Hi all..hitting the road in 2 weeks.

[forhumanservice]

Hi all,

we are a family of 4 getting ready to hit the road cross country in a
couple of weeks. We have a 2002 Forest River Sierra 5th Wheel 27'
We are pulling with a 2014 Ram 2500 Big Horn.
Have just 1 question here to start
#1) We need to have a portable freezer along with us that needs to be larger then the small one in the rv (for medicine) it will be about a 94 qt 12V that also has a 120v plug as well. I know it will not be a problem while we are driving, but if we ever stop for the night at a Walmart, or.. can it run off the charged batteries until the morning?
Any experienced RV folks..can you tell us what you would do in this situation to make it work?

Thanks a bunch,
Dan

[bsinmich]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
I would go shopping for a large cardboard box that will take your freezer in it. Then go to the hardward store and buy enough rigid insulation to completely cover all walls, top and bottom, and back or front. Put the freezer into the well insulated box and try not to go into it except once every day or two to take medicine to the inside freezer. Open the freezer when you know you will have power to it, and possibly even turn the temp lower when you have power as well, then reduce the freezing when you are boondocking. Keep the freezer full, even putting in pieces of the leftover insulation to reduce the air space inside to what you need for your goods.

Many small refrig & freezers have coils welded to the outside covering on the units and this method would make the unit work harder. The way to tell is if the outside gets warm when running you want it in the open to take the heat away.

[willi4nd]

Have a safe trip, one of these days ahhh

[Allworth]

I would be more concerned about towing from Maine to California and back this time of year than the freezer.

There is a foot plus of snow in the high country. It was snowing in Ohio Yesterday. Blizzard warnings are out in the mid-states.

Freezers, solar, and batteries will not do any good if the trailer is in a ditch somewhere.

Be very careful, particularly if you don't have a lot of experience with this exact combination in severe weather. Watch the forecasts twice a day. Be prepared to wait out bad weather.

Good luck and enjoy your adventure.

[Naio]

People here in the tech section can help you with solar advice and to do the calculations on whether you should try to run the freezer on batteries at night. Generally the answer is no. But your stuff will stay frozen without power.

[forhumanservice]

Cool you guys are so nice. Just bought this one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/371477202268
Since we will not be at our farm, I will take a solar panel and my solar charge controller and set it up. I was thinking that maybe I could attach the solar panel to the Antenna that you can twist up...I know we wont use that antenna at all, and then we can wind to lay it flat when we drive...I have a a couple of Trojan T-105 6 volt batteries from our home system I can wire together. Just have to plan out the wiring and stuff. Not sure how I will do that yet. It's awesome to get such a great response so quick. Wondering how this trip will go through the winter from Maine to San Diego, and back again. On the road...road-working and road-schooling our 9 and 7 year old kids. Excited but also a little nervous. Will be looking for the best little fishing holes along the way.

[Naio]

My Edgestar dorm-sized medical freezer keeps stuff frozen for 3.5 days, if I open it once or twice a day. That's with daytime temps in the upper 60s and nighttimes in the 50s or below, and no special insulation.

'Medical freezer' means it gets colder than a regular freezer, which in turn means it will keep things frozen longer when unplugged. I have been very happy with this model and recommend it.

The box idea is well-intentioned, but will be a disaster unless you have a fan to remove the heat of the freezer's motor from the box!

In my experience, you do not need the outer box. Just turn your freezer to the coldest setting, keep it full (with bottles of water or food, not insulation) and it will be good for days.

[bid_time]

Depends on how well the freezer is insulated, how hot it is outside, how full it is, the current draw of the freezer, how many times you open it and for how long, etc., etc., etc. In short, no one could possibly answer that question. I would put some dry ice in it, keep it away from heat gain, and don't open it while it is running off battery power only.

[Artum_Snowbird]

I would go shopping for a large cardboard box that will take your freezer in it. Then go to the hardward store and buy enough rigid insulation to completely cover all walls, top and bottom, and back or front. Put the freezer into the well insulated box and try not to go into it except once every day or two to take medicine to the inside freezer. Open the freezer when you know you will have power to it, and possibly even turn the temp lower when you have power as well, then reduce the freezing when you are boondocking. Keep the freezer full, even putting in pieces of the leftover insulation to reduce the air space inside to what you need for your goods.

[mbopp]

1) What's the power draw (amps) on the freezer at 12V?
2) How many and what size batteries do you have?

You may find you need 4-6V golf cart batteries. That's just a guess.....