Hi,I have a 2004 Lance 845S with a Norcold fridge. It sits on a 2015 Ford F250 4x4. We have a new battery in the camper and it is equipped with solar. I have been trying to figure out the best way to set thing so the fridge will stay somewhat cold while driving. If I set the fridge to battery it does not really keep things cold and will go to low voltage when driving at night. I tried running with propane and no battery coming back from Co a couple weeks ago when it was very windy. The propane kept shutting off. When the camper is plugged into shore power everything is fine and it also seems to work fine off the propane when sitting still.Comments and suggestions will be much appreciated.

Doesn't it need the battery for the ignitet on propane?

while traveling put the frig on propane, on battery it,ll kill the battery in a few hours.

THe fridge needs battery power connected to it to run on Propane. The battery power runs the electronics and igniter.Set it on Propane with battery power connected to it and all should be well.

The propane flame is blowing out because it is either not burning correctly, or the flame needs to be protected from the wind better. Your burner might need cleaning.Trying to run the fridge off battery is a waste of time. You would need a ton of solar to even begin to keep up.

mkirsch wrote:The propane flame is blowing out because it is either not burning correctly, or the flame needs to be protected from the wind better. Your burner might need cleaning.Trying to run the fridge off battery is a waste of time. You would need a ton of solar to even begin to keep up.Aye solar isn't viable. To make it work running off the battery and perform decently, you'll have to duplicate what I did.Before you even get started, make sure your truck has at least a 120 amp alternator and what's its maximum continuous load rating is, you will need to upgrade most likely. First off, you're going to need to upgrade your battery cables to be sure they're at least 4 Gauge. Next, you're going to need to run and install a dedicated charge circuit with 4 gauge wire going from your alternator back to your camper's batteries (plural, you need either a couple of good golf carts in series or two Group 31s) with the same size plug (100amp lift gate plug works well for this), Once you have all that, you'll need at least a 400watt inverter and setup some method of switching the outlet from shore feed to the inverter. Wire the inverter up correctly with at least six gauge wire and an appropriately sized inline fuse. Now, you can run your fridge on 110 going down the road without killing your batteries, charge your batteries efficiently off the alternator and have it stay properly cold while driving.My rig has a 2-way fridge, and the propane doesn't auto-relight (no electronics), so I built this setup which worked very well at keeping my fridge cold going down the road, and I didn't have to worry about blowing my arse up if I forgot to turn off the burner while fueling.

Configuration for keeping the fridge going while driving

rlraygoleta
Explorer
Jul 31, 2016
Thanks to all. I have cleaned everything and will be taking it out shortly to see how it goes.
tmartin000
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2016
rockhillmanor wrote:
We all run the fridge on propane. Usage of propane to run fridge while traveling is negligible. The flame should NOT blow out on a properly functioning unit.

You need to focus on what is making the flame blow out, repair it and you should be good to go.

This guy has good thinking skills. :)
covered_wagon
Explorer
Jul 30, 2016
rockhillmanor wrote:
I tried running with propane and no battery coming back from Co a couple weeks ago when it was very windy. The propane kept shutting off.

Here's a news flash. Your propane is not shutting off. The fridge itself is shutting off, actually 'not able to come back on'.

You need a 12v battery connection at ALL times to run an RV fridge. (except on 'some' newer models with inverters)

The "thermostat" on the RV fridge needs 12volt to function. If your fridge "works when you turn it on" and then you find out it shuts off......

It is NOT a flame problem. IT's low voltage, the fridge will come on when started but it CAN NOT come back on after it reaches the desired temp if there is low voltage coming from the battery. Not just a dead battery, if the battery 'voltage is low' the thermostat can't function so it can not 'come back' on.

Been there done that.
It was very confusing because it worked when turned on. But later would shut off.

I thought the fridge was bad but it was not. I had low voltage which prohibited the thermostat from working and it could not turn the fridge back on.

>> check the voltage coming out from your converter.

Trust me it is NOT the wind blowing out the flame! All of us have driven in a lot higher winds in all types of weather conditions and it doesn't blow the flame out~ :W

For proper advice sakes....I think most of these posters here know how to keep a battery charged while driving.
Wheelholder
Explorer
Jul 30, 2016
On my first Lane, the flame would get blown out going down the road. I installed a wind blocking device inside the area where the burner resides and it cured the blow out problem. It covered most of the vent area, but sat back several inches so as not to block the normal flow. After installation of the shield, I had no more problems with the fridge flame blowing out.
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2016
I tried running with propane and no battery coming back from Co a couple weeks ago when it was very windy. The propane kept shutting off.

Here's a news flash. Your propane is not shutting off. The fridge itself is shutting off, actually 'not able to come back on'.

You need a 12v battery connection at ALL times to run an RV fridge. (except on 'some' newer models with inverters)

The "thermostat" on the RV fridge needs 12volt to function. If your fridge "works when you turn it on" and then you find out it shuts off......

It is NOT a flame problem. IT's low voltage, the fridge will come on when started but it CAN NOT come back on after it reaches the desired temp if there is low voltage coming from the battery. Not just a dead battery, if the battery 'voltage is low' the thermostat can't function so it can not 'come back' on.

Been there done that.
It was very confusing because it worked when turned on. But later would shut off.

I thought the fridge was bad but it was not. I had low voltage which prohibited the thermostat from working and it could not turn the fridge back on.

>> check the voltage coming out from your converter.

Trust me it is NOT the wind blowing out the flame! All of us have driven in a lot higher winds in all types of weather conditions and it doesn't blow the flame out~ :W
JoeChiOhki
Explorer II
Jul 29, 2016
skipnchar wrote:
Check the wind deflector on the fridge and make adjustments. Probably will always be a problem unless you have DSI ignition on your fridge. With that there is no pilot light to blow out.

Modern fridges have DSI, what people call the "Pilot" is the actual burner for the fridge, it just isn't much bigger than pilot light.
skipnchar
Explorer
Jul 29, 2016
Check the wind deflector on the fridge and make adjustments. Probably will always be a problem unless you have DSI ignition on your fridge. With that there is no pilot light to blow out.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Jul 29, 2016
Depending on the age of the fridge, you may or may not need battery power. For example, the fridge in my 2000 Palomino is completely "analog."

Until the OP comes back and tells us what he has, or even what he meant by "12V disconnected" all we are doing is guessing.
JoeChiOhki
Explorer II
Jul 29, 2016
deltabravo wrote:

I will admit that I sometimes run my Fridge on AC power, but I have massive size battery cables and solar like Joe has.

Well, I have the batteries, just not the solar ;). I do it all with a 120 amp truck alternator.
deltabravo
Nomad
Jul 29, 2016
fla-gypsy wrote:
Hold on a second, I can set my fridge on auto on my cheap TT and drive all day without fancy inverters and solar help. The flame on mine is enclosed enough it won't blow out. You have to have a charged battery to fire the igniter. Something's wrong with this picture.

Ditto

rockhillmanor wrote:
We all run the fridge on propane. Usage of propane to run fridge while traveling is negligible. The flame should NOT blow out on a properly functioning unit.

You need to focus on what is making the flame blow out, repair it and you should be good to go.

Ditto again.

I will admit that I sometimes run my Fridge on AC power, but I have massive size battery cables and solar like Joe has.