Running fridge while driving

[swimmer_spe]

I want to load up my fridge at home. It is a 3 way fridge. Will the battery be charging from my truck? How long typically will the battery last with the fridge on and not charging? Once I get to my site, I will be hooking up to shore power.

[swimmer_spe]

JBarca wrote:

swimmer_spe wrote:
The dealer just changed the power unit. I'll talk to them about it. Maybe they hooked up something wrong. It should not trip anything, but, if I am hooked up to a campsite, my breaker for it should pop.

It might be best to just use propane till I get it checked out.

When you said your dealer just changed the "power unit", do you mean the power converter and or the breaker box that it goes in?

If that is what you mean, there are 2 kinds of white wires in the converter/breaker panel box pending what color your TT manufacture uses.

If they are using white for 12 volt DC negative (common) and they are using white for 120 volt AC neutral, if they accidentally put a white 120 V AC neutral wire on the 12 volt DC negative grounding bus bar, it will then trip the GFCI every time. This is a somewhat common mistake but they should of known better. If this is what they did, they are tying earth ground to AC neutral by accident and that will trip the GFCI. It will not trip a circuit breaker as the AC hot is not involved.

In a camper, the AC neutral and the 12 volt DC negative are to be totally separate and shall not touch each other. And the AC neutral should not be tied to earth ground inside the camper either. Basically your camper is viewed as a real big appliance to the electric code. AC neutral and earth ground are only to be tied common inside the main power panel of your home.

As was said, if the fridge electric element has a leak to earth ground in it, it can trip the GFCI too. In most fridge compartments, there is a 120 volt plug connected to a wall outlet. Just unplug it and see if the GFCI trips. If it does not trip, then you have a fridge electric element issue. If it still trips unplugged, then the element has nothing to do with the GFCI problem

Hope this helps

John

It is a bit confusing, but I'll help clarify things.

Where all the power goes in AC and DC, and what charges the batteries in my trailer is all one unit. It is one of my many "magic boxes".

I am writing this as I sit in my trailer at provincial park. I have this thing lighten up like a Christmas Tree. I have had no issues with it yet.

As I am not overly comfortable messing with electricity, I will contact the dealer when I get home and get them to look at it. Might be the power box. Might be the fridge. Might be something I am doing wrong. Might be something else entirely.

On a side note, they installed a new tank indicator and for some reason, the fresh water tank reads empty and the grey water tank is full, when I know the reverse is true. (in other words - it is going back to them regardless.)

[JBarca]

swimmer_spe wrote:
The dealer just changed the power unit. I'll talk to them about it. Maybe they hooked up something wrong. It should not trip anything, but, if I am hooked up to a campsite, my breaker for it should pop.

It might be best to just use propane till I get it checked out.

When you said your dealer just changed the "power unit", do you mean the power converter and or the breaker box that it goes in?

If that is what you mean, there are 2 kinds of white wires in the converter/breaker panel box pending what color your TT manufacture uses.

If they are using white for 12 volt DC negative (common) and they are using white for 120 volt AC neutral, if they accidentally put a white 120 V AC neutral wire on the 12 volt DC negative grounding bus bar, it will then trip the GFCI every time. This is a somewhat common mistake but they should of known better. If this is what they did, they are tying earth ground to AC neutral by accident and that will trip the GFCI. It will not trip a circuit breaker as the AC hot is not involved.

In a camper, the AC neutral and the 12 volt DC negative are to be totally separate and shall not touch each other. And the AC neutral should not be tied to earth ground inside the camper either. Basically your camper is viewed as a real big appliance to the electric code. AC neutral and earth ground are only to be tied common inside the main power panel of your home.

As was said, if the fridge electric element has a leak to earth ground in it, it can trip the GFCI too. In most fridge compartments, there is a 120 volt plug connected to a wall outlet. Just unplug it and see if the GFCI trips. If it does not trip, then you have a fridge electric element issue. If it still trips unplugged, then the element has nothing to do with the GFCI problem

Hope this helps

John

[CavemanCharlie]

swimmer_spe wrote:
The dealer just changed the power unit. I'll talk to them about it. Maybe they hooked up something wrong. It should not trip anything, but, if I am hooked up to a campsite, my breaker for it should pop.

It might be best to just use propane till I get it checked out.

I run mine on propane most of the time. The parks I go to have older wiring. In the summer when I am running the AC. I leave the fridge on propane to put less load on the AC power.

Plus, some of the time I dry camp. Like this upcoming weekend. The only spot I could find was a place with no power. It's going to be cool and I have my TT set up with 2-6 volt golf cart batteries hooked together to make 12 volts so I have plenty of power for my LED lights, water pump, and the fridge for the weekend.

