Refrigerator on battery and propane

If you have the usually supplied, single, group 24 battery, the fridge will run about 2 hours on 12v.

If you have the usually supplied, single, 20 gallon propane tank, the fridge will run 6-8 weeks on propane.

Important to know: No matter what mode the fridge is in, it MUST have 12v to operate. So don't run the battery dead and think... "I will just switch to propane..."

when we had our tent trailer, one of the best things I ever did was by a Honda 1000 generator.  I now have a 2000 so we can use the microwave in the rPod, but the peace of mind with a quiet generator is very nice.  I know - I have joined the ranks - but it is very peaceful there.

Originally posted by myownskin So, don't use the refrigerator unless you have a way too charge the battery, which I don't. This is what I seem to have read ;)

Not so. You can use the fridge on propane. It only sips propane and uses very little current from the 12V system. IMO the 12V option on the fridge has no real use and will drain the battery very very quickly, even while driving with the 7 pin Bargman connected.

The big user of propane and 12V current is the furnace. Also note that if you do run the battery down it can be recharged enough to retrieve the slide by running the TV 10-15 minutes with the fridge on propane.

WillThrill,

Recharging with the TV is certainly simple and cheap, but it might not be too effective. I recommend recharging through the 7 pin Bargman only in an emergency and only to bring in the slide. Due to the long length of #12 or #10 wire used in most TVs the best you can expect is 10-15 Amps, dropping quickly as the battery begins to charge. The more effective way is to use heavy gauge jumper cables directly from TV battery to TT battery. I ran some tests on a 50% discharged battery using 20 ft. #4 copper jumper cables and got 69A initially. Even after 35 minutes it was still charging at 28A. The jumpers are more of a hassle, but far more effective than the 7 pin connector. For comparison the on board charger plugged into shore power only achieved 38A to start and also dropped off quickly. However the on board charger will charge to 13.6 or 14.4 volts whereas the jumper method is limited to a little over 13 due to the built in limits of the auto charging system.

Unless you have shore power, run the fridge on propane. The propane is what will keep it cold. The fridge has LED indicator lights and a contol board that use battery power even when the fridge is on propane but the battery usage is minute and relatively inconsequential.

For dry camping your single 12v battery will last maybe 4 days before needing recharging. If you're going to be out that long you need some kind of plan to recbarge.

TT