RVNOOBS Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Hi everyone, total noobies here. Is it OK to leaving electric appliances running while driving? Or does everything get shut down when we head out? I will be shutting down propane while traveling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 What appliances. Only your fridge would need to run and if you have a 12 volt option you can set it to that. Be very careful you turn it off or light propane when you stop or you will run your battery down pretty quickly. I leave my fridge on propane when driving. Never had a problem. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Cool, yeah I was just thinking refrigerator. Is it safe to run a mini fridge on an inverter while driving (the coach battery would be charged by the alternator)? The Dometic in our rig is dead and we're thinking of going the mini fridge/inverter route. Thoughts? Thank you for being so patient and informative! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Again a mini fridge is going to be a constant draw on your battery. You just have to remember to monitor it and possibly add a second battery if you intend to camp with no hookups. I love my propane fridge. if it ever breaks I will pay whatever I need to repair it. Already replaced the cooling unit on it once though and it still works great 11 years later. The mini fridge I put in my family room at home lasted 3 years and that didn't have to bounce down the road. If I'd had to replace my camper fridge 3 times in 11 years it would have cost more than the cooling unit Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 How much does the fridge draw for amperage (at start up its a lot more) and how big an inverter are you going to need? Lets figure on you being able to make it work while driving. Are you always going to have power when you arrive at your destination? Ok, beef up the batteries, get a larger inverter there still is the fridge. Total cost? Still not quite as convenient though. Limited run duration on batteries and such. My opinion is the cost savings vs function isn't on par with what you'd get if you just replaced it with a 3 way. Don't know what you have for a dead unit. I took a quick look spending only a minute on Amazon. Found this small unit that is about the size of a mini fridge. $572 is a bit of money, I get that. A solid inverter that will run a small fridge isn't uber cheap and you'll likely want a couple batteries just to get it to run for a short duration without running the RV. Add the price of the fridge. How much are you spending and still not be able to go somewhere with no power and spend a few days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Here's a good place to look for a used propane fridge. http://colawrvsalvage.com/ Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Most of the people who are attempting the 110 home style of fridge in an RV are doing so because they don't have the price of an RV fridge in their budget. I can relate to that. My budget for a new fridge had to get pushed forward to next year. But I am hopeful of finding a good used 12 volt one. I am keeping a vigilant eye out on craigslist. Plus being in a marine based community means I have more opportunity for finding exactly what I am looking for which is a fridge without propane. People are often upgrading their boats to have larger fridges and I want a small fridge. I could also try the bulletin board trick and ask for one. There is a bulletin board by the gate of every dock in the marina. The same is true of other marinas in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 All good points.....thank you. Budget is my main concern. I think what I have is an old Dometic. The guy that owned before me was trying to take the gas line off of the back of the fridge and twisted the gas fitting off the fridge. The fridge already wouldn't work on electric so I thought I would just replace it with something cheaper. Does anyone have any idea if you could cushion a fridge to reduce any of the road vibration? or would you just strap it down super tight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Most of the people who are attempting the 110 home style of fridge in an RV are doing so because they don't have the price of an RV fridge in their budget. I can relate to that. I can relate as well. Often times posts have very limited information regarding use case or much on why they are making their choice. I'd rather give advice that will help someone meet their expectations but in the absence of information will sometimes attempt to offer an alternative perspective. If I was really stuck on budget I'd kludge in the mini fridge but just carry a cooler when driving and forego the inverter. That would involve mostly camping where there is power or be cooler only. A craigslist mini fridge could be had for short money if you don't already have one or know someone with one. Then you could just make do. It would be a super cheap way to get by for now. I have a good working fridge but also still carry a good cooler with me. We often head out late on a Friday afternoon. I like to just pack the cooler up and zip out the door often times hitting the grocer on the way as well. I'll wait till I arrive at my destination to get the fridge cold. It also expands how much cold stuff we can have. Some places we can plug in, many beach sites we go to have nothing including potable water. When I was young, I slept in a tent on the ground and brought a cooler. Ice, working hard since the ice age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 You would have to pry my gas fridge out of my cold dead hands. The dorm fridge would probably be OK driving down the road with an inverter but fairly useless after a day or two unless you can plug in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 All good points.....thank you. Budget is my main concern. I think what I have is an old Dometic. The guy that owned before me was trying to take the gas line off of the back of the fridge and twisted the gas fitting off the fridge. The fridge already wouldn't work on electric so I thought I would just replace it with something cheaper. Does anyone have any idea if you could cushion a fridge to reduce any of the road vibration? or would you just strap it down super tight? What you don't indicate is how you intend to power this while camping and that is a bigger concern to me than anything. Batteries, inverter...do you just need this to work while you are driving and will only camp where you can plug in? Batteries will last a day or so powering a mini fridge. How you intend to use your RV would help target the advice you are getting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 RV fridges are made with flanges that allow them to be bolted in place. Strapping is not going to be as secure as that. Constraining an item...an engineering term. You need to constrain the movement in all directions, up, down, side to side and front to back. Vibration cushioning would typically used along with bolting, it is not enough on its own to secure an item such as a refrigerator. For instance in a fairly typical type of vibration reduction you would have a thick rubber shock mount washer though which a bolt would go. Sometimes motors and compressors are mounted that way. However I did not see any shock absorbers used at the bolts that held in the fridge I removed from my motorhome. I doubt that adding vibration dampening would do much for you in terms of isolating the movement of the fridge from the movement of the vehicle. That would take a whole independent suspension system surrounding the fridge to make that happen and such an item would really increase the cost of the fridge. You won't achieve it with just a bit of rubber padding. On a rough road you are relying on the suspension system of the vehicle to isolate and absorb the primary shock. As you are tying the fridge into the vehicle structure by means of bolting it to the cabinet that is tied into structure you are thereby tying it into a shock absorbing system. The door on a fridge is not going to rattle as it has a rubber gasket. However you do need to add some type of locking device to the door of the fridge to keep it from swinging open while traveling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanman Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Second that, ours works super and uses very little propane. I do turn it off to gas up. Now about that more efficient heater. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 same for me. go for 5 to ten days back country camping. I just got spoiled, and gave away my big ice chest and the big tent. can't beat a gas fridge. and an RV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Most of the people who are attempting the 110 home style of fridge in an RV are doing so because they don't have the price of an RV fridge in their budget. I don't know "most" people. I do, however, know several RV owners who took out their 3-ways and installed cheap AC units. Two of those people had working 3-ways and removing them had nothing to do with their budgets. They just wanted something simpler that worked well on uneven ground, did not need propane, and did not require a big vent hole (or two) in the RV wall to let moisture and/or bugs in. I installed one in one of my RVs 10 years ago. Got it for $25 at a yard sale (college dorm refrigerator). Hooked it to a 1500 watt AIMs mod-wave inverter and it has never skipped a beat. Runs on 12 amps @ 12 volts and @ 70 F - runs 10-15 minutes every hour. Never been an issue with battery draw - engine running or not. But - we never park/camp for more then 12 hours at a time. If using a pair of 110-120 AH batteries for "house" batteries - 12 hours is no issue. I've never noticed a shortage of good used 3-ways either. Maybe because I've been in the northeast and midwest? I've got 8 good working 3-ways here - just sitting in my barn. big and small. I left two behind when I moved out of NY two months ago and could not even get $50 each on Craigslist for them. Here in northern Michigan, I see at least one a week fo sale on Craigslist and usually the price is around $75. Back to compressor refrigerators - a good 12 volt fridge - will draw only 2-3 amps when running and uses less power then a standard 120 VAC refrigerator. The latter can be made to work fine, though. Also, the older Norcold 12 volt refrigerators that Winnebago used in many RVs back in the 80s-90s . . . are actually 48 volt AC refrigerators with on-board inverters to allow running on 12 volts DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I can store a lot more energy in 20# of propane than I can in 300# of batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I can store a lot more energy in 20# of propane than I can in 300# of batteries. Yeah and the alternator on my engine can recharge by batteries quite easily. Have not found a way yet to get my alternator to make propane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 The originator of this post has already indicated that their plan is due to budget. All the points you make are valid for your use and probably for many. Unfortunately the OP has not indicated how they plan to camp making advice sort of generic or guesswork. My use requires my fridge run in hot summer beach sun for a minimum of 4 days. Same requirement for the cooler. I certainly didn't want to spend close to $1k on a fridge but I also had some sense of what my particular needs were. If my needs were more like yours, I could have gone a different route. I think that is the point many of us make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Yeah and the alternator on my engine can recharge by batteries quite easily. Have not found a way yet to get my alternator to make propane. Don't need to 20# will last all year and a 130HP generator is a bit of over kill. But yes if it's a cost saving measure because the old one is toes up go for it just do expect miracles. I just can not see removing a propane unit just because it makes no sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Don't need to 20# will last all year and a 130HP generator is a bit of over kill. But yes if it's a cost saving measure because the old one is toes up go for it just do expect miracles. I just can not see removing a propane unit just because it makes no sense. A 20 lb. tank improperly filled to 15 lbs. (almost the norm now) is going to run a fridge what - maybe 2 1/2 to 3 weeks and that is if the propane is NOT used for other things. Like cooking, heat, hot water? Certainly not going to run it for a "year." Not unless the camper is mostly parked and not being used. If that is the case, an electric/compressor fridge can go a long time also. Propane certainly has its place, just as electric/compressor refrigerators do. Many new RVs come with 12 volt electrics and do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanAatTheCape Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 generally, if your fridge has 12v dc that will work while the engine driven alternator is running. most of those are directly wired as in a trailer set up. I run my propane frig all the time, except when staying somewhere for multiple days with shore power or when parked un-level. The flame has blown out a few times when in high winds ... >30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanRT66 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I might as well toss in another newbie question. I've noted some keep the fridge on while driving, either propane or electric. Didn't know that was an option, but it's great. My question: if the fridge is running on 12v when camped, is level still required or there some leeway in 12v mode? I've got a 100 watt solar panel charging, now, a 12 volt and two series-wired 6 volt deep cycle batteries paired with a 1500 watt inverter, so electric is an option at most times...thanks, great discussions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 If you have a regular ammonia based RV fridge level is always important no matter what kind of power you use. If you have the 12 volt option no inverter is needed. It runs directly from the batteries and your solar keeps the batteries charged. Just make sure you have enough battery power to not excessively drain them at night. Excessive draining is a battery killer. Or just light your propane at night. I never use 12 volt. Propane is so easy and the fridge uses so little. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanRT66 Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Sorry guys, been out of pocket for a bit. A lot of good info here, you guys are all good for that. Anyhoo, budget being the issue ($100 vs. lots more), I plan to have a dorm fridge running on 2 deep cycle batteries that will be