Weekend camping - Fridge use

[jawsthemeswimmi]

My wife and I have a Flagstaff Microlite 23LB. We go camping at a few campgrounds throughout the year that don't have any hookups. All we really want to use is the lights (minimally), the water pump, and the fridge. Our fridge runs off gas but still drains a bit of the battery. We have one 12v battery and I was hoping to make it 3 days on that. It didn't work. After about 12 hours our battery was very low. Can anyone give me some ideas, other than adding another 12v, on what they do for fridge without hookups? Would another 12v really give me enough time? The first one didn't even last a day. Thanks!

[ktmrfs]

SoundGuy wrote:

jawsthemeswimming428 wrote:
My wife and I have a Flagstaff Microlite 23LB. We go camping at a few campgrounds throughout the year that don't have any hookups. All we really want to use is the lights (minimally), the water pump, and the fridge. Our fridge runs off gas but still drains a bit of the battery.

tdiller wrote:
Run the fridge on propane if it is a two way fridge. It won't use much propane.

Obviously when the OP is dry camping he is running his 2-way fridge on propane as he has no other choice anyway ... and as a DSI fridge it still needs 12 vdc from the battery to operate. :S

yup the fridge will need around 1A to operate on propane. And when the exhaust fan kicks in and out that will up it by 0.25A or less.

that's assuming that if there is a heat strip for moisture control that is turned OFF.

[SoundGuy]

jawsthemeswimming428 wrote:
My wife and I have a Flagstaff Microlite 23LB. We go camping at a few campgrounds throughout the year that don't have any hookups. All we really want to use is the lights (minimally), the water pump, and the fridge. Our fridge runs off gas but still drains a bit of the battery.

tdiller wrote:
Run the fridge on propane if it is a two way fridge. It won't use much propane.

Obviously when the OP is dry camping he is running his 2-way fridge on propane as he has no other choice anyway ... and as a DSI fridge it still needs 12 vdc from the battery to operate. :S

[ktmrfs]

to add to many good comments on the battery. The WFCO charger that is common in many trailers will likely never get your battery fully charged. It will charge at 13.6V, not enough to fully charge the battery which will also lead to early death of the battery or at least less running time than a fully charged battery.

A gas fridge will draw about 1A, so 24AH/day. going to 50% charge that means the battery will be good for 1-2 days. Add some lights etc. and you could be down to one day. Now add in the furnace for a few hours and your toast. Furnace will draw 8-15A, so a few hours of furnace + fridge= 1 Day on a single smaller 12V battery.

[mobeewan]

Check to see if your battery is a marine starting (hybrid / dual purpose deep cycle & starting for boats) battery or if it is a true deep cycle only battery. Marine starting batteries are only meant to be discharged to 50 percent without damaging them. Deep cycle batteries can be discharged down to 20 percent.

A lot of dealers either don't really know the difference or just buy what is cheapest in bulk and push them.

The dealer I bought my trailer from (the largest in my area) is still pushing marine starting batteries. I stopped in to look for a part and was talking to one of the regular parts guys about going with solar on a trailer I will be building. I mentioned some batteries I just recently purchased and he started in about how lousy they were and how great the batteries they sell are. I stepped over and looked at them and i told him they were marine starting batteries and not true deep cycle batteries. He told me he used them on his boat and never had any problem with them. Well duh! It's a boat not an RV.

As mentioned above Google "12v side of life" parts 1 and 2, there's great info there.

If your only weekend camping your cheapest option will probably be 2 larger true deep cycle only 12v or 2 6v golf cart batteries. Second cheapest option is a small generator to recharge the battery.

[tdiller]

jawsthemeswimming428 wrote:
My wife and I have a Flagstaff Microlite 23LB. We go camping at a few campgrounds throughout the year that don't have any hookups. All we really want to use is the lights (minimally), the water pump, and the fridge. Our fridge runs off gas but still drains a bit of the battery. We have one 12v battery and I was hoping to make it 3 days on that. It didn't work. After about 12 hours our battery was very low. Can anyone give me some ideas, other than adding another 12v, on what they do for fridge without hookups? Would another 12v really give me enough time? The first one didn't even last a day. Thanks!

Run the fridge on propane if it is a two way fridge. It won't use much propane.

[ADK_Camper]

MitchF150 wrote:
Check to see that the moisture switch is off in the fridge.. At least on my fridge, there is a switch that when turned on is supposed to keep the moisture buildup in the fridge to a minimum.. Not really sure of it's purpose, as I've never kept it on..

The switch on mine is inside the main fridge door on the upper sill. Simple toggle switch. It uses 12v power, so if it's on and you are only on battery, it could use a lot more power.

