New dometic new gen is drawing more power than old fridge.

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.

wa8yxm wrote:
Well, those of us who subscribe to the theory of KISS (Keep it super simple is the polite translation).

Have you tested the batteries to insure they are not on their last gasp?

Battery tested great from autozone and batteries plus. Charged and took load fine.
Never had this problem before new friidge was installed.
Do not want to spend more bux on led lights just yet.
Would like to take back to camping world for diag. But they have a lousy appt window and charge for any service.
The fridge works fine and is still under warranty, but i am at a loss on what to do.
Shall i start a post under camping world products thread?
Thanks all,
Ted

Well, those of us who subscribe to the theory of KISS (Keep it super simple is the polite translation).

Have you tested the batteries to insure they are not on their last gasp?

solismaris wrote:
I expect 1.2A is the maximum, not the average. I've gone 2 weeks without problem before (accidentally; I thought I was plugged in but the breaker had tripped). Maybe some fridges are different.

What would be varying the load in a 12V control panel where an average would be much less than a max? One of the threads I linked mentioned that an actual Trimetric reading showed higher draw when the fridge was cooling and they theorized it was the due to the solenoid opening the gas supply. But if I recall it was only a 0.2 A increase.

ewarnerusa wrote:

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.

I expect 1.2A is the maximum, not the average. I've gone 2 weeks without problem before (accidentally; I thought I was plugged in but the breaker had tripped). Maybe some fridges are different.

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.

Is there a door heater switch you can turn off?

Something is very wrong. You should be able to go literally weeks with the fridge set to gas. The power consumption of the electronics is very low.

Do you have a 3-way fridge (gas / 12 volts DC / 120 volts AC)?

The only thing I can think is that you are running on 12 volts DC - either because you have set the switch that way or because something is wired wrong.

A fridge running on 12 volts DC could easily run down a battery in a short time; I could believe overnight.

Was thinking 12v fridge, sorry.