Nor Cold 2 way??

[ADA6969]

Hello All,

Just got back from trip with new 2021 A/F 1150 19 DAYS. Temps were 27 degrees to over 100 out side.

Fridge was leveled. ON 110v pugged in worked correct. On propane fridge was 50-60 degrees freezer was 0-10

On generator all night and day Fridge 35-55 freezer 0-10

Put fan in fridge no difference.

No matter what outside temp was on propane fridge ran hot.

Any help please?

[riah]

Yes, but I was asking if it might resolve a temp issue for a 3 way fridge as well!:)

Thanks again for the info that was provided!

Life is good! Life is too short to waste fretting!

I learn so much from the forum!!!

Thanks again!

ticki2 wrote:
If folks read the title it a 2 way frig , no 12v option .

[ticki2]

If folks read the title it a 2 way frig , no 12v option .

[riah]

Well I guess saying illegal was a bit exaggerated.. but it is prohibited when at gas stations, in tunnels, and such scenarios - plus, it’s just crazy for us to use it as we already paid for other options (dcdc charger and solar chargers) … hence now we only travel with it on propane as a last resort - and as little as possible… primarily because of the safety factor of driving around on the roadways with an open flame burning propane which will cost us twice to burn/waste additional money when we have to buy a new propane canister or have it refilled.

So I apologize for mis-speaking as to it being illegal, but it’s definitely less safe to do in various scenarios. 😉

Geo*Boy wrote:

riah wrote:
We ended up swapping back and forth during the summer from 12v to propane to keep the food cold and as importantly, to save on the use of propane a bit.

(Plus propane has increased substantially here in the northeast so definitely want to use the 12v from the dc dc charger and solar as much as we can! Also, we don’t like running on propane as it’s not safe, legal or recommended.:h

Reality Check wrote:

mbloof wrote:
For me personally, I'll 'precool' the fridge by having the camper plugged into shore power and using the AC option 1-2 days before leaving on a trip.

Then I'll transfer precooled items from my house fridge/freezer to the campers fridge/freezer. I'll usually SHUT OFF the campers fridge/freezer before pulling out of my driveway.

While I live in Oregon and travel mostly in Oregon/Washington and the temperatures generally don't get higher than the 90's, I've found that the campers fridge/freezer will keep my items just fine (no matter what time of the year it is) during the 1-4 hours it takes to reach where I'm going.

When I reach my destination and start setting up, the campers fridge/freezer will get turned back on set to AC (if available) and propane if AC is not available. I see/find no need for the 'DC' mode/setting at all.

Obviously YMMV,


- Mark0.

Why do you turn it off when traveling?

[mbloof]

Reality Check wrote:

mbloof wrote:
For me personally, I'll 'precool' the fridge by having the camper plugged into shore power and using the AC option 1-2 days before leaving on a trip.

Then I'll transfer precooled items from my house fridge/freezer to the campers fridge/freezer. I'll usually SHUT OFF the campers fridge/freezer before pulling out of my driveway.

While I live in Oregon and travel mostly in Oregon/Washington and the temperatures generally don't get higher than the 90's, I've found that the campers fridge/freezer will keep my items just fine (no matter what time of the year it is) during the 1-4 hours it takes to reach where I'm going.

When I reach my destination and start setting up, the campers fridge/freezer will get turned back on set to AC (if available) and propane if AC is not available. I see/find no need for the 'DC' mode/setting at all.

Obviously YMMV,


- Mark0.

Why do you turn it off when traveling?

Generally my first stop is a station for fuel. Back in the days when I had a gas powered truck I might make multiple fuel stops along the way.

While IDK about the laws where you live/travel around here its illegal to have a open flame while fueling. Besides, the stupid automatic 3-way fridges can often switch to DC and unless you have cut or otherwise disabled that element you might arrive with a drained or dead battery (it has happened to me before).

A better question might be: why do you leave yours on?


- Mark0.

[Geo_Boy]

riah wrote:
We ended up swapping back and forth during the summer from 12v to propane to keep the food cold and as importantly, to save on the use of propane a bit.

