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How safe is it to drive with the propane refer on. I have heard mix opinions on this. We have a 2 way refer and we have a difficult time keeping the it cool even with cold packs when the temps are high. My wife needs to hear from you. 2001 Bigfoot 1500.
I run with my Cirrus 820 on Auto. When not plugged into power, the next default is propane, then DC. When driving down the freeway at 75mph it usually blows out. The system will then switch to DC. DC doesn’t work very well and drains the batteries even with the 160 W solar panel.
On back roads, the propane stays on fine and works very well. I will be going to Puerto Penasco in 2 weeks so I will see how it works in the heat.
If you don’t have auto then I wouldn’t run on propane. If it blows out there are 2 problems;
First, the fridge isn’t staying cold.
then there is the risk of the gas running. Most modern system wouldn’t have that issue.
My take anyway.We run with the propane fridge on in our Northern Lite, and never had a problem. We just came through a couple days of freeway driving in very strong and gusty winds, and it remained lit, no problem. When gassing up we always aim to have the fridge side of the camper on the outside of the pump island. We do shut it off if we are parked on a significant slope.
I run with my Cirrus 820 on Auto. When not plugged into power, the next default is propane, then DC. When driving down the freeway at 75mph it usually blows out. The system will then switch to DC. DC doesn’t work very well and drains the batteries even with the 160 W solar panel. On back roads, the propane stays on fine and works very well. I will be going to Puerto Penasco in 2 weeks so I will see how it works in the heat. If you don’t have auto then I wouldn’t run on propane. If it blows out there are 2 problems; First, the fridge isn’t staying cold. then there is the risk of the gas running. Most modern system wouldn’t have that issue. My take anyway.
I’m kinda surprised to hear of it blowing out, I’ve been running two refers (2 way Norcold – no dc) on two different campers since 2005, probably 130k miles or so total and have yet to have a flame go out…I don’t believe your situation sounds normal – JMO
We run with our 3-way propane fridge in our Lance 650 turned on. It will blow out in strong gusty winds sometimes, but the system shuts off the gas when it blows out. If you count the years driving Class A motorhomes before we went to a TC, we’ve been driving with the propane on over 15 years and never had a problem. And have never personally known anyone who has had any sort of problem with this.
I drive in very windy conditions also and have battled flame blowouts. Many people don’t know they have blowouts because some refrigerators will relight many times without setting a check light. When you look at the frig controls everything looks normal however the the inside temperature is too high. This is because the flame never burned continusly long enough to cool properly. I always monitor the temperature with a wireless remote thermometer I have in the truck cab. I solved this whole issue by running my frig on 110 in transit. I installed a heavy charge line (2ga) from my truck to my camper batteries to supply the approx 35 amps needed to power the inverter in the camper which supplies the 110 to power the frig. I have run this system for the last two years and the frig is always ice cold.
2007 Dodge 3500 Dually 4x4
Cummins 5.9, 6sp, PAC
brake, Big Wig, Timbrens
2000 Lance 1130
2004 Jeep Rubicon
Running with it on should not pose a problem and if the flame goes out, the thermocouple will shut down the gas. I extended the shield around my burner to stop it from blowing out, which used to happen in very high winds (as in welcome to Wyoming), but it hasn’t happened now in several thousand miles.
Steve and Andra
2012 F350 6.2 gasser SRW LB
Fab Fours front and rear in case we run into a rhino
2019 Northstar Laredo SCI resolved the blow-out issue in my 3-way by disassembling and clean the burner and then enlarging the air shield on the burner box so wind does not have as much impact. Now blow-outs are much less common, I think one time in the past year.
Steve and Andra
2012 F350 6.2 gasser SRW LB
Fab Fours front and rear in case we run into a rhino
2019 Northstar Laredo SCThats a good point Mike but my system allows me to still run frig on 110 while getting fuel. When I turn the engine off it automatically disconnects the truck batteries and simply runs on the camper 12 volt system while I fuel. There are always trade-offs with compressor vs propane refrigerators. It’s easier for me to use propane because I don’t have the additional battery draw of the compressor in inclement weather.
