Travelling With Gas Fridge On!

paulel

paulel

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This could be a very stupid question but what do you think about running the fridge on gas while travelling? I'm going away for the first time tomorrow and from what I've read on here the 12v system isn't very effective.
 
paulel said:
This could be a very stupid question but what do you think about running the fridge on gas while travelling? I'm going away for the first time tomorrow and from what I've read on here the 12v system isn't very effective.
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if you run with your gas fridge on ,make sure you turn it off before entering a refueling station ie petrol derv or like wise or it may be the last thing you remember,Regards Alf.
 
Mine is fine on 12v. It changes over automatically when I start the engine.
 
Thanks for the quick and informative responses. I was expecting people to be horrified at the idea!
 
We only swich our frige off when filing up with fuel or gas and on the ferry we normally carry some boatels of water with salt in it to help on the ferry's to keep the fridge could on longer crossings like hull Rotterdam
apart from that we never turn it off except when layed up
bill
 
paulel said:
I was expecting people to be horrified at the idea!
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Not at all.. most American Motorhome fridges don't have a 12v facility and run on gas while travelling,

but to reitterate above replies, it should be fine on 12v ..

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I've never thought about the fridge when getting fuel. I guess when I switch the engine off the fridge automatically goes back to gas. I know I've never turned it off.
 
NickNic said:
I've never thought about the fridge when getting fuel. I guess when I switch the engine off the fridge automatically goes back to gas. I know I've never turned it off.
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If your fridge is Auto Sensing then there should be a delay (I thinks its 20mins on ours) before the Fridge switches to Gas and the ignition lights it.
 
scousebird said:
12v fine on our fridge too. If you're worried about the fridge being cold freeze a bottle of water and put that in, then use it when it's defrosted. I wouldn't travel with the fridge on gas.
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Excellent idea, I shall be doing that in future as well as the cold blocks. :)
 
We run the fridge freezer on full power off the mains at home for a day or two before we are due to leave and then put it on auto when we set off and let it sort itself out. So it runs 12v when on the move then when we stop for lunch, fuel or wild camping it automatically switches to gas after about 15 minutes or to mains electric when we plug in to a power point. Simples!
 
Think you may find that even if you could try to run it on gas while driving the flame would more than lightly blow out with the draught while in motion.
 
fleurette said:
Think you may find that even if you could try to run it on gas while driving the flame would more than lightly blow out with the draught while in motion.
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Not at all, system is designed to work in gale force won when stationary so driving with fridge on gas should`t be a problem. we always drive with fridge switched to gas and never had any problems.
 
@paulel Run the fridge on Gas or Mains Leccy today (well, tonight now) and it will cool down much faster than 12v...... then once the temperature is down the 12v will keep it cold just fine (y) We do this every time we go away, it works great :)
 
:) Get the fridge as cold as possible before you start any journey the 12 v will then keep it at that temp while driving. If the fridge is turned off and left for 8 hours without the door being opened the food in freezer compartment will still be frozen. We have tried this. This was in the UK so not as long in south Spain in summer. On a long drive stop every 3 hours for 1/2 hour and put fridge on gas if you are worried. This will help keep it cold. :cool:

steve & ann. ------------- teensvan

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The fridges 12v supply is for maintaining a pre chilled temperature, it wont chill to a suitable degree from scratch.

Either stick in some frozen food or a couple of proper, pre frozen, ice packs and that will help bring the temp down on 12v while travelling.
 
pappajohn said:
The fridges 12v supply is for maintaining a pre chilled temperature, it wont chill to a suitable degree from scratch.

Either stick in some frozen food or a couple of proper, pre frozen, ice packs and that will help bring the temp down on 12v while travelling.
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Depends on the fridge. In the first Electrolux 3 way I had, from warm, loaded with food, the milk in the door would be frozen from a 4 hour drive. In out last van we had to load with ice blocks to keep cool when driving and haven't tried this van on a long enough journey yet.

@paulel pop ice blocks or water in the freezer section while you cool the fridge on mains if possible le and give it a go. Could be great or could be not so great but you won't know till you try. 12v is virtually free energy as you drive so would be best to use that rather than gas if possible.
 
Glad we have a compressor fridge, turn it on when we go away and off when we come home job done.
 
On 12v correctly wired the frig will, if anything, get colder than you want. The 12v setting has no controlling thermostat (at least pre-AES - AES may have one). Ours will freeze the milk if we aren't careful.
 
we often pre freeze one or two extra bottles of milk. this extends the freshness of the milk and helps keep the fridge cold when travelling
 
My fridge and freezer runs on gas whilst travelling. As does my RV engine so no safety worries on my part
 
The effectiveness of fridges on 12v seems highly variable.

The one in my previous van was only really good for keeping a pre-chilled fridge cold. It took a very long drive indeed to cool the fridge down from ambient temperature on 12v alone.

The one in the current van seems to work as well on 12v as it does on gas. I haven't done any comparative timings, but it seems to cool at about the same rate on either power source.

Neither are AES fridges.
 
TheCaller said:
The effectiveness of fridges on 12v seems highly variable.

The one in my previous van was only really good for keeping a pre-chilled fridge cold. It took a very long drive indeed to cool the fridge down from ambient temperature on 12v alone.

The one in the current van seems to work as well on 12v as it does on gas. I haven't done any comparative timings, but it seems to cool at about the same rate on either power source.

Neither are AES fridges.
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The variation is caused by the distance of the frig from the engine and the thickness of wire used. Most vans are (were?) built with very economical wire sizes.

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We have a Thetford auto fridge freezer. I put the MH on EHU 24 hours before setting off and set it to auto and it goes onto mains. Whilst loading up when the EHU is off it runs on gas and as soon as I start the engine it goes onto 12v. If I stop (for lunch for example) after 15 mins it goes onto gas. When I start up again it goes onto 12v. When we stop at a site and go back onto EHU it changes to mains again. It is all automatic so I don't even have to think about it.

The reason that it 'waits' for 15 minutes after you have started the engine to go onto gas is so that if you have just stopped for fuel it will not light the gas when you are at one of the pumps.

KH
 
Mine is completely manual - and I completely forget this. So tends to be left on whatever setting it was left on the last time I remembered to change it :eek:...
Luckily, it's mainly used for storing lager & Pepsi so not disastrous - disappointing but not disastrous :oops:.

:LOL:
 
tonyidle said:
The variation is caused by the distance of the frig from the engine and the thickness of wire used. Most vans are (were?) built with very economical wire sizes.
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Correct, and that is why some work better than others. Its the wiring that is not up to the job. I have proved this several times when bench testing with thicker wire.
 
For a start unless you have a specific gas regulator which is designed to be left on when travelling then the gas should be turned off. This is for safety, if you have a road accident which damages the gas hose then bottle pressure gas is going to be flying around and thats not safe for the emergency services or you. The travel secure regulators will tuen off the gas if there is a problem such as a ruptured gas pipe.
 
pappajohn said:
The fridges 12v supply is for maintaining a pre chilled temperature, it wont chill to a suitable degree from scratch.

Either stick in some frozen food or a couple of proper, pre frozen, ice packs and that will help bring the temp down on 12v while travelling.
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My RMD8505 has 170watt 12 volt element and 190watt 230 volt. Despite the wattage difference I believe the heat outputs are equal and not related to power consumption.
 
Thanks to all who replied. I took note of all advice and switched the fridge on the night before leaving, while hooked up the mains electric, switched the gas on when travelling down and used 12v while travelling back. Result, cold fridge for the whole period.
 

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