get better performance with an inverter. The reason I say this is because there are power losses associated with converting 12V DC to 120V AC. It seems to me that just running the refrigerator on 12V DC would put less of a drain on the battery.

I think the change that is really needed is to have a heavier charging wire from the tow vehicle's alternator to the trailer plug. I know the wire in my truck is 10 gauge, and in wiring up my solar panels, I learned that that size is really too small for the length of wire used and the voltage. It would be much better if that charging wire was 8 gauge or bigger.

Because the wire I had for my solar charging system was 10 gauge, I wired the two solar panels in series to double the voltage and cut the Amperage in half. Then the controller, which is fairly close to the battery, converts it to 13-14V charging voltage with a higher Amperage capacity.

- Jack

 

[ltblueblzr]

treeclimber, Just a thought. Why not just turn off the other breakers and plug the shore power cable into the inverter, then there is no forgetting and there are inverters that monitor the battery charge as not to drain to low but probably more expensive.

 

[renoites]

I saw I was mentioned and thought i should also respond.

Treeclimber emailed me but I was in the process of a major home remodel and did not respond in a timely manner.

In the past I had had issues with arriving at my destination and the trlr frig had depleted my lift battery and had to charge up the battery before I could raise my trlr. I have a 10ga wire from tv to trlr.

A friend that works for a Baja truck racing team gave me this work around for my problem.

The problem from the 12v side is that the heat rods for the frig are very high watt(1500 per Dometic). INEFFICIENT
The TV cannot put out this much to recover quickly.

I installed a 1100 watt inverter.
I power the frig on 120v from the inverter while travelling. It uses 200 watts, shown at the inverter, during travel.
The frig power can be left on the inverter during short stops like lunch, but should be unplugged if stop is longer than 1 hour.
When arriving at destination, unplug the frig from the inverter and plug into shore 120v power.

After 25k miles and 3 years it has NEVER left me with a empty battery, needing to recharge before raising my hi-lo.

I do understand the scepticism. I was also.
But this does work as described.

And was a cheap fix!

 

[RichR]

The 12 volt heat element in our fridge is rated at 15 amps which equates to 180 watts, about the same as the 120 volt heater. If we are traveling for only four or five hours we usually leave the fridge turned off, assuming everything was cold to start with as they should be. We have traveled all day with the fridge on in 12 volt mode with no issues. We do have dual batteries and I'm sure that made all the difference.

 

[Treeclimber]

renoites, Thanks for your explanation, MUCH better than I could have done. We're heading to Lake Kissimmee very soon for a antique wooden boat show over at Dora, and that will tell if the twin batteries are a help or that I should attempt the inverter system. And we'll see if the new "Treehouse" needs the Sushi Mod!
Tree

 

[hilltool]

Thanks every one. I've got two group 27 batteries, which doesn't help the tongue weight any.. That said, my issue is eAch time I switched to the DC was it blew the inline fuse. I got some advise at the end of last season from the local ex- hi lo dealer as to where to look for the culprit, which I have now, of course, forgotten. I will tackle it when we return from this spring trip and stick with my tried and true cooler solutions for the four days driving out and back and run the fridge, of course, at night.

Rick

 

[renoites]

I am not an electrician and don't know the numbers. And my remembrance of the Dometic site quite possibly be incorrect.
And mine is an older Dometic unit that I rebuilt.
The 200 watts from the inverter during use appears to be correct when equated to your numbers.


It works for me
ymmv

 

[Hersbird]

To re-visit this- are we suggesting it may be permissable to drive with fridge on propane because of air circulation but just remember to raise the top when stopped? Getting ready for a cross country trip of 4-5 days and did not finish trouble shooting my non-DC functioning by the time i put stuff away last fall- and I wont have time now. And, as usual, I probably WONT run on propane while moving------but it may be tempting. I know the safety arguments and am quite capable of working around it.....but anyone who wants to pipe in on this one more time I am all ears.

Rick

Well I guess I'm known around here for living loose and fast but... I admit it, I leave the fridge in gas mode when towing. I crack a top vent because you can smell it a little if you crawl in there at a stop. I have carefully checked for excess heat when we stop but it seems there is plenty of air blowing around the coils when you are going 60 mph down the highway. When we stop for say dinner or a few hours at the park I do lift it up. We probably need something out anyway. Mine is older, It has no auxiliary fan and the fridge is small. It was just so hot last summer and we were going 8 hours of road time per day and I wasn't convinced the red wire would keep up and the last thing I wanted was a dead battery and no way to lift it after a long day.

