When on the road?

[John3M]

Wondering if its better to run refrigerator
On electric or propane while driving ? Or is it bad to drive with propane on? Im Still pretty new at this

 

[mrbruce38]

I would not drive with the propane on under any circumstances but even if you tried the pilot will blow out. If you have a 12V off the 7 pin plug for the trailer you could set the fridge to 12V. It's not going to work very well as unlike a home fridge it does not have a pump. It works on heat exchange as the internal fluid heats it rises and as it cools down sinks and all the bumps and movement is not the best of environment for it to work efficiently. It may help with the cool down after you stop though, I never tried. I plug mine in the day before so it cools down.

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

Yet another old subject that gets answered (with differing opinions) over and over again. Search is your friend.

We tried running on propane when on the road, but it would not stay lit.

 

[Snow]

Not all popup fridges will stay lt while driving down the road..

For about 10 years or so we have towed with out TT fridge running on propane.. it gets turned on just before leaving the driveway and gets turned off when we unhitch in the driveway..

 

[John3M]

I

Yet another old subject that gets answered (with differing opinions) over and over again. Search is your friend.

We tried running on propane when on the road, but it would not stay lit.

I get it do a search, but what good is a forum if all anyone does is search. Same story on all forums. Not to mention telling someone to do a search i my opinion is disrespectful.

 

[firepit]

I

I get it do a search, but what good is a forum if all anyone does is search. Same story on all forums. Not to mention telling someone to do a search i my opinion is disrespectful.

Don't sweat it....some just come on here to complain and belittle people rather than help.
They could give you a answer in the same amount of words its takes to ramble do a search etc etc.
If people didn't all ask the same questions we prolly wouldn't have a forum anyway.
That's why when things get slow on here somebody always revives
A 3-4 yr old thread which the op hasn't posted one time since their first post.
I don't use my propane unless absolutely necessary...plus my fridge is so small its useless anyway....i prefer to utilize things that don't cost me money if i can.
Anytime i dont have to use my propane to get the job done i do it.

 

[mandinga]

When I had my pop-up, it had a Norcold fridge. I always ran it on propane while driving, and never had it blow out.

 

[John3M]

Trying to learn I don't want to file an insurance claim so soon. I was a member of a motorcycle forum for ten years and never had the need to tell someone to do a search. I don't find searches that helpful you rarely find what your needing. As far as the frig i kinda expected a colder box but like i said im new at this.

 

[xxxapache]

I always tow with the fridge running on propane.

 

[bupkis]

Howdy John3M, never had a propane fridge (wish I did), used many. Try propane or DC and see what ya like! Find the manual on your brand and do whatever maintenance that is needed (burner cleaning etc). make/model and someone can provide a manual.

Plenty of folks are leery of propane in transit and plenty are not. There's a safety device that shuts the valve if the burner goes out.

One popular method is to use 120v to cool it off before a trip, switch to gas or DC for transit then switch back to propane. Different models have thermostats or not for different energy sources.

They are often installed poorly and may need baffling or 12v fan to help stay cool in warm weather.

Hope yours' stay cool! happy camping.

 

[Grandpa Don]

I have always used Propane while driving. Once in a while it will blow out, but not very often. I have never used the Shore Power option or the 12 volt option. Even when warming it up on the night before leaving on a trip. The Fridge is not very efficient, but it does work to keep things like bottled water nice and cool. I have since switched to a compressor Fridge. But I will still cool down the old fridge anyway.

 

[Arruba]

I’ll take a stab at it.

In my experience, keeping the propane lit while driving down the road it troublesome. For that reason I set it to 12volt for going down the road. My grandfathers old Alaskan truck camper fridge would keep lit in a hurricane, so as Rabird mentioned, try it and see which one you like. If you do choose 12volt for traveling, make sure your 7pin is wired to power/charge your pup battery while driving. Long time/distance driving and the fridge drawing on the battery without recharging will draw it down quickly. Wired properly, your driving should keep the pup battery charged enough to compensate for the fridge draw.

