RV question to all rvs

ben brown

Member
i made one trip to Alaska last year was great fixing to head out sat morning now about refrigerator can and do you leave the LP gas on going down the road i been running mine on 12v when on the road have hot wire from truck to battery to help keep them charge but always say low voltage when i stop in the evening any suggestions
 
(quoted from post at 07:32:41 05/27/16) i made one trip to Alaska last year was great fixing to head out sat morning now about refrigerator can and do you leave the LP gas on going down the road i been running mine on 12v when on the road have hot wire from truck to battery to help keep them charge but always say low voltage when i stop in the evening any suggestions

I always leave the 'frige on LP when I'm driving and I do about ten thousand miles a year. Good place for RV info is http://www.irv2.com/forums/
 
I run the fridge on propane any time 120 volts is not availabe. 12 volts is so unreliable and poorly preforming they seldom equip newer refrigerators to use 12 volts. Even while on propane 12 volts is nessary for proper operation. Avoid running fridge for more than a few hours on any power source if it's sitting still and unlevel.
 
Some thing a bout R.V. units. I grew up with parents that had trailers back in the early years of the first R.V.s. They first had what we called a Ice cooler ref. with a big five block of ice in them and then thay got fancy with real ref. in them. We always had ours on LP gas. never on Battery 12 volts but every know and then we whent to eletric like if we had compelete hook ups. The problem lies in 12 volts is that it takes alot of that battery and you hot wire that is to charge up that battery only take so much of your chargeing volts from you towing car back to your battery. Now if you have a R>V. unit that is made around the 1990'S and newer. They have a battery charger in the unit that when you plug in to eletirc it starts chargeing the battery. WE always used our LP gas on the ref even if we towed it down the road. Brent
 
You need #6 or heavier wire from the alternator to the fridge to keep from running the RV battery down.

Run it on propane.

They don't like you having them burning at gas stations, but really, you're out in the open and a breeze is usually blowing and the flame is enclosed in a tube inside a box with limited ventilation.

Someone would have to have spilled a bunch of gasoline directly under the RV on a very hot, dead calm day, and you'd have to wait a while for the fumes to build up. Frankly I wouldn't stop at the station in the first place if there were signs of a major gas spill. If a gas spill did happen while I was there, the first thing I'd do is run over and shut off the propane.
 
Always run ours on LP while on the road. I set it on auto so it changes to AC when I plug into proper
outlet. As stated above, when stopped for camping, need to have RV nearly level to avoid ruining the
coils of your fridge. I read in an RV forum it should be within minimum of 4 degrees of level.
 
After having two gas control valves start leaking and starting a fire, I always turned the gas off while in transit. Fortunately in both instances we were set up at a campsite. They were just small flames on the valve itself. Hate to think what would have happened if we had been underway. Think of all the possibilities of a greater fire if you are in an accident when you have an open flame.
 
Our present slide-in camper does not even have a 12 volt choice anymore. We never used it on our previous ones- always used LP going down the road, 110 when available.
 
Ive had 2 pull behind campers, never could keep them lit going up the road. Could always smell gas inside when we arrived. 99% of
the time, I would plug in the power the night before we left, and switch it over to 12 volt once I had the truck running. (I had
also set my truck up with 2 batteries and alternators, ambulance prep package is what I bought for it) Most of the time the stuff
we put in there was still cold when we got to where we were going. The one motor home we had, dad just ran the genny to keep it
cold while we traveled.
 
I have owned, used, bought and sold (was a used RV dealer) RV's for nearly 40 years and always ran the fridge on LP while driving and never had any problems whatsoever. However, if you read the owners manual etc., they probably say DO NOT DO THAT!!!!!!!! So don't do it based on anything myself or anyone here says, its at your own risk, its your choice not ours

That being said, if the 12 VDC option is available AND YOU RUN EXTRA HEAVY GAUGE WIRE BACK TO THE FRIDGE I would use the 12 VDC option as that has to be safer and manufacturer approved versus LP while driving BUT YOU NEED THE HEAVY WIRE FROM BATERY TO FRIDGE MIND YOU not any wimpy 14 gauge!!!!!!!!!! The gauge required depends on the length of the run plus the actual current draw.