Lots of other things that suck power from just being 'on' so might need to do a power audit of your rig.

Good luck!

Mitch

This is quite possibly the biggest cause of your problem. My Dometic fridge in my 2012 model camper does not have a moisture switch. Your fridge may not have one either so the door heater is constantly on. It's a battery killer for sure. I installed my own and it greatly extended my battery life. It's not difficult to do. The power for the door heater runs through the interior light on my fridge. I cut the wire and installed a switch. The switch may not be necessary because I've never found it necessary to turn the heater back on. Search this forum for more information or PM me if you can't find what you need.

Also do not use any incandescent lights. If you have them change them to LEDs. Both of these changes will probably solve your problem.

[BurbMan]

Ditto, try replacing the battery. We used to go from Fri nite to Sun afternoon with a single group 24 12v battery powering fridge, water pump, some lights and non-stop stereo. It was pretty low by Sunday.

As was said the furnace is a KILLER and ANY furnace use will shorten battery usage.

[DutchmenSport]

jawsthemeswimming428 wrote:
... Can anyone give me some ideas, other than adding another 12v, on what they do for fridge without hookups? ...Thanks!

Well, how about just turning the fridge completely off and use a conventional ice chest cooler, like we use to use when we tent camped? Of course, you won't be bring along ice cream, but if you have frozen food before hand, you can even use the frozen food to help keep the cooler cold a while. If all you are looking at is a 2 or 3 day week-end, and you have no power ... go back to the basics of tent camping.

[SoundGuy]

jawsthemeswimming428 wrote:
We go camping at a few campgrounds throughout the year that don't have any hookups. All we really want to use is the lights (minimally), the water pump, and the fridge. Our fridge runs off gas but still drains a bit of the battery. We have one 12v battery and I was hoping to make it 3 days on that. It didn't work. After about 12 hours our battery was very low!

With that little use your battery wasn't fully charged in the first place or is old enough now that it can't maintain a full charge or both ... no point in adding a 2nd new battery if the first needs replacing. :R Remember also that your propane / CO detector runs 24/7 and is a constant draw, and unless you also take steps to disable or turn off any other parasitic draws such as a radio memory circuit or television wall plate they too will also draw down the battery. You also haven't indicated whether you made sure the fridge climate control heating element is turned off as it too will significantly draw down the battery. Obviously the less you use the longer your battery reserve will last, regardless of what it is. 😉

[ReneeG]

All good responses here. With our first TT, we had one battery and we would have to run the truck with the TT plugged in to charge the battery. That was before we had a generator. We also had a portable solar panel that helped, but we rarely used the lights using instead LED lanterns at night. Check your battery and consider getting a deep cycle one if nothing else. Even a small generator is well worth it.

[MitchF150]

Check to see that the moisture switch is off in the fridge.. At least on my fridge, there is a switch that when turned on is supposed to keep the moisture buildup in the fridge to a minimum.. Not really sure of it's purpose, as I've never kept it on..

The switch on mine is inside the main fridge door on the upper sill. Simple toggle switch. It uses 12v power, so if it's on and you are only on battery, it could use a lot more power.

Lots of other things that suck power from just being 'on' so might need to do a power audit of your rig.

Good luck!

Mitch

[Terryallan]

I also can go 3 days on the battery for the fridge. But that is all I use. I also take a small solar trickle charger to help during the day. Do make sure it has a FULL charge before leaving home, and the battery cables are tight, and clean.

[KD4UPL]

My TC had 1 group 24 battery. I could got for 2 or 3 days with "minimal use" of the lights, radio, pump, and refrigerator. This was NOT using the furnace, it's blower uses up a battery fast.
How good is your battery, it may be on near the end of it's life? How good is your charger, it may not be fully charging it. What size battery do you have? Is it possible that you or a previous owner substituted a car starting battery instead of a proper RV battery?
More battery, solar, or a generator, those are your choices. I added a second battery to my camper, installed a 100 watt solar panel, and sometimes used the onboard generator.

[kerrlakeRoo]

The requirement is simply, more electricity.
Ways to have it?
1. Add stored electricity. (More and bigger batteries)
Or
2. Have a means of making it. Options
Solar panel.
Portable generator.
Use your to vehicle to recharge via jumper cables.
3 simplest choices.
Happy motorin.

[SDcampowneroper]

With the power usage you describe, a group 24 battery should last a couple of days without discharging below the damaging 11.8 v 50% threshold. Are you sure of your minimal usage?
Furnace, water pump are power hungry devices you cannot avoid. Upgrade lighting to leds will make a difference, maybe not enough to match your needs.

You cant have too much battery. Economically a larger battery or second battery wired in series is the better long term cheaper option.