 

[renoites]

I tried running with the propane but the flame would blow out. Even after I made several wind shields,
So on to plan B.

Now no issues

 

[Garry-HILO]

CamperD,

you may want to check out this forum thread.

http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f15/using-refrig-gas-while-traveling-264/

Les, Thanks for all the information on rewiring my truck with a heavier gauge wire for charging the trailer batteries. With a big assist form my son, we completed the job yesterday in about five hours. With input from my other son, we added an isolator ($18.00) in the engine compartment of the truck. I still have to pull the trailer out and check the wiring to the battery, which should not be a big deal.

 

[Garry-HILO]

Les, Thanks for all the information on rewiring my truck with a heavier gauge wire for charging the trailer batteries. With a big assist form my son, we completed the job yesterday in about five hours. With input from my other son, we added an isolator ($18.00) in the engine compartment of the truck. I still have to pull the trailer out and check the wiring to the battery, which should not be a big deal.

Today I pulled the trailer out to check the wiring on the 7 pin plug from the trailer to the T V, and lo and behold, the Hi-Lo gods were smiling on me today. I thought sure I would have to change the wiring but it turned out everything was fine as is.

 

[marininn]

So, I am wondering the same thing. I think OP was not really asking MAY I, but CAN I…
Understood other's objections, passing on the advise some will.
Dangers with propane, yes, that is a given, same as gasoline. I should be able to find all about combustion on the web.

To drive with these HiLos and run the propane on gas is the issue.

Has anyone made a modification to vent the gases and keep them out of the cabin?

A fan like this https://www.amazon.com/Ventline-VP-...=1508123409&sr=8-2&keywords=round+rv+vent+fan
should be powerful enough to pull all the gases, and all the other air, out.

This could be mounted on the upper side above the side vents. It could be run while driving, or maybe just when parked and running fridge with roof down.

Turning the fridge off is not an option, it will not keep cold on my long drives through the hot summer. Battery is not an option, not with my batteries, that will destroy them pretty quick. My batteries are something I want to make last longer, not shorter.

I was thinking of a mod where I can open ports and connect top of fridge cabinet to a hole in the roof for the fan, making it air tight from the cabin, but open to the outside, then having something to seal it back off when raised, but I would rather do something more simple.

 

[Bruce from Kansas]

Mine's been run for over 40 years!

I've run mine on gas while traveling for over 40 years! For clarification, the PO on my '76 did so, and I did too! Have had NO problems doing the same with my "new" 2000.

As others stated previously, I just leave the roof vent (now 2) cracked for sure ventilation. With my '76, I used to leave the rear window cracked too, but I travel too many gravel roads, and that allowed too much Dust inside.

Then again, with the newer Design, there is also more Exterior Vent space than with the old '76 [now on the Upper wall as well as the Lower].

 

[marininn]

No problems running it down while parked?

I use for work, so impossible to be raising and lowering the top all the time when I pull in and park a few hours or minutes. Also, on a 20 yr camper Im worried to put undue wear on the lift cables as eventually they will wear and break, even if I put on new ones, each cycle is one more step towards something bad happening. Less is better.

I dont have DC option on fridge either that I can tell, and as I said, would never ruin my batteries by running them low or dead every time I drive.
thanks

 

[Bruce from Kansas]

When I go my Annual two plus week festival in September, mine is on gas for the journey down, as well as at least 2-3 days with the top down, and there's never been a problem yet!

 

[Bruce from Kansas]

Per the Cables, back in the late 90s, I had the Rear Cables snap for some reason, but rather than replace them, I got some new cable from a crop duster, some cable fittings, and spiced the new portions to the existing. They are still in place, and have worked well.

 

[Davidshilo]

I know this topic has been talked about, but I did not find a good answer so asking. Like many, if I travel for more than a couple hours with the refrig on DC, my battery is so low, it will not lift the top and often the fuse on my vehicle is blown (40 amp fuse that feeds the trailer battery charging wire) on my 2013 Chevrolet Suburban. We have a 2706 Towlite, bought it used in 2016, they put in one new Interstate RV/Marine battery. My question, if I replace that one battery with two deep cycle batteries, will that make a significant difference? Based on what I read, I'm afraid to run the refrig on gas while towing. Anyone have experience using two batteries? Thanks, David