2007 Dodge 3500 Dually 4x4
Cummins 5.9, 6sp, PAC
brake, Big Wig, Timbrens
2000 Lance 1130
2004 Jeep RubiconThere is nothing automatic about our 1998, 3-way Dometic. The fridge has been (knock on wood) trouble free on any of the 3 ways to cool. I try to park in the most level attitude I can find, and for sleeping have the head end slightly uphill.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jefe4x4/DSCN0735_zpsnpayaqbo.jpg
In the beginning I ran the fridge on 12v. since the propane flame would blow out above 50 mph regardless of wind conditions. On a long trip this put a lot of stress (aka amp draw) on my 125 alternator. On propane it just sips fuel. My local RV guru told me to fill in about half or a bit more of aluminum flashing to the front vertical part behind the fridge plastic vent and, voila! we run the fridge on propane the entire time we’re out now, 24 hrs. a day. If we don’t run the heater we can get a couple weeks out of a tank. It will not blow out, regardless of wind or speed. Recently the push button igniter return spring failed to spring back so I had dig behind the vent to light the pilot manually by pulling back some metal guards to get to the pilot orifice. Just one more non-automatic chore that I must do before heading out…until I can get the igniter replaced. I only turn off the fridge if we are refilling the propane tank on the road. Ah, the trials of a rolling relic of the last millennium.
jefe2020 Ford F-350 XLT FX4 4WD SRW SB SC 7.3L Godzilla Gas TorqShift 10R140 397 amps dual Alt dual batts Frnt Dana 60; Rr Dana M275 E-locker 4.30's 4580/4320/4066# payload 7243# curb wt. 11,300# GVWR 5-er prepped. 2020 Northstar Laredo SC, 12v compressor fridge, cassette, 320w Solar sub zero insulation.
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New to truck camper/camping, so please excuse if a dumb question. I know the fridge uses lots of the coach battery power when in DC mode (so that’s basically a no no unless you want to use up your battery power quickly). I also read that when the truck is running (i.e. driving), the coach battery gets charged (from the truck power). Is this a unique situation? If not, then my question is why not run the fridge on DC while driving and then switch to propane once parked? Or, of course, switch to AC if shore power is available.
Thanks in advance!
I resolved the blow-out issue in my 3-way by disassembling and clean the burner and then enlarging the air shield on the burner box so wind does not have as much impact. Now blow-outs are much less common, I think one time in the past year.
Please post a picture of the enlarged air shield.
New to truck camper/camping, so please excuse if a dumb question. I know the fridge uses lots of the coach battery power when in DC mode (so that’s basically a no no unless you want to use up your battery power quickly). I also read that when the truck is running (i.e. driving), the coach battery gets charged (from the truck power). Is this a unique situation? If not, then my question is why not run the fridge on DC while driving and then switch to propane once parked? Or, of course, switch to AC if shore power is available.
Thanks in advance!That is what 3 way were designed for. The main issues are; the 12v is not as effective in cooling; many fridges are now 2 way with no 12 v option.
As noted above, operating on DC is only adequate to maintain the existing temperature in the fridge. It is not adequate as a substitute for AC or propane. I would also suggest putting an amp meter on the hot lead from the truck to the camper batteries. I think a good many folks will be surprised to find how low the incoming amps draw. Not really an issue if you have a couple of batteries in good shape, but might be an issue with a single battery of questionable ability.
Steve and Andra
2012 F350 6.2 gasser SRW LB
Fab Fours front and rear in case we run into a rhino
2019 Northstar Laredo SCThe reason they don’t work well on 12 volts is that the 12 volt heating element only draws about 150 watts vs about 350 watts for the ac element.
You can set it up to run on ac through an inverter. If you run a heavy charge line (2 ga) from your truck batteries to your camper batteries it will handle the draw. My truck came with a 160 amp alternator. I have an amp meter installed in my system and usually see about a 35 amp charge but have seen as high as 50 amps to the camper batteries when driving and running my refrigerator on ac. Hope this helps.2007 Dodge 3500 Dually 4x4
Cummins 5.9, 6sp, PAC
brake, Big Wig, Timbrens
2000 Lance 1130
2004 Jeep RubiconAgree. My fridge draws 17 amps DC x volts incoming = watts. However, output on the charge leads can drop to under 2 amps when truck battery is charged and alternator cuts back (as measured with my clamp meter).
Again still not a big deal if running for a day and have two batteries, but a much better setup is to do what jbell has noted. Running on propane eliminates this issue with propane supplying the greatest amount of heat of the three cooling modes.
Steve and Andra
2012 F350 6.2 gasser SRW LB
Fab Fours front and rear in case we run into a rhino
2019 Northstar Laredo SC
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