(Plus propane has increased substantially here in the northeast so definitely want to use the 12v from the dc dc charger and solar as much as we can! Also, we don’t like running on propane as it’s not safe, legal or recommended.:h

Reality Check wrote:

mbloof wrote:
For me personally, I'll 'precool' the fridge by having the camper plugged into shore power and using the AC option 1-2 days before leaving on a trip.

Then I'll transfer precooled items from my house fridge/freezer to the campers fridge/freezer. I'll usually SHUT OFF the campers fridge/freezer before pulling out of my driveway.

While I live in Oregon and travel mostly in Oregon/Washington and the temperatures generally don't get higher than the 90's, I've found that the campers fridge/freezer will keep my items just fine (no matter what time of the year it is) during the 1-4 hours it takes to reach where I'm going.

When I reach my destination and start setting up, the campers fridge/freezer will get turned back on set to AC (if available) and propane if AC is not available. I see/find no need for the 'DC' mode/setting at all.

Obviously YMMV,


- Mark0.

Why do you turn it off when traveling?

[Reality_Check]

riah wrote:
We ended up swapping back and forth during the summer from 12v to propane to keep the food cold and as importantly, to save on the use of propane a bit.

(Plus propane has increased substantially here in the northeast so definitely want to use the 12v from the dc dc charger and solar as much as we can! Also, we don’t like running on propane as it’s not safe, legal or recommended.

Reality Check wrote:


Why do you turn it off when traveling?

Our fridge and hot water tank are never turned off (fridge on AC at the house). Goes months on a bottle, so never really thought about the price.

I've installed a couple of them, and can't find anything in the instructions that suggest not traveling with them functioning, which is why I asked. The legal part; each state is different I guess. Interesting.

[riah]

Thanks for you response! I guess we may need to buy/use an inverter as well by the sound of it iat least during the summertime weather! Ps-your trial setup sounds very interesting!

MT BOB wrote:
As NRALIFR has said.
The 12v in 3-ways was designed to be used only when driving, and to "maintain" temps. And, over the years, many were poorly installed, and killed many batteries.They should be hooked up so the element only works when the vehicle is running, and now, they use modules that shut it off if voltage gets too low, usually about 13 volts. I added 12v to mine, RM2501, because I like to experiment,and I used one of the relay modules that they use in the UK and Australia, set the voltage to turn off the element at 12v. It can keep the fridge at 35f, but I have only used it 2 times, I expect it will not when it is 90-100f out. I have a small inverter, in case I have to take a long driving trip,and will use it on 120, especially in hotter weather,while driving.

[riah]

We ended up swapping back and forth during the summer from 12v to propane to keep the food cold and as importantly, to save on the use of propane a bit.

(Plus propane has increased substantially here in the northeast so definitely want to use the 12v from the dc dc charger and solar as much as we can! Also, we don’t like running on propane as it’s not safe, legal or recommended.

Reality Check wrote:

mbloof wrote:
For me personally, I'll 'precool' the fridge by having the camper plugged into shore power and using the AC option 1-2 days before leaving on a trip.

Then I'll transfer precooled items from my house fridge/freezer to the campers fridge/freezer. I'll usually SHUT OFF the campers fridge/freezer before pulling out of my driveway.

While I live in Oregon and travel mostly in Oregon/Washington and the temperatures generally don't get higher than the 90's, I've found that the campers fridge/freezer will keep my items just fine (no matter what time of the year it is) during the 1-4 hours it takes to reach where I'm going.

When I reach my destination and start setting up, the campers fridge/freezer will get turned back on set to AC (if available) and propane if AC is not available. I see/find no need for the 'DC' mode/setting at all.

Obviously YMMV,


- Mark0.

Why do you turn it off when traveling?

[Reality_Check]

mbloof wrote:
For me personally, I'll 'precool' the fridge by having the camper plugged into shore power and using the AC option 1-2 days before leaving on a trip.

