Thread: Dometic fridge
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Old 07-05-2006, 03:12 PM   #8
Bill & Lisa
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Couple of additional items.

All of the tunnels in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia require you to stop for inspection first and the propane tanks must be off! It has been that way since before 9/11 so I think it is more of an issue of propane building up in the tunnels and an explosion risk than a reaction to terrorist threats.

After our first 12 hour leg towards Co Springs with both the fan and the refridg running on DC (and I have two type 75 batteries!) I noted upon arrival that the fan was no longer running and my electric tongue jack confirmed that my batteries were dead. The second night after only 9 hours the fan was still working but the battery was close to spent. Sometime that night, my main battery fuse burned out and after replacing the fuse we chose to run the fan only on dc and the fridge on propane. It worked fine, so we did that also for the 4th day of our 2000 mile trek to Colorado Springs.

While at the Jubilee I found out from some other TM owners that the Chevy Trailblazer/GMC Envoy/Oldsmobile Bravado ships from the factory with the wire that leads to the charging pin on the Bargman disconnected. If you open the hood and remove the cover of the fuse box in the upper right hand corner and look at the bundle of wires that feed into the box you will see a red wire with a metal loop on the end, bent back along the bundle and held in place with a plastic clip. This wire can be slipped over the first post in the fuse box and secured with a nut and now you will charge the trailer from the TV! It worked like a charm all the way home and I ran on DC the whole 2000 miles back. No one had a good explanation why the factory ships the vehicles with this wire not attached. I was also told the vehicles feature an anti-rundown feature that electronically disconnects the TV battery from the Bargman when the ignition is turned off so you can not run down the TV battery while stopped for a bite to eat. I didn't test it for any longer than about 10 minutes but there was no hesitation on restarting the TV so I am feeling more confident about this feature. It would be a relief not to have to unplug the trailer every time I stop for gas and a rest room! I got a bit road weary in covering 2000 miles in 4 days and left one stop without plugging the plug back in! Luckily it was up out of the way and the plug didn't get damaged bouncing around on the pavement!

Thanks Bob Redrick and Gene for making my life easier!
Bill
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