Food & Traveling

Use your generator while in route

We full-timed and traveled constantly and the refrigerator was always on. No problem.

For the freezer we always re-packaged the big packages of meat into smaller portions. We didn't use the freezer for snacky-type items such as ice cream, pizzas, t.v. dinners, etc. It just held meats and frozen vegetables. We could load it with 21 days of meals and it wasn't a residential refrigerator. We also didn't have an ice-maker which takes up a lot of room.

If you're just going for a weekend for a typical 2 or 3-week vacation, then plan your meals on paper so you'll have the staples along with you. As stated, grocery stores are everywhere - even in Alaska!

Start reefer a day or so early, freeze what you can, chill anything else, also you can use gel packs to help keep items cold. I always run with mine on propane
too. Just be sure and turn it off while gassing up.

My fridge will not stay running on propane when traveling down the road. Works fine when sitting still on electric or propane. Have had it back to the dealer for this problem several times, still not fixed. The final answer I received today from Rockwood and Dominica was, "They do not state in there directions that the refrigerator has to run on propane while the unit is traveling down the road". So this is not a problem that they are responsible to repair under warranty. Looking for ideas to make the repairs myself.

wing_zealot wrote:

Allworth wrote:
I cannot believe that I am the only one on this forum who is NOT comfortable with the propane on while in motion. I turn it off at the tanks. Every time the trailer turns a wheel.

The chance of a propane accident is tiny, but why risk it if it is not absolutely necessary. I watched a TT burn in the median about 10 years ago (after rolling over) and while I know there have been improvements in valves and controls, I'm not risking it.

We usually travel one day and then sit and play tourist for one or two days before moving on. On travel days the critical cold stuff goes in an RTIC (think YETI)cooler with blue ice packs and stays there until initial cool down of the fridge is complete at the new location.

Your trailer; your choice! I don't see it as worth even a very small risk.

You are apparently willing to take a much bigger risk and drive to your destination. Your willingness drive vs. non use of propane is just plain nonsense.

Until I started reading things on this forum I had never heard of anyone not running there propane fridge while driving and I don't know of anyone that turns the fridge off at the gas pump.

Moving stuff from the fridge to a cooler and back again is just plain nonsense. Stuff in fridge is cold so lets move it to a hot cooler then add blue ice packs which are barely one step above cold to cool the cooler and keep the food cold. Why not just put the blue ice packs or better yet some frozen water bottles in the fridge compartment and keep the door closed? If you left the food in the fridge with some ice bottles there would be no initial cool down of the fridge when you got to your new location as the fridge would still be fairly cool.

People have to make small stuff way harder then it needs to be.

lots2seeinmyrv wrote:

Bears Den wrote:
I turn our refrigerator on a couple of days before we leave. The night before we leave, we fill it up with already cold stuff if we are just traveling a few hours from home. Upon leaving, the refrigerator is off and the food stays cold for the few hours we are traveling. If we are traveling a greater distance than we shop when we get to our destination.

x2 I get the fridge cold about two days before the trip. Day before I load it up with ice, food, cream, meat, produce, drinks, everything. Just before we pull out of driveway I turn it off, and we unplug the cord.

It stays cold for a couple hours on the road. We do not run it on propane on the drive. Many do, personal choice. When we get to the campground...first thing we do is plug into the power pedestal and turn the fridge back on. Our ice has never melted and our frozen food has never defrosted on the drive.

Then we do the routine of unhooking the truck and setting up.

Works great if you're only driving a couple hours, it's not 110deg out and you're glamping in a RV park......
Try that same process when you're on the road for 10-16 hours and pull into a spot in the middle of nowhere.
Guess if you put a dedicated charging circuit on the truck/camper you could run DC, but with just convienence power coming from the pigtail you'll kill the batteries doing that too.

I always travel with my reefer on LP. Just if gassing up, turn it off until away from the pumps. Also you can use dry ice to keep the food frozen solid, just be sure and wrap it with some newspaper or it will freezer burn the food and possibly crack the cooler. I have used the dry ice method when canoe camping, and it keeps food solid for 5-6 days in hot weather. ( a little goes a long way too)

Bears Den wrote:
I turn our refrigerator on a couple of days before we leave. The night before we leave, we fill it up with already cold stuff if we are just traveling a few hours from home. Upon leaving, the refrigerator is off and the food stays cold for the few hours we are traveling. If we are traveling a greater distance than we shop when we get to our destination.

x2 I get the fridge cold about two days before the trip. Day before I load it up with ice, food, cream, meat, produce, drinks, everything. Just before we pull out of driveway I turn it off, and we unplug the cord.

It stays cold for a couple hours on the road. We do not run it on propane on the drive. Many do, personal choice. When we get to the campground...first thing we do is plug into the power pedestal and turn the fridge back on. Our ice has never melted and our frozen food has never defrosted on the drive.

Then we do the routine of unhooking the truck and setting up.

This topic comes up 2 or 3 times a year. Just type in "refrigerator on propane" in the search bar above. It's a common concern. The only reason I see to turn off the fridge is if you're at a gas pump, where I shut down the 12 VDC. I don't even bother at diesel only pumps.

Next in the line of most asked questions.... winterizing... blow out the lines, pink stuff or both?

I'm not sure how you plan to get a 14,000 pound fifth wheel to the next destination without driving; but have at it!