Running frig while driving

[tinner12002]

New to used camper and new to camping. Were getting ready to go to the race at Mich speedway and wanted to know if I would be able to start the frig on LP when we leave the house so when we get there the frig will be cold so we can empty the coolers? It's a Norcold 2 way frig. I didn't get any operational books for anything including the 5th wheel.

[Allworth]

I just prefer to have my gas turned off at the cylinders when in motion. I know all about the new valves and so on, but it is just one less thing to have to think about in an emergency (which has not happened on the road in twelve years of RVing).

When touring we are moving one or two days a week and sightseeing or restaurant-seeking the other five or six. On travel days DW loads the perishables into a high efficiency cooler and puts a couple of freezer packs in the fridge and off we go.

[john_bet]

avvidclif1 wrote:
FWIW my fridge is never turned off except when at the dealer for repairs. It's plugged in at home and on gas when rolling. Back to electric at campsite. We keep drinks and water in it at home and when going on a trip load it the day before so everything cools down.

My understanding of the way the RV fridges work is the heat circulates an ammonium mixture to cool. If left off for an extended period of time it can settle out and cause problems. Years ago one of the fixes was the remove the fridge and turn it upside down for a while to get the mixture moving and it worked. For that reason all of my RV's are left on all the time.

The newer ones may be different but old habits die hard and (knock on wood) I've never had a fridge go out.

Mine is off Oct. thur March/April. Starts right up. On all summer. Out of level to much is the problem.

[avvidclif1]

FWIW my fridge is never turned off except when at the dealer for repairs. It's plugged in at home and on gas when rolling. Back to electric at campsite. We keep drinks and water in it at home and when going on a trip load it the day before so everything cools down.

My understanding of the way the RV fridges work is the heat circulates an ammonium mixture to cool. If left off for an extended period of time it can settle out and cause problems. Years ago one of the fixes was the remove the fridge and turn it upside down for a while to get the mixture moving and it worked. For that reason all of my RV's are left on all the time.

The newer ones may be different but old habits die hard and (knock on wood) I've never had a fridge go out.

[NancyLepri]

I start mine a few days before trip, load it up once its cold. Run propane while getting to campground, no fuss! Switch to electric once at campground. Love it!!

[Hamops]

We've always have left the fridge on while running and last April as we were travelling on I-20 in Louisiana, the fridge caught fire and luckily we were able to put the fire out before there was any real damage to the trailer. Our fridge was one of the Dometic's that had the factory recall done on it. We are no idea what caused the fire but when we get the our 5vr back we're still going to run it, like we did in the past.

[Duke-44]

Many years ago I used to leave my frig on while traveling, until it caught fire just as I pulled into camp one time. I got the fire out fast enough that luckily I had no damage. I learned my lesson.

NO! Not any more.

[Uppercrust]

We leave ours plugged in all the time at home, leaving the basics in it & refreshments. When we travel it is on propane.

[mrwacky]

We leave our on while traveling. It switches between propane and 110 as needed.

[Endricken]

Umm, what were all the RV Fridge Recalls for a few years ago?
Something about Propane Fridge burning down your RV?
More than a few examples have been reported.
Sure glad the recalls must have fixed that...

[RVman3252]

We always travel with ours on propane.. I do turn it off prior to pulling up to a fuel pump and pull away before turning it back on. We have done this for well over 20 years and have never had a problem.

We use our 5th Wheel while traveling... We eat most of our meals, use the bathroom, take naps and sleep... Have a great time in Michigan...

[wilber1]

We start ours a day or two before we put anything in it but don't run it while travelling. Just never found it necessary so we don't.

[GPG52_]

Cell phones while fueling.
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/wireless-phones-gas-stations
You may want to check this site out.

We have had one proven incident, several years ago, in our home town where severe damage and injury were directly linked to an RV'er fueling his gas powered van camper while his fridge was on. I'm not sure how close the gas filling port was located to the fridge exhaust.

Personally I have never given a second thought of fueling when my 5 er's fridge is on.

Logic seems to dictate that the chance of an incident may be possible but not very probable. I would assume that the issue would be magnified if you are fueling in an enclosed area, which, again is not probable.
GPG

[Ezbagr]

Come on people, some of you people worry too much. Think about it, thousands upon thousands of all kinds of RV`s on the road and I have NEVER heard of one burning down due to filling gas tank and catching on fire due to the fridge being run on propane.
I would believe that motorhomes would be way more prone to this than
fifth wheels and travel trailers due to where motorhomes fuel cap is and
AGAIN I have NEVER heard of a motorhome catching fire due to running fridge on propane and fueling up.
If you are going to worry about this you had better be shutting that cell phone off that is in your pocket because it can also cause an explosion while fueling you vehicle. LOL

[LVTOCMP]

Tinner. You mention tripping the GFI on electric. You have a grounding issue. You don't have a good ground somewhere or you have electricity leaking to ground somewhere in the camper. If you had an overload on the circuit the breaker in the main panel in your house would trip. I suggest you turn off all the breakers in the power panel in the trailer and wait 3 to 5 minutes to see if the GFI trips. if it does trip you may have a problem with the Inverter. you then need to disconnect the 12volt leads coming out of the inverter and see if the GFI trips. If it doesn't trip your inverter is good. Connect up the 12 volt leads to the inverter. Then turn one one breaker at a time and wait 3 minutes between breakers to see if the GFI trips. If the GFI trips when you turn on a breaker you have a problem with that circuit.