[swimmer_spe]

The dealer just changed the power unit. I'll talk to them about it. Maybe they hooked up something wrong. It should not trip anything, but, if I am hooked up to a campsite, my breaker for it should pop.

It might be best to just use propane till I get it checked out.

[wnjj]

swimmer_spe wrote:

time2roll wrote:
Heating element is probably leaking to ground.
Get it fixed.

How can I test for that?

Ohm meter or disconnect the element temporarily and see if the GFCI stops tripping,

[swimmer_spe]

time2roll wrote:
Heating element is probably leaking to ground.
Get it fixed.

How can I test for that?

[time2roll]

Heating element is probably leaking to ground.
Get it fixed.

[swimmer_spe]

OP here...

I had my TT at the dealer for some work.

When I got it home, I checked out the fridge. It is not a 3 way, it is a 2 way. AC or gas. I have the power cable hooked to my outside plug, so I figured I would run it on AC. Every time I tried to get it going, it popped my GFCI. Either it is drawing too much power, or I have a power issue.

So, it is on propane, and will remain on propane till I am on real shore power.

On a side note, I am building a garage, and I have decided that I will wire in a 30A plug to hook the trailer to.

[CavemanCharlie]

swimmer_spe wrote:
OP here.

I thought it was illegal to use any propane appliance while the trailer is in tow.

I was planning on just 12v, no propane on.

No, No. It is only illegal to run your propane devices when going through tunnels. On the open road it is just fine.

As someone said, there are vehicles going down the road fueled by propane. And, besides, that gasoline powering your vehicle can burn too you know !!

The 12 volt part of these fridges don't work very well. I'm told. I don't know for certain. I've never had one.

Just switch it to propane and go.

[bsandey]

If it's just 2 or 3 hour trip, I don't even bother turning it on while travelling. Turn it on 2 or 3 days before, let it get cold, load it with cold/frozen items, and it stays cold for the trip without running on AC, DC, or gas. Get to the camp site, plug in to AC, and turn the fridge back on. Everything is still nice and cold.

[ralph_day]

On our 2015 Newfoundland trip the propane was shut off at boarding the ferry in North Sydney NS. Turned on again at Port aux Basques NFLD. I marked down the temp at shutdown and after turning the gas and fridge back on after the ferry trip. The temp only rose enough to see the difference on the thermometer kept in the fridge...less than 1/2 degree...and nothing softened in the freezer.

That was the short ferry trip, only 5.5-6 hours. The longer ferry trip to Argentia on the Avalon penninsula (further east) takes 18 hours, so, even though the bowels of the ferry are not really warm, your fridge and freezer contents might suffer.

Some frozen jugs of water in both boxes might help. Better yet some dry ice from a welding gas supply house in a cardboard box would certainly keep things cold.

[Tvov]

SpeakEasy wrote:
(edited to shorten it)...

It all depends on whether your fridge is a 2-way (runs on propane or A/C) or 3-way (runs on propane or A/C or 12v). The OP said 3-way and specifically indicated running it on 12v. If run this way (the 12v battery supplies the energy used for cooling) it will run your 12v battery down quickly.

-Speak

Ahhh... thank you!

We don't tow with the frig running. I turn on the frig at home a couple days before leaving to cool it down and load it up. Usually we'll also have a frozen casserole or two in it. If the campground is within a few hours drive, the frig is still cold when we arrive, and the casserole(s) are still frozen.

We do have a couple tunnels and bridges along the East coast that require propane appliances to be turned off - well, more exactly, the propane tanks have to be shut off. Been awhile since we've gone up and down the coast, so don't remember which ones require this. It was not a big deal when we went, at one toll booth the attendant asked if our propane was off (it was). If it wasn't, we'd just have had to jump out and shut it off.

Also, technically, the frig running on propane should be shutoff when refueling. I don't know if everyone does this, and don't know how if modern frigs require this.

[rbpru]

When I unplug from shore power and hit the road, my frig automatically switched to propane. If the propane is not working the "Gas" indicator lamp flashes to let me know.

The electronics are powered by the battery which charges when I drive. When I plug back into shore power it automatically switches back to electric mode.

On my PUP I had to make the change from gas to 12 volt or 120 volt manually.

[swimmer_spe]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Back at my old stick and bricks. The big huge truck that backed into my driveway to fill my propane tank RUNS on propane!

So not only is he carrying a huge bomb of propane his truck runs off of propane while he is running down the road!

So no I don't think driving my MH with a tiny propane tank on board in the on position is going to trump that!:C

Have you been trained in the proper handling and emergency procedures? They have. I bet the main tank is shut off when driving.