Keeping refrigerator cold while traveling in travel trailer

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Carin

Carin

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 19, 2017
Posts
53
Location
Arizona
So I'm leaving my spot that I've been in for two months. Traveling and heading to dealer for warranty work.
How do I keep the refrigerator cold and not ruin my food?  Do I turn on the propane tank? (I've been hooked up to shore power).
Do I ask the dealer what to do?  Help me.
Thanks. ??
 
Hi Carin, there are different opinions on whether to run the fridge on propane or not. I always leave mine running. If you are going to get gas though you should turn it off during that time.
 
Most people let it run on propane while traveling, but if the trip isn't too long, just leaving the door closed is probably sufficient, especially if the weather isn't real hot. Most rv fridges stay reasonably cold for several hours.

Your real problem may be at the service shop. Even if they promise to hook it to shore power or leave the propane on, they tend to forget or mess up. Have a clear understanding with the shop about food in the fridge  BEFORE turning it over to service.
 
Turn on the propane at the bottle if you haven?t already. Then turn the refrigerator to run off gas. Most have a very obvious switch. Then unplug and drive. We drove with our propane refrigerators on for 20+ years.
 
Thank you so much for the advice. I'll definitely tell the dealer about the food in the fridge.
 
One thing I would like to add is once you turn on the propane, light a burner on the kitchen range to purge most of the air out of the lines. It would be frustrating getting the air out with the fridge. The flame for the fridge doesn't seem much larger than a grill/campfire lighter. It will take quite a few tries for the fridge to purge the air out.
 
Unless you are actually waiting for a repair in the dealers service lobby, I would always assume that the refrigerator would be 100% empty before leaving it at a repair shop.

It is not the dealers responsibility to watch your food and propane levels.
 
How long will it sit at the dealer. If you are in and out in a day. you should be good. If it's going to be there several days "I wold unpack the fridge and "Winterize" it (Turn it off Defrost and prop door open) 

THe fridge uses both battery power and propane... Battery power "Runs" it (Operating systems) Propane is the main cooling source if it is an RV type absorption cooling unit.  I'd not count on the batteries lasting several days.
 
UTTransplant said:
Turn on the propane at the bottle if you haven?t already. Then turn the refrigerator to run off gas. Most have a very obvious switch. Then unplug and drive. We drove with our propane refrigerators on for 20+ years.
Click to expand...
" We drove with our propane refrigerators on for 20+ years:. 

Must have one heck of a large tank !!  ;D ;D ;D
 
I'm dropping the trailer in Tucson at 11am until 1pm the next day. So roughly 24 hours. 

What do you suggest? 
 
If you have propane, and a battery, 100% leave it on propane.  Tell the Dealer.  Have you been using your stove?  If not, as others stated, light a burner, put on high for a minute, to get the gas flowing and pipes all filled up, so the refrigerator will light.  You will here some clicks.  After 10 minutes, if it has a 'check' light on, just turn off then back on.  It might take 2-3 tries.
 
Also, most modern RV refrigerators have an Automatic setting so it switches between propane and electric, depending on what is available.  For example, you might be running it on propane but the repair shop plugs you in and then it switches automatically to electric.  We tend to leave ours on automatic unless we specifically want it on either propane or electric for some reason, such as propane when boondocking.  We would keep it on automatic in a campground in case the power goes down (it happens!) and then it can switch to propane.

ArdraF
 
I'm going to back Senator on this one. Be aware that some shops are not allowed to leave the propane on while it is in their shop. Fire hazard, and all that, should there be a leak. They may plug it in, but they may not. Avoid the whole issue by leaving the fridge empty. Besides, how much longer might it be in their shop or in their possession if they have to wait for parts?
 
Wouldn't it be easier to just call them and see what they can do for you. They may be more than willing to keep it plugged in for you.
 
I agree with Rene - give them a call. We full time and ours was in the factory for 5 days. the fridge was full and they kept it plugged in the entire time it was in service. We stayed at a friends during that time so we were out of the camper. The shop manager had the techs put a note on the plug " do not unplug". We didn't have any issues. I'm sure they will accommodate you. Most shops will turn the propane off at the tank when they work on them inside and usually forget to turn it back on.
 
Shops that are fully enclosed pretty much have to turn the propane off (fire safety regs) and usually do so at the tank.  Shops with open-air facilities (at least one side with no doors or wall) MAY be able to leave the propane on because fire regs usually allow for that. Their insurance may not, however.

Another risk of leaving stuff in the fridge is that the battery may run down, either because repairs take longer than you expected or the lights get left on or whatever.  The fridge needs a tiny amount of  battery 12v to control the propane burner, so a dead battery will cause the fridge to shut down.
 
Not sure how far it is to the dealer, or how many stops you might make on the way, but be advised that with the fridge on propane when traveling.....be very aware of any off level places that you might stop for a while.....like restaurant stops or shopping. 

We always traveled with fridge on propane, but we don't any more due to damaging our fridge cooling unit because of unlevel places we parked along the way.  We wanted a larger fridge anyway, so we bought a new larger fridge.  Very expensive, but worth it.  Thought about a residential fridge, but that's another bucket of worms......and the propane fridge has come in very handy since Hurricane Michael just wrecked our area and knocked out our power for a while.

We now travel with the fridge off.  We don't usually go more than 5 or 6 hours due to the grumpy factor kicking in.  So our food is not endangered as long as we don't open the fridge a lot. 

I'm sure some will say they've been unlevel at times and the fridge is ok.  Be aware that it is cumulative damage.......little at a time...until the ammonia leaks out a hole caused by corrosion.  There are videos explaining the whole process.
 
We travel with the fridge on.  When we stop we just turn it off if we're not level enough.  We have a little laminated card that says Refrigerator Off that we put on the steering wheel so we remember to turn it back on.  We do the same thing when we stop to fill the propane tank.

ArdraF
 
ArdraF said:
We travel with the fridge on.  When we stop we just turn it off if we're not level enough.  We have a little laminated card that says Refrigerator Off that we put on the steering wheel so we remember to turn it back on.  We do the same thing when we stop to fill the propane tank.

ArdraF
Click to expand...
That's a good idea.  We might try that. 

although, with the way my memory is getting, I don't know if I can add another routine to the list of things to remember. :-\
 
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