Refrigerator draw on LP mode

The 1991 TC we got recently has a brand new 2410 the previous owner had put in, that does not use 12v. The OEM 2410 lost its ammonia (smelled really bad he said). So you can still get them.

Good luck with your fridge,

My 1997 Xplorer 230XL has a Dometic RM2310 fridge which draws no 12v power when on propane making it perfect for boondocking which is most of what I do. When I had a rust breakage problem with the flue and piezo lighter lining up, I checked into a new replacement, but with their electronic controls running on propane would draw 1.5 - 2.5 amps, way too much for my boondocking.

I took it to an RV repair shop & they refused to touch it. I was able to fix it myself and I am back in business. I wish Dometic still made a model without all the electronic stuff just for boondocking. I hope I can keep it going.

Duty cycle is 2:3 or on for 40 minutes each hour.

My parasitic loads amount to 35 amp-hours per day. (not including inverter)

Chum lee wrote:
I don't understand why you are doing what you are doing. In the larger scheme of things, the electricity (12 volt) to run the board/valve is negligible. If you are going solar, why not consider running the fridge on 120 volts through a 120 volt inverter, solar panels, controller, and a battery bank, (probably 4-6 volt wet cells) eliminating the need to use propane at all? (at least for the fridge) IMO, you could do that with 3-140 watt panels (if you have room) and have plenty of solar power for most everything else too. You don't state what vehicle you have. (maybe the clue lies there)

Chum lee

You are mistaken there for sure.

OPs RV fridge uses a very inefficient "absorption" system which relies on gravity to make things happen instead of a quicker compressor.

This type of fridge requires considerable amount of heat input to cool a very tiny space..

The RV absorbsion fridges use a 325W or so 120V heating element..

Gonna take a huge solar panel array to make up for a 325W heating element.. So, instead of camping with a 100W-300W solar array, they would need to increase that to 600W, possibly 1,000W of solar and add quite a few batteries to their system..

Now, IF you were talking a 120V compressor fridge then it IS possible to work the solar angle with not much investment since fridge compressor uses 90W at 120V instead of a RV fridge heater of 325W..

BUT, we are not talking a compressor fridge here.. In this case, using propane is the better and wiser thing to do instead of carrying a thousand watts worth of panels.

Keep in mind that with most modener RV fridges, the control board does need 12V and that IS what the OP was inquiring about..

I don't understand why you are doing what you are doing. In the larger scheme of things, the electricity (12 volt) to run the board/valve is negligible. If you are going solar, why not consider running the fridge on 120 volts through a 120 volt inverter, solar panels, controller, and a battery bank, (probably 4-6 volt wet cells) eliminating the need to use propane at all? (at least for the fridge) IMO, you could do that with 3-140 watt panels (if you have room) and have plenty of solar power for most everything else too. You don't state what vehicle you have. (maybe the clue lies there)

Chum lee

BFL13 wrote:
Had that fridge in our 5er. Measured 51AH in three days of fridge on gas, off grid. So 17AH a day. This was with ambients around 75F day. 55F night, no shade, nice weather. That was while we were away for three days, so no door opening.

Divider HEATER element was killing you at .25A.. in 24hrs that is 6Ahr and 3 days that is 18Ahr out of your 51Ahrs..

Some fridges that have it have a switch to allow you to disable it..

It is there to stop condensation around the door..

Yes, figure 1.0 amps. I mean it aint like your going to screw up and get too much solar,.......it aint gonna happen !

You may as well get out your meter and measure as to include everything. My trailer idles at 500 milliamps with the fridge propane cycled on.

Had that fridge in our 5er. Measured 51AH in three days of fridge on gas, off grid. So 17AH a day. This was with ambients around 75F day. 55F night, no shade, nice weather. That was while we were away for three days, so no door opening.

I just got off the phone with Norcold. He couldn't give me an average amp draw during LP mode but he did give me this:
Igniter: 5a
Divider Heater: .25a
Inside lamp: .46a
Gas Valve: .146a It draws no current when open.
That's all he had for the model N821 2 way 8 cubic foot unit.