Running frig on propane on the road

[ferdoh]

In our old camper, we always ran the frig on propane while traveling. If you turn the 12v fan on, why couldn't you run a TM that way?

[ShrimpBurrito]

Why incur the additional risk of burning propane going 60 MPH when you can accomplish the same exact thing using the 12v function of the fridge? Safer, easier, and free. Why would you want to run the fridge on propane?

The only time I've run the fridge on propane while en route is when we met folks and were spending the night in a hotel, and I didn't want to run the batteries down. I opened up the TM, switched the fridge to gas and turned on the fan, and closed it back up. The next morning, I switched it back to 12v before hitting the road.

Dave

[Bill]

This has been discussed a lot on every RV forum including this one. The answer is the danger of unconfined propane in the event of an accident, even a relatively minor one. Or even no accident at all - just something that catches and breaks the propane piping as you are driving along. I suppose an "alligator" in the road could do it, or a stone that gets tossed up. Or a high spot in a dirt road ...

Bill

[ferdoh]

Our old camper didn't run on 12v, only propane or ac. I always found that propane cooled better than 12v.

We have only used propane twice. Once the first time we used the TM. I went down to storage and set it up and lit the Refer (watched the green gage intill it was in the middle of the green) turned on the fan and then closed the TM. Next day opened the TM (refe was good and cold) switched to 12V and only unpluged when we stopped for lunch. When we got to our campsite KOA Petaluma everythng was fine.
My question now is does it make much differance just where the guage is in the green? That is 1/4--1/2---3/4? Because the second time I used propane the guage only went about 1/4 of the way in the green but the temp was about 42. I did have elec power to the campsite but I used propane the first day as a test. Refer was good and cold. The second day I switched to Elec refer kept the same temp. I'm guessing that as long as it's in the green someplace it's OK.

Thanks

I think the guage measures the voltage generated by the thermocouple pilot generator. There is a minimum voltage that's needed to keep the gas valve open and hence the flame going. The green attempts to indicate what the minimum level is. It's an all or nothing deal. If there's not enough voltage, the valve snaps shut and the unit shuts down.

The temperature control knob switches the main burner on and off depending on whether cooling needs to be done.

[commodor47]

Originally Posted by John Wahlsten

My question now is does it make much differance just where the guage is in the green? That is 1/4--1/2---3/4? Because the second time I used propane the guage only went about 1/4 of the way in the green but the temp was about 42. I did have elec power to the campsite but I used propane the first day as a test. Refer was good and cold. The second day I switched to Elec refer kept the same temp. I'm guessing that as long as it's in the green someplace it's OK.

Thanks

John,

I noticed that your unit is similar to ours . . . just a year newer. Our refrigerator exhibited the behavior you describe. Each time I used the propane feature the indicator would stop closer and closer to the red area. Shortly after that it no longer stayed on for the reason Lars has described in his post. I removed the radio and accessed the two wires connected to the interrupter switch (red push button). Removing and re-attaching the leads corrected the issue until the next camping trip. My solution was to use a dab of dielectric grease and made sure the curled ends of the connector were compressed enough to make good contact.

You might find this thread helpful:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...t=refrigerator

Dick

Yup - house current via extension cord starting the night before to cool down the fridge. Then stock her up in the morning, run 12V en route and back to AC at the camp site. Only time we used propane is for a one-night boondock.

The temperature control knob switches the main burner on and off depending on whether cooling needs to be done.

I think this is the first time that I've ever had to disagree with Lars, That is "assuming" that all fridge's run the same. The temp control knob adjusts a constant gas flow for a higher or lower flame resulting in more or less cooling. It never shuts the gas flow on or off. This is why it is much faster/easier to light the fridge burnner with the control knob set to 5. You can verify this by looking thru the burner peep hole while some one inside the TM turns the temp control up and down. BTW, We'll make it to Key West Fl today completing our journey from The Arctic coast to Key West. Great trip. Next year it's the Baja. Can't wait

To add M2CW, For saftey reasons, I allways turn the propane bottles off while traveling.

Ed

Originally Posted by ferdoh

In our old camper, we always ran the frig on propane while traveling. If you turn the 12v fan on, why couldn't you run a TM that way?

Just remember to turn off the propane bottles when refueling and when going through certain tunnels.