Another reason I travel on electric is I don’t have to remember to turn it off before fueling, or going thru a tunnel, over a bridge or on a ferry where open flame may not be permitted if any existed where I live.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Sjm9911]

I ran the pup fridge on 12 volt while driving, as said cool it down a day or two before setting out. On my TT i run it on propane, but its a diffrent fridge and i do not have a 12 v option. Dont leave the tv plugged into the trailor while stopped for a prolonged period, some dont cut off the power and you may be left with a dead battery.

 

[WrkrBee]

If you have a 12V off the 7 pin plug for the trailer you could set the fridge to 12V. It's not going to work very well as unlike a home fridge it does not have a pump.

There are 12vdc compressor refrigerators.
https://www.amazon.com/12V-Compressor-Fridge/s?k=12V+Compressor+Fridge

 

[Dingit]

I run mine on propane. Some people put a remote read thermometer in their fridge so they can see if it starts to act up while driving.

 

[jmkay1]

My fridge is only used for some non critical refrigerator food and drinks. My frozen and other critical food like milk stay in my Coleman 5 day cooler. 99% of the time I don’t bother prepacking the fridge as it’s too much hassle to open the popup only to have to open it again at camp. In my popup, the only way to access the fridge is if the camper is fully setup.
So I’m going to be the odd one here and say if I prefilled the fridge I will put a frozen water bottle or three along with the other cold things to act like a cheap cooler in route. When I get to camp I will switch it to either electric or propane depending if I got hookups. Yes it can take close to 12 hours to cool at camp but in my case it’s non critical things. Just note the fridge is just that, a fridge so if you got meat or something you want to remain frozen it’s best to still keep that in a cooler. On real hot days my fridge struggles to keep things in safe zone so that’s the reason I keep my critical cold stuff in my cooler. The fridge is awesome for drinks and leftovers though and has at least eliminated one of my coolers. That’s just my experience with mine. However with that said I don’t camp much further than 6 hour drive from home often. My propane blows out quick in wind so cannot use propane in route and because I camp off grid I am very protective of my battery. That and I know my memory and WILL forget to switch the fridge over and WILL have a dead battery in no time.

 

[Snow]

Another reason I travel on electric is I don’t have to remember to turn it off before fueling, or going thru a tunnel, over a bridge or on a ferry where open flame may not be permitted if any existed where I live.

I have never turned my fridge off while fuelling.. Only way it would case any explosion or fire at the pumps would be if the fridge backside sat in the front wall, and the vehicle had the filler neck behind the rear license plate.. even then chances are the flame would blowout, causing the supply valve to close..
Remember the fridge sits at least 5ft aft of the filling neck, sits at least 1ft off the ground.. gas fumes are heavier then air and settle on the ground.. and unless you pull ahead to the first pump in a row of 2 or more , the fridge is at least 5ft away from the pump.. In my case the fridge is 10ft from the filler neck and a good 18 inches off the ground... Great chance of you nylon coats causing a static discharge spark and igniting the fumes the the fridge.. Not saying for anyone to do this, just sharing what I do..

 

[JT2]

Regardless of whether it'll stay lit while in motion, the idea of a concealed open flame in a location well out of my sight always gave me the willies. A much simpler trick is to fill a gallon jug with water (minus a half cup for expansion ...), freeze it solid the week before, then put it into the 'fridge before leaving. The small box will chill enough to be usable by the time you arrive and then switch to in-place gas or electric. Side benefit is an instant supply of ice water in camp.

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

https://camperreport.com/can-i-tow-a-travel-trailer-with-the-propane-fridge-running/

https://kempoo.com/rv/towing-rv-with-propane-refrigerator/

now, lets look at just our site, using Google:

frig propane lit towing siteopupportal.com

https://www.popupportal.com/threads/running-the-fridge-on-propane-while-towing.56530/

https://www.popupportal.com/threads/refrigerator-on-12v-while-towing.60263/

https://www.popupportal.com/threads/running-fridge-on-propane-while-folded.94298/

https://www.popupportal.com/threads/towing-with-fridge-on.73972/

and so forth

 

[popup-flyer]

Its not disrespectful to tell someone to search a forum. As to the comment "What good is a forum..." ? Simple, lots of new topics come up daily and new ideas are exchanged regularly. Suggesting that a topic that has been hashed and re-hashed a dozen times over be something you might search on first just saves everyone time.

To answer the question, I run 12V driving, 110 at camp. Rarely do I use propane.