i'm planning my big trip by minivan and want a small fridge, like a dorm room fridgewould a land based fridge work ok on the road (obviously plugging in only at the campsite) or would the shaking around mess it up somehow?thx steveUPDATE, i've just realized that most of the places i plan to stay don't have hookups so i guess i need either a 12v fridge or a cool box and buy ice.i'm not keen on getting a generator and a 100W solar cell will only power one of those tiny 7 liter, 48w things. i don't need a lot of cold storage but some would be nice. i guess i could run the van for a bit and charge the battery from the alternator but not sure how fast it would charge?so i'm wondering if an ice chest makes more sense and buy ice every day. i'm guessing that's pretty cheap (don't know, not living in the US at the moment)what do you think? small 12v fridge and solar panels/run engine or ice chest?

Typical RV refrigerator operates on either AC power or gas. In a mini van I assume that something like this Small fridge would work. Of course this assumes your mini van is setup with propane gas tank. Some people use home type refrigerators which operate on large battery bank using inverter - not sure whether your mini van has space for the batteries.

ksg5000 wrote:Typical RV refrigerator operates on either AC power or gas. In a mini van I assume that something like this Small fridge would work. Of course this assumes your mini van is setup with propane gas tank. Some people use home type refrigerators which operate on large battery bank using inverter - not sure whether your mini van has space for the batteries.interesting. looks like there's not a lot of second hand propane fridges for sale or a lot of smaller onesi could live with a small 12v fridge i think running from a deep cycle battery. i guess the question is how to charge it. i suppose a combination of solar panels and running the engine would work, and if it runs out of juice, go buy icehow much does ice cost in a supermarket in a place like yosemite village?

I wouldn't recommend using you car to charge your battery. You'll end up damaging your starting battery. When you have two batteries they both need to have the same capacity and be at the same level of discharge. Your alternator will overcharge the lower capacity battery and that's not a good thing.

jspence1 wrote:I wouldn't recommend using you car to charge your battery. You'll end up damaging your starting battery. When you have two batteries they both need to have the same capacity and be at the same level of discharge. Your alternator will overcharge the lower capacity battery and that's not a good thing.yes, i'd need to get 2 batteries and swap over the cables, start on the van battery, charge a few mins then swap cables to the house battery and charge that for a whilenot a big deal really

Buying ice for a week long trip is OK. Buying ice for a 6 month trip will get old (and expensive) real quick. So, here's another idea. Check out the wattage on the dorm fridge, then buy an inverter that plugs into your cigarette lighter.

do you need a special mobile fridge? | Good Sam Community

jspence1
Explorer
Sep 21, 2013
I wouldn't recommend using you car to charge your battery. You'll end up damaging your starting battery. When you have two batteries they both need to have the same capacity and be at the same level of discharge. Your alternator will overcharge the lower capacity battery and that's not a good thing.
steveh2112
Explorer
Sep 21, 2013
ksg5000 wrote:
Typical RV refrigerator operates on either AC power or gas. In a mini van I assume that something like this Small fridge would work. Of course this assumes your mini van is setup with propane gas tank. Some people use home type refrigerators which operate on large battery bank using inverter - not sure whether your mini van has space for the batteries.

interesting. looks like there's not a lot of second hand propane fridges for sale or a lot of smaller ones

i could live with a small 12v fridge i think running from a deep cycle battery. i guess the question is how to charge it. i suppose a combination of solar panels and running the engine would work, and if it runs out of juice, go buy ice

how much does ice cost in a supermarket in a place like yosemite village?
ksg5000
Explorer
Sep 21, 2013
Typical RV refrigerator operates on either AC power or gas. In a mini van I assume that something like this Small fridge would work. Of course this assumes your mini van is setup with propane gas tank. Some people use home type refrigerators which operate on large battery bank using inverter - not sure whether your mini van has space for the batteries.

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do you need a special mobile fridge?

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