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Old 01-14-2021, 11:28 AM   #1
Ldubs
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Default Towing with Fridge On?

I was reading some old posts discussing concerns with turning the fridge on prior to a trip when the trailer is not sitting level. I've read that it is a best practice to run the fridge only when the unit is level.

The place where I park my trailer is level so that isn't an issue. My question: Is it a common practice to have the fridge running whilst towing the trailer? We have been firing it up after we get to the site, then waiting for it to cool before moving perishables from the ice chest to the fridge.

Our fridge runs on propane or electricity.
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Old 01-15-2021, 10:20 PM   #2
Farmer Fran
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The issue with running it while moving is the gas is on. If something were to happen, just saying.
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Old 01-15-2021, 11:10 PM   #3
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Yeah, that would be my concern.

Perhaps I misunderstood those old posts. Maybe they were firing up the fridge in the driveway prior to the trip to get it cold then shut it down once they hit the road.

Thx.
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Old 01-16-2021, 08:27 AM   #4
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My manual stated not to run the fridge on propane while traveling.
I have gone 6 six hours and only dropped a few degrees on the road.
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Old 01-16-2021, 10:30 AM   #5
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Thanks Gregory. Nothing bad ever happens from reading the manual, that is for sure.

The more I think about it, I jumped to the wrong conclusion from that old discussion.

The good news is I now know to spool up the fridge the day before we leave. That will make a big difference.
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Old 01-16-2021, 12:39 PM   #6
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Not running the propane refrigerator while towing is in part a concern about refueling en-route of the tow vehicle or motor home... You should not have an open flame at a gas island.


If your refrigerator offers a 12VDC option, you can use that while traveling, as the vehicle charging system will keep the battery up while running. Simply switch back to propane at the campsite...



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Old 01-17-2021, 09:49 AM   #7
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Also the combustion is not a clean as 55mph driving and the vent behind the fridge. It will burn out the gas side of it very quick. And youre out a 1500 dollar fridge
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Old 01-18-2021, 07:19 AM   #8
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If you’ve got a Norcold. Check on the lawsuit settlement about how many RVs they burned up.
Mine got replaced after the settlement and Norcold payed the entire cost to replace fridge. I luckily had no fire. Burned black wood above the fridge yes.
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Old 01-22-2021, 12:14 AM   #9
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Not a NorCold. I'm pretty sure ours is a Dometic brand.

The freezer cools down real fast. The fridge takes a long time to get cold enough for perishable food storage. Pre-cooling the box prior to a trip is going to be one of our newer SOPs.

Thanks everyone.
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Old 01-24-2021, 09:47 AM   #10
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Towed for years and never shut the refer off. Just left it on auto so electric if on shore power, gas on the road. Same with the motorhome until I switched to a residential refrigerator. Think you’ll find most leave the gas on while on the road.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:04 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldubs View Post
I was reading some old posts discussing concerns with turning the fridge on prior to a trip when the trailer is not sitting level. I've read that it is a best practice to run the fridge only when the unit is level.

The place where I park my trailer is level so that isn't an issue. My question: Is it a common practice to have the fridge running whilst towing the trailer? We have been firing it up after we get to the site, then waiting for it to cool before moving perishables from the ice chest to the fridge.

Our fridge runs on propane or electricity.

We run our propane as soon as we leave the house.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:39 AM   #12
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Hmm in my now 12 year traveling with my fridge on propane,I have never had it blow out or any other issues that flame is really isolated and protected and was designed to be on when traveling. Every friend I have also travels with it on propane without issue.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:39 AM   #13
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Never say never, but after starting refrigerator about 24 hours before we leave storage area, we always have the refrigerator running. That means on propane while driving. We've so far had no issues. Flame stays lit, but we don't drive over 65 mph generally. In the heat of the summer we drive sometimes with the generator running to operate the air conditioning and therefore the refrigerator as well. Have many friends that use the same protocol.
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Old 01-24-2021, 11:27 AM   #14
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Thanks everyone for the additional info.

