Fridge on propane when traveling

[Rich30039]

Greetings Escapees,
Do you run your fridge on propane or 12v while in transit? My Casita would stay cold on 12v but I understand that the Escape 21 fridge takes more juice to keep it cold. Will the solar panel be enough to keep the batteries from going dead?
Thx, Rich

[gbaglo]

Propane is the only answer.

[Rich30039]

I have been told that you must extinguish the pilot light on the fridge before entering a gas station. That's why I ran the Casita fridge on 12v. Is that true?

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Rich30039

I have been told that you must extinguish the pilot light on the fridge before entering a gas station. That's why I ran the Casita fridge on 12v. Is that true?

You will see on another thread in Recent Discussion that some do and some don't. Those that don't, take care to position the trailer as far away from the pumps as possible, like taking an outside lane.
Also, there are many hundreds of posts on the subject. You can find these by doing a search.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

You will see on another thread in Recent Discussion that some do and some don't. Those that don't, take care to position the trailer as far away from the pumps as possible, like taking an outside lane.
Also, there are many hundreds of posts on the subject. You can find these by doing a search.

Only ever used propane and like Glenn says I always take an end pump
And leave the trailer out From under the canopy. Running 11.8 inches water column for regulator pressure keeps my refrigerator ( Dometic 8551) cooling well at higher elevations. When it’s 108F in Hays, Kansas she struggles. We run an Engel 12v DC—-110 v AC cooler in the camper when on the road. It keeps perishables at 34F all the time. The Freezer on the top of the Dometic always has stayed frozen so the meat etc, stays in the freezer. The drinks, ketchup, butter, syrup etc are in the camper refrigerator. Daily Beer(s) is/ are in the Engel. We take about 10 to 14 days worth of cooler food on a three week trip and restock in the middle of the trip. We eat very little boxed or prepared food preferring to prep from scratch. We really like our 21 and we are looking forward to another camping season. YMMV
Iowa Dave

[salmo7000]

Originally Posted by Rich30039

Greetings Escapees,
Do you run your fridge on propane or 12v while in transit? My Casita would stay cold on 12v but I understand that the Escape 21 fridge takes more juice to keep it cold. Will the solar panel be enough to keep the batteries from going dead?
Thx, Rich

I have a 19 with the standard size fridge and solar panel. I hesitate to run it on propane all the time while in transit because one of my friend's trailer caught on fire while she was driving, and unfortunately she had dogs in it that perished. We don't know if the propane flame caused the fire or not, but she did have it on that day, so I've always been super paranoid about it. Thus, I cool my fridge down on AC while it's sitting in the driveway before we leave. I then put a couple of large bottles of solid ice in the fridge, switch it to DC, and turn the fridge down to 2 or 3. I usually have the freezer full of frozen items as well.

In transit, while stopped for lunch or other extended breaks, I switch it to propane and park the trailer so the solar panel is in the sun. Then back to DC when we're underway again. For trips of 5 - 7 hours, this system works, and I have never arrived at camp with a low battery or a warm fridge as long as it's a sunny day. For trips over 7 hours or when it's cloudy, I usually switch it to propane for the last couple of hours of travel, so the battery has time to charge.

Others will say I'm being ridiculous and causing myself way too much trouble (i.e. just put it on propane and forget it), but my system is really no trouble, and it gives me peace of mind. Also the fridge is a 3-way fridge, what purpose would DC serve other than to travel with it on?? Seems to me it was designed for that.

Anyway, others have and will weigh in on this topic. Most travel with propane on, you never read about fires or explosions, and it works well for them. One day I may get there myself, but since I have the option to use DC and am able to do so without draining my batteries, that's what I do. For a 21 with a larger fridge, the right answer might be different. You could try it and see what happens.

[Rich30039]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did a search on the Forum and found way more information than I needed. Thanks again. Rich
(No more replies needed)

[pittendrigh]

RE> pilot light

Newer trailers have electronic spark ignition no? Rather than an always on pilot light?
If so is there still any motivation to worry about gas pumps?

A smoke detector in the trailer that rings a cell phone in the two vehicle seems like a prudent idea.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by pittendrigh

RE> pilot light

Newer trailers have electronic spark ignition no? Rather than an always on pilot light?
If so is there still any motivation to worry about gas pumps?

This is one of those endless topics.

If the fridge turned on there'd still be a flame so I don't think that electronic spark would be a factor.

Like many of us, I cool the fridge with AC before leaving home, turn on the propane and it stays on for the whole time we're away. The only time it gets turned off is when it's compulsory, like being on a ferry.

But it's a comfort level thing and no matter how many threads there are on the topic I don't think anyone every changes their mind about travelling with it on or off.

Ron

[lonewolfjb]

We had and interesting experience with running our refrigerator on propane on our last trip. I usually do not run on propane when traveling, but on our last trip we ran out of propane during the night and in the morning after getting bottles filled, the frig was a little warm. I figured that since we were only going about 40 miles to our next spot to leave frig running on propane. When we got to our next spot the frig was dead no lights on panel at all. I checked all fuses and the thermo fuse, and all were good. Then I noticed on the electrical diagram that there is a thermal fuse behind the vent stack of the burner. The fuse is inside a heat proof black wrap and is set at 152 degrees I checked it for continuity and it had blown. I figured that I was driving and wind was blowing in through the grill pushing heat towards the thermal fuse causing it to brake continuity, thus breaking the power to the control board. I will not be traveling in the future with propane on. This must be a safety device on our Dometic frigs to keep the compartment from catching on fire.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

This is one of those endless topics.

If the fridge turned on there'd still be a flame so I don't think that electronic spark would be a factor.

Like many of us, I cool the fridge with AC before leaving home, turn on the propane and it stays on for the whole time we're away. The only time it gets turned off is when it's compulsory, like being on a ferry.

But it's a comfort level thing and no matter how many threads there are on the topic I don't think anyone every changes their mind about travelling with it on or off.

Ron

When I go on a ferry, I simply change my three way fridge to dc, problem solved. Also I have driven short days with the fridge on dc, it does drain the battery some as the alternator charger can’t keep up, however for a two or three hour tow, it’s fine . The fridge works remarkably well. If I wished to use it more on dc I’d upgrade the charging wire from the truck to a hefty gauge and ad a dc to dc charger. Ymmv

[Perry Butler]

I'm a moderator on a potentially hyper-active bicycle forum. The threads lockedup most are helmet and political threads. This is similar.

We always fill on the outside pump and leave the fridge and when appropriate the furnace running.

Improperly wired/fused inverters cause 100,000 or more fires than fridge fires, but that's just my opinion.

I could care less if your fridge is running or not.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by Rich30039

Greetings Escapees,
Do you run your fridge on propane or 12v while in transit? My Casita would stay cold on 12v but I understand that the Escape 21 fridge takes more juice to keep it cold. Will the solar panel be enough to keep the batteries from going dead?
Thx, Rich

Always drive w fridge on propane. Shut off for fueling.

[Fox hunt]

me too