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 we are there and wanted to keep fridge cold and ready when we get there. I know the fridge is most efficient on propane but wondered about LP consumption for a long duration. Safety is a concern also. I assume the safeguards in the fridge will prevent most problems and the unit will just not ignite if there is a fault. Any input is welcome thank you

Unless you have a decent sized battery bank, your batteries from all the various electronics in the camper, plus the fan for the refrigerator, may not make it a week. I would test it out at home first.

Battery will be the critical factor.

ChooChooMan74 wrote:Unless you have a decent sized battery bank, your batteries from all the various electronics in the camper, plus the fan for the refrigerator, may not make it a week. I would test it out at home first.I agree and just recently purchased a 5 watt solar charger for this same TT but that's not been tested out either

5 watt is not going to help much. You assume too much about the safety as many have caught fire in recent years. I never left mine on unless actually using for fear of a fire. Testing it first is a good idea.

Ivylog wrote:5 watt is not going to help much. You assume too much about the safety as many have caught fire in recent years. I never left mine on unless actually using for fear of a fire. Testing it first is a good idea.Yes, 5 watts is no help. You will run out of battery power do to all the parasitic charges in your TT. I would not worry about safety.

Leaving fridge on LP | Good Sam Community

Mikesr
Explorer
Sep 07, 2015
Thank you to all for the input. We just might go without keeping the fridge running between stays. I'll ask the campground if we can leave it plugged in or have metered eclectic but we can probably manage without.
Thanks again
pianotuna
Nomad III
Sep 06, 2015
Hi Mike,

How many amp-hours is the battery bank?

5 days @ 37 amp-hours per day = 185 amp-hours. To stay above 50% state of charge the battery bank needs to be in the 400 amp-hour range. That's four group 29 or four golf cart batteries.

Then there is the issue of recharging on the weekend. A good three stage converter is going to be needed.

The other way to go, if the battery bank is small is 150 watts of solar per 100 amp-hours of storage capacity.

Mikesr wrote:
Any reason to worry about leaving a TT fridge on propane for an extended time ?
pianotuna
Nomad III
Sep 06, 2015
Hi,

You might try running the generator in the morning instead of at night. That way what little solar you get can work towards fully recharging the 4D agm. Once a week I'd 'bite the bullet' and run the generator until the battery bank is at 100%.

jmcgsd wrote:
I campground host at a site with no electric. I run the fridge on propane all summer. With other uses (stove HW heater, etc.) I use one 30# cylinder of propane every two weeks.

However, as others have mentioned, electric is an issue. I have 100W of solar, but am camped in a forest of Lodgepole pines, so the panels are not very efficient. I generally run the generator about 1 hr a night to keep the battery ( a huge 4d AGM battery) charged.

Joe
jmcgsd
Explorer
Sep 06, 2015
I campground host at a site with no electric. I run the fridge on propane all summer. With other uses (stove HW heater, etc.) I use one 30# cylinder of propane every two weeks.

However, as others have mentioned, electric is an issue. I have 100W of solar, but am camped in a forest of Lodgepole pines, so the panels are not very efficient. I generally run the generator about 1 hr a night to keep the battery ( a huge 4d AGM battery) charged.

Joe
Ray552
Explorer
Sep 06, 2015
While I agree more solar I would also install anther battery.
wanderingbob
Explorer II
Sep 05, 2015
Thats right , more solar !
westend
Explorer
Sep 05, 2015
The best solution would be to install solar, enough to be able to replace what's drawn from the batteries. The addition of more battery capacity dovetails with your usage and the solar efficiency.
ReferDog
Explorer
Sep 05, 2015
Can't see the problem with it, they are made to operate both ways, draw to C/B in a week is not that much.
hohenwald48
Explorer
Sep 05, 2015
Many cars have wrecked in recent years. I still drive.
Vet_Man
Explorer
Sep 04, 2015
Check with the campground maybe you can leave it plugged in for a few bucks.