I've only run the refer on electricity so far. Side question -- do these RV fridges consume a lot of gas?
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Old 01-24-2021, 12:14 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis4809 View Post
Towed for years and never shut the refer off. Just left it on auto so electric if on shore power, gas on the road. Same with the motorhome until I switched to a residential refrigerator. Think you’ll find most leave the gas on while on the road.

We also run the refer all the time. Our old Dometic would automatically switch from electric to battery when we disconnected, so the only time we ran propane was a couple times when we were dry camping. New refer isn't automatic and only has 2 options, so it's either plugged in or propane (no battery). We TRY to remember to turn off when fueling but seldom remember to do so.
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Old 01-24-2021, 12:34 PM   #16
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To run down the road with the frig and gas on, or valved off at the tank is a question as old as RVing itself. There are 2 camps: gas on/gas off. The shift in the last few years to residential refrig with large inverter providing the 110volts AC from the battery pack removes the gas danger. A more recent innovation of a 12 volt compressor frig that really works is a move in the same direction.

There are many videos on YouTube showing burned up RVs where the fire started in the gas refrig. Those that travel with the gas on say they have never had a problem and it was designed to operate while moving. The gas off at the tank crowd are safety minded and would not think of moving down the highway with a potential gas "bomb" riding behind the driver.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ldubs View Post
I was reading some old posts discussing concerns with turning the fridge on prior to a trip when the trailer is not sitting level. I've read that it is a best practice to run the fridge only when the unit is level.

The place where I park my trailer is level so that isn't an issue. My question: Is it a common practice to have the fridge running whilst towing the trailer? We have been firing it up after we get to the site, then waiting for it to cool before moving perishables from the ice chest to the fridge.

Our fridge runs on propane or electricity.
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Old 01-24-2021, 09:25 PM   #17
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We have the four door Norcold 1200 which runs on propane or AC power. While driving lets say across this country form lets say California to Florida we keep it on propane while driving. Being doing it for eighteen years and it is perfectly safe. Keeps the inside of the refrigerator at 34 degrees and the freezer below zero. Lot of bad information that it says on the manual not to run the fridge on propane. That is not true on motor homes, not sure about trailers, but if you do not want your food to spoil on long trips then you better run it on propane. There is no difference going down the road or being parked in a resort as far as wind passing by on the outside. That is what is much better on a propane/AC refrigerator that is better then a residential. Residentual will run off batteries, but you got to have at least six batteries to support that kind of system.
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Old 01-24-2021, 09:33 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RayChez1 View Post
We have the four door Norcold 1200 which runs on propane or AC power. While driving lets say across this country form lets say California to Florida we keep it on propane while driving. Being doing it for eighteen years and it is perfectly safe. Keeps the inside of the refrigerator at 34 degrees and the freezer below zero. Lot of bad information that it says on the manual not to run the fridge on propane. That is not true on motor homes, not sure about trailers, but if you do not want your food to spoil on long trips then you better run it on propane. There is no difference going down the road or being parked in a resort as far as wind passing by on the outside. That is what is much better on a propane/AC refrigerator that is better then a residential. Residentual will run off batteries, but you got to have at least six batteries to support that kind of system.
Don’t mean to hijack the op question Ray but I’ve been running my 18 cf residential on 4 batteries for 3 years now with no issues.
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Old 01-24-2021, 09:49 PM   #19
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Quote:
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Don’t mean to hijack the op question Ray but I’ve been running my 18 cf residential on 4 batteries for 3 years now with no issues.

Sure you can do that, but original equipment on our coaches do not come with the inverters that it requires. You have to change the Xantrex 458 Freedom 2000 watts for a Magnum pure sine inverter and you should add at least two more batteries if you are going to do any kind of serious dry camping, unless you have solar panels, then you are set up. But again it takes some modifications and costly additions if you want to run a residential fridge. Our club their used to be several big coaches TourMasters and they were always having battery problems because of the battery issue. They had to start the generator twice a day to recharge the batteries.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:07 PM   #20
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No, you understood, there is the (group) that argues " I have done it that way for 30-50yrs....", despite alerts, warnings, recalls to the contrary.
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