Then I'll transfer precooled items from my house fridge/freezer to the campers fridge/freezer. I'll usually SHUT OFF the campers fridge/freezer before pulling out of my driveway.

While I live in Oregon and travel mostly in Oregon/Washington and the temperatures generally don't get higher than the 90's, I've found that the campers fridge/freezer will keep my items just fine (no matter what time of the year it is) during the 1-4 hours it takes to reach where I'm going.

When I reach my destination and start setting up, the campers fridge/freezer will get turned back on set to AC (if available) and propane if AC is not available. I see/find no need for the 'DC' mode/setting at all.

Obviously YMMV,


- Mark0.

Why do you turn it off when traveling?

[riah]

Thank you! Good to know that we can most likely use a lower level and lower wattage inverter as well!

NRALIFR wrote:
If all the inverter is going to power is the fridge in AC mode, then yes, a 3000 watt pure sine inverter is overkill.

You need to check your specific model fridge, but the AC heat element in mine is less than 350 watts. You don’t even need a pure sine inverter for it either. I ran mine for several years using a 500 watt modified sine inverter and it worked just fine. What I didn’t like about that inverter though was the cooling fan on it was a screamer. It didn’t matter that much though since it was only on when we weren’t in the camper to hear it. Once I had other uses for an inverter though, I bought a better, quieter, PSW model.

:):)

[riah]

Thanks for your feedback!

I will see how it goes in the different seasons… It was an issue when the temps were in the 90s and we haven’t been out much again since then this year so far - but we hope to be very soon! (Need to head south and scope out some options as e will have my elderly parents along with us and need to figure out where to hang out with them.)

Ps - We always do the precool option too! So hopefully it will work off the 12v well enough… even if we can save some propane it will be helpful! And between the solar and the dcdc charger, was hoping to use the “free power” as much as we can! 😉

mbloof wrote:
For me personally, I'll 'precool' the fridge by having the camper plugged into shore power and using the AC option 1-2 days before leaving on a trip.

Then I'll transfer precooled items from my house fridge/freezer to the campers fridge/freezer. I'll usually SHUT OFF the campers fridge/freezer before pulling out of my driveway.

While I live in Oregon and travel mostly in Oregon/Washington and the temperatures generally don't get higher than the 90's, I've found that the campers fridge/freezer will keep my items just fine (no matter what time of the year it is) during the 1-4 hours it takes to reach where I'm going.

When I reach my destination and start setting up, the campers fridge/freezer will get turned back on set to AC (if available) and propane if AC is not available. I see/find no need for the 'DC' mode/setting at all.

Obviously YMMV,


- Mark0.

[Bedlam]

My DC evaporate fridge would maintain cool but took too long to actually drop temperatures. I only used it where propane had to be shut off, like ferries and tunnels. This round of RV, I skipped that option but may look into a DC compressor the next time.

[NRALIFR]

If all the inverter is going to power is the fridge in AC mode, then yes, a 3000 watt pure sine inverter is overkill.

You need to check your specific model fridge, but the AC heat element in mine is less than 350 watts. You don’t even need a pure sine inverter for it either. I ran mine for several years using a 500 watt modified sine inverter and it worked just fine. What I didn’t like about that inverter though was the cooling fan on it was a screamer. It didn’t matter that much though since it was only on when we weren’t in the camper to hear it. Once I had other uses for an inverter though, I bought a better, quieter, PSW model.

:):)

[riah]

Well, yes that was part of the reason we wanted to run the fridge/freezer from 12 volt rather than propane was while driving, since we invested in a DCDC charger as well as the solar (and use the generator as the last resort as well as to run the microwave and other AC items.)

So apparently though the consensus is that 12 volt absorption fridges just aren't great for running long amounts of time and keeping up with the cooler temps.

Apparently I guess it won't pay then to order this fan kit if and instead will have to continue switching back and forth to propane I guess when the temps start showing they are getting warmer again in the fridge.

(At least until we invest in an inverter… so next question I guess would be, what size and type of inverter should we look into? Is A 3,000 pure sign wave inverter overkill for 12v setup?)

Thanks for the feedback!