Are you sure you have a good circuit and protection (fuse or breaker) from the truck battery back to the RV house batteries so they are charged when driving via the trucks alternator????????????? I ran 2 gauge wire from my engine battery (to and through the mechanical isolation relay) back to my RV battery bank and when driving my alternator keeps ALL the batteries around 14 volts subject to RPM and battery charge state. Then to operate your fridge on 12 VDC you need good heavy wire from battery to fridges 12 VDC input. Unless you have a problem (faulty isolation relay or too small wire or bad batteries) when driving the alternator should maintain RV and engine batteries with no problem, all of mine have... What condition are your RV batteries?? Ever have them load tested?? They may be weak if your alternator (subject to good circuit and wiring) cant keep them charged even if running the fridge on 12 VDC

John T Long retired Electrical Engineer and long time RV user
 
Always used the lp..



but ALWAYS TURN OFF WHEN PULLING INTO FUEL STATION!!!!!!!!


We pull into driveway... stop.. wife turns off frig, then we pull forward to the pumps... fuel up.. pull fowards..... and turn back on...
 
(quoted from post at 05:32:41 05/27/16) i made one trip to Alaska last year was great fixing to head out sat morning now about refrigerator can and do you leave the LP gas on going down the road i been running mine on 12v when on the road have hot wire from truck to battery to help keep them charge but always say low voltage when i stop in the evening any suggestions

thanks for all the suggestion good advice as always. new battery's truck f250 with the 4 switch up grade for add on the one thing i haven't done and i should is check battery's its the ref.. that say low volts what i been doing is having frg.. on cold when on ele. then turning it to lower setting when traveling. now to Ultradog MN my daddy always said if you don't have something to add to conversation then be silent. i am quite sure no one else had any problem reading or understanding my question
 
Actually it is much tougher to read posts that are missing punctuation, capitalization, paragraphs or that use odd abbreviations and acronyms. Fortunately, many people on this site will take the extra time to work around those inconveniences to help someone.
 
x2
The main hazard of running on LP while driving is a crash (someone into you or you into someone or into something stationary).
The associated risk is fire or, even worse, an explosion of leaked LP.
 
We spent 4 years in an Avion 34 (it was our home for that time). I always turned off the gas for traveling mainly to be safe from accidents, bad roads etc.Used 110 in campgrounds, and turned frig down night before traveling. It would keep cool all day long. Never had a problem. We saw one 5th wheel that had a propane leak during tyraveling and it was destroyed. Better safe than sorry. As for 12 Volt, we had two batteries connected to the trucks alternator (high output) and never ran out of electric anywhere. I used group 30 Glass mat batteries. Henry
 
I always just get the fridge and all of its contents good and cold before I leave. I throw a bag of ice in, just before I hit the road, then run it on propane or electricity whenever I stop. Having an open flame in a wood-frame vehicle in a 55 mph wind just never seemed like a good idea to me. I know people that do it, though.
I also agree with Ultradog MN. I could barely read your posts.
 
grew up in a serious camping family. I think we were camping somewhere more than we were at home sometimes.

After moving up to actual campers/trailers..lol....agree with the good and cold before leaving..and turn it off.
(during the drive, I still remember the 'don't open the fridge' shout)
All iffy things like meat, milk, mayo, etc...went into a large ice chest with ice blocks.
After setup, the ice chest items went back in the now turned on fridge. cases of pop, beer, whatever, went into the chest with the ice and got put outside.
worked well....even with the lots of swapping required at overnights stops on long trips
 
Probably why the manufacturers (their lawyers advice no doubt lol) say don't do it................

John T Retired Engineer and Attorney
 
On my RV I installed a digital voltmeter on my RV batteries, that way I can monitor their voltage when driving or boondocking or plugged to shore power when my smart charger is charging them. So cheap and easy to install and will show whats happening. Of course, a good (and free at battery shops) load test and voltage and hydrometer readings will show the condition of your batteries.

John T RVer of 40 years
 
I'm not saying there is zero risk but modern rv tanks are equiped with automatic shut off in the event a line breaks and more than normal gas begain's flowing. There is an after market valve that fit's between tank outlet and hose to limit flow at any rate you want to set it to. You simply get btu from rating plate then set valve 10% above. Those saying box will stay cold between home and distination failed to mention ambient temperature. The soda pop get's warm and meat thaw's if you drive across Tx without running fridge in summer.
 
If I stop showing up here, that means my refrigerator blew up. While I was driving with the propane on, to my refrigerator. Stan
 
Something was seriously wrong there. I have had propane equipped RVs for 35 years (first slide in camper was so old it was 100% propane w/ 2 emergency 12 volt lights, no 110), the only thing that would allow gas to flow without an active flame was/is the stove top (the propane lights would also, but I highly doubt you can even find those anymore). To smell gas because a pilot went out means something else failed.
 

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