ewarnerusa wrote:
solismaris wrote:
...You should be able to go literally weeks with the fridge set to gas. The power consumption of the electronics is very low.
....
This is something I'm curious about. Intuitively I would agree with this statement. But readings these forums there are some claims that the 12V control panel on a modern RV absorption fridge (while on propane) is on all the time drawing 12V power. I've read in the neighborhood of 1 amp continuous load. This sounds like very little, but that is 1 amp for 24 hrs/day. That means 24 Ah/day just to run the fridge on propane. If you've got a single group 24 battery with a typical ~80 Ah rating (40 Ah available to stay above 50%), then in only two days you would use all of your recommended available battery just with the fridge alone.
Now I don't know if these claims are true and I don't really ever get a chance to test it because I have solar installed and no amp meter on my batteries, but it is kind of eye opening. The following links are what I found in a quick search on Google. Seems like claims of 0.1 A to 2 A to run the 12V electronics on the fridge when running on propane.
http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=103161
http://rvservices.koa.com/rvinformation/rvmaintenance/rv-converters-and-amp-draw.asp
http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3853
The only actual datasheet I found while surfing was for a Norcold and it said 1.2A on 12V DC power.
Thanks for the info! Most is common sense. I will disconnect monoxide alarms, radio, tv antenna booster and turn on fridge and check draw. If more than 2A then something is definately screwy.
