Can I run the Generator while driving my Class C motorhome?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Z

ziplock

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Posts
2,512
I used  the  propane to keep the  fridge cold on  our 8 hour  trip from Maryland  to the Outer banks.  It was  packed  tight, so that might have been the problem.  We heard the gas come on.

But a funny thing:

After 8 hours of driving and using the gas, the needle never moved  on the  tank saying how much was  in there and the fridge was  up to 59 degrees.  Yes it what hot out, and every time  we  stopped to admire a farmer market,  it would try to cool a bit.


SO, we were thinking of running  the generator while driving, BUT:

hubby was thinking that while driving, the alternator is charging the battery in the house part of the  bus and was afraid the generator would  be trying to do the  same thing.

He is  thinking  that might  be the same as  being plugged into 30 amp service at a campground and  running the generator at the same time.

Lordy.........................did ya get  all  that?  Goodness......................Hope we  made sense.
 
You won't see the needle on the propane tank move in just 8 hours.  The refrigerator doesn't use that much propane, it would take a day or longer before you'd see a noticable change in the tank level.

Go ahead and run the generator, you will have two charging sources feeding the batteries but that's OK.  Multiple DC sources combine nicely and they'll self-balance so the batteries aren't overcharged.  It's not the same as being connected to AC power and trying to run the generator.  One and only one AC source can be used at a time.  The transfer switch keeps the generator and shore power separated by only letting one or the other feed the RV.

It might be that the refrigerator's flame is blowing out while you're driving down the road and you're hearing it re-light when you stop.  In this case, running it on electricity via the generator will help keep it cool while the RV is in motion.  But the fridge should be able to use propane in motion.
 
It's perfectly fine to run the generator while driving, in fact you'll probably want to do this on super hot days so you can run the roof air and keep the "house" cool.

Re the fridge, I'd guess you have a couple things going on. Yes, a tightly packed fridge doesn't evenly cool very well because, unless you've added a circulation fan, unlike a residential fridge there is no forced air circulation in an RV fridge. Second, you probably warmed everything up a bit while loading the fridge, perhaps even putting less than fully cold items in there. It could take a full 24 hours of reasonable ambient temps to get the fridge down to temp. Finally, sometimes airflow over the fridge vents can disrupt the convective airflow required for effective cooling, so this can sometimes affect cooling while driving. Switching to electric will not resolve this, about all you can do is add some auxiliary fans in the top exterior fridge vent to help force air movement. I did this with mine, and run those fans anytime I'm driving.

Re two charging sources, the rig is wired to anticipate that so no worries there. When hooked to campground (shore) power, that transfer is handled either with an automatic transfer switch, or a manual setup where you actually move a cord to a different receptacle on the RV, depends on your setup. I'd guess you have a transfer switch.

(edit: I see Lou types faster than I, so I could have just said, "what he said"  ;) )
 
Thanks Lou and  Sun2retire.

Hubby and I appreciate the info and we feel better now!

Dang you guys are fast to reply. Thanks again!
 
Another idea is to pack the fridge with items that are already cold -- and -- turn it on and pack it 1-2 days before you leave so all is cold when you leave.
It will hold for an 8 hour trip unless your opening it every hour and standing there with it open like a teenager debating on what you want....LOL
 
Derby6,

Yep I packed the prechilled fridge with  prechilled and frozen food.

I have a thermometer in there. It is plugged into the campground electric at the moment, and at 5pm it was 56 degrees in there and now it is 38 degrees.

It must cycle and this is  the first I noticed this?
 
Finishing this post with  an UPDATE:

We figured out that keeping the driver side window down on  the Class C while driving was creating a type of air distribution that was making the door of the fridge not be  tight. I stood  next  to the  fridge door and  felt the air flowing out while driving.  We wound  up  the window..............................

Problem solved.

Man..............glad hubby thought of that pressure stuff.  We have a class C 24 foot.

Moral  of the story:

Wind up the windows and turn on the air,  while driving and  using the fridge on  gas.

Waving.
 
We're leaving tomorrow and the temps are suppose to be in the lower 90's. About the last hour or so we generally stop, we do stop frequently, and run the generator and turn on the coach AC unit so when we arrive at the hot destination our RV is already cool. I've been told that running the generator periodically and with a load is good for it. That being so, I have done my good deed and arrive cool!
 
We start the generator 90% of the time when we start the  engine. Always run the ac and fridge on generaor.

Ernie
 
makes sense to  use it.  But we find Ourselves just  running it from time to time to get  liquids flowing through it.

Gas and oil, ya know........

I was  just happy to find out why the fridge was has a problem keeping food cold.

When we discovered that having the window down was the issue, we thought ,  GREAT, such a simple answer to the problem.

Read up in the post to  see the original issue.  It might help  some newbie like me!

So much to learn.  I love it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 751 (members: 16, guests: 735)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,920
Posts
1,387,486
Members
137,673
Latest member
7199michael
Back
Top Bottom