Running fridge while driving

I think you're right and the shame I feel is unbearable.

OP here.

I thought it was illegal to use any propane appliance while the trailer is in tow.

I was planning on just 12v, no propane on.

SpeakEasy wrote:

ScottG wrote:
Your fridge will be ok, just let it run on the auto setting as you go down the road. The truck will provide the 12V and propane will keep it cool.
It's a great system that requires no attention. Just let it do its thing.

Your answer assumes three things:
(1) the charge line from the truck's 12v is live
(2) the propane tank is open
(3) the OP WANTS to cool with propane


But the OP was asking about cooling with 12v.

-Speak

Then set it to cool on 12V only while going down the road. It's a three way so it can do just that and the truck will take care of the battery.
Easy cheasy.

ScottG wrote:
Your fridge will be ok, just let it run on the auto setting as you go down the road. The truck will provide the 12V and propane will keep it cool.
It's a great system that requires no attention. Just let it do its thing.

Your answer assumes three things:
(1) the charge line from the truck's 12v is live
(2) the propane tank is open
(3) the OP WANTS to cool with propane


But the OP was asking about cooling with 12v.

-Speak

Your fridge will be ok, just let it run on the auto setting as you go down the road. The truck will provide the 12V and propane will keep it cool.
It's a great system that requires no attention. Just let it do its thing.

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

swimmer_spe wrote:
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 site, I will be hooking up to shore power.

not long without an external charging source(truck or inverter)!
most fridges now run on propane or 120 and just use 12v for controlling the propane system

if you don't have 120 available, run it on propane

if you have a 12v source from the truck, you can use the 12v when the truck is running

Mine is just 2 way, but I put the switch on automatic. When plugged in, it runs on shore power. When unplugged it runs on LP with just enough juice from the battery for the thermostat. I don't even have to think about it.

When we have a trip planned, I plug it in at home a couple of days ahead, switch to auto, and forget it. When I unplug to hit the road, it switches to gas and stays there until the next time it's plugged in. If I'm dry camping it just stays on gas, and then I may turn the switch to gas only, just because there is no point using auto if there is no shore power planned for the trip.

Hannibal wrote:
I start mine plugged into shore power on propane a couple of days before we load up. Then battery/propane on the road and shore power/propane at the campground. I've never seen one that runs on 12vdc alone.

That is what we do with ours too.

Our first trailer(Casita) had a smaller (4 cu. ft.) fridge that was 3 way and used 12V for the heater when the 12V mode was selected. The 12V heater was lower wattage than the 120V heater so even if fed by 12V it did not provide as much heat to the system. I thought that was the way to go when traveling but found that it pulled too much current to operate properly while traveling so we switched to propane. Most absorption RV fridges are too big now to even attempt 12V only operation.

I start mine plugged into shore power on propane a couple of days before we load up. Then battery/propane on the road and shore power/propane at the campground. I've never seen one that runs on 12vdc alone.