Leaving fridge on LP
Any reason to worry about leaving a TT fridge on propane for an extended time ? (5 weeks) Situation is this, setting up TT on a site for 2 months and can only use electric at site on weekends when ...
Forum Discussion
WayneAt63044 wrote:
Pull the 12 volt fuses for the radio and smoke detector to eliminate some of the battery draw, you won't be using them while not there anyway.
For anyone who dry camps at all or as the OP is intending to do - wanting to leave his fridge running while the trailer is otherwise sitting idle - the better solution to unwanted parasitic draw is to install conveniently located kill switches, just as I've done for the radio and my SensarPro TV antenna signal booster. The majority who will have a conventional television wall plate don't need a kill switch as the plate itself is already fitted with a switch that will kill power to the antenna head. I could have also added a kill switch to the 12 vdc power feeding my television but I find it simpler to just unplug the TV when not in use.
Kill Switches
As for the smoke detector I seriously doubt the OP's 2009 trailer has one powered by the rig's 12 vdc system but rather by an internal battery. The only detector that should be powered by the trailer's 12 vdc system is it's CO / propane detector and although it could be disconnected when the trailer is not being used there is the very real danger the OP may forget to re-power it the next time he uses the trailer. Since most detectors typical of those installed in trailer's like the OP's are rated to pull ~ 45 ma that represents a draw of a little over 1 amp per day, probably not enough to worry about when we're talking about just 5 days when the trailer may be sitting idle. Certainly adding a solar panel to restore whatever draw is placed on the battery during those 5 days would be the better solution.
A problem I see would be if your fridge has a heater around the door to eliminate condensation. My older units had switches to turn that off but the Dometic in my 2012 has no switch and it is wired permanently on. Since I boondock some, I have disconnected that heater. I accessed it behind the fridge light/door switch assembly. Then test to see how long the battery(s) last.
A far better solution is to simply add a kill switch to the fridge's climate control heating element, just as I did with my own Dometic DM2652 fridge.
Fridge Kill Switch
