Running fridge while driving
I want to load up my fridge at home. It is a 3 way fridge. Will the battery be charging from my truck? How long typically will the battery last with the fridge on and not charging? Once I get to my si...
Forum Discussion
Tvov wrote:dave17352 wrote:
If you refrigerator runs on 12 volt and it is a typical propane, 12 volt, and 120 ac design it will us a ton of power on 12 volt and kill you TC battery in a few hours. I think they draw close to 20 amps 12 volt. The 12 volt really should only be used when your truck is running and charging and you should have a heavy gauge wire from your truck to your truck camper. Lance requires 8 gauge.
I'm not sure if I am following, and/or truck camper frigs are different. The Dometic in my TT runs on propane / battery, or AC if hooked up to shore power.
When running on propane, the TT's battery lasts for days, we can stretch it to a week if careful with lights and other power usage. Propane frig needs the battery to run, but seems to draw very little power from it.
It all depends on whether your fridge is a 2-way (runs on propane or A/C) or 3-way (runs on propane or A/C or 12v). The OP said 3-way and specifically indicated running it on 12v. If run this way (the 12v battery supplies the energy used for cooling) it will run your 12v battery down quickly.
-Speak
