Fridge on 12V killing the batteries
Just came back from the shop where I got my new batteries after I toasted my first set. I got them replaced 5 months ago, and already they were performing poorly, even thought they were supposed to be...
Forum Discussion
Bill.Satellite wrote:oyly wrote:
Judging from the answers to questions I didn't ask, I did not make myself clear enough.
So, short and sweet:
The battery vendor says leaving the fridge in automatic mode will ruin the batteries, so I should switch it to propane mode. Is he correct?
If you do not have an external source that will continue to charge your batteries, the fridge should be running on propane or your batteries will get drawn down far enough to cause damage in pretty short order.
So.....if you are driving and you are certain your alternator is working an putting more amps into the battery than the fridge is removing then you can run the fridge on 12V. Also, if you are parked and you have a charger that supplies more amps than the fridge is removing than you can run the fridge on 12V. If either of these is NOT the case then you need to be running the fridge on propane.
Check your battery voltage while the fridge is running. Batteries that are reading below 12.0V are discharged and need replenishment right away. Damage will occur below 11V (IIRC). When parked and the fridge running your voltage meter should be reading 13+VDC while the charger is doing its job and it should be able to maintain that voltage. If the voltage drops as time goes by you need a better charger or you need to be running on propane.
Sure, with no external power source, in automatic mode, the fridge switches to LP. With either the engine or the generator running, the voltage meter shows around 13.7V.
As for the other questions, it's a 2014 Winnebago Via 25P. It's got a 220A alternator, 45A converter and has two group 24 batteries. Usually I am driving the car a lot, on average every second day, 4 hours average. Otherwise dry camping or on the generator. At the moment though, I've been drycamping for a long time. I run the generator around 4 hours when the batteries need charging. I usually start it up as the batteries drop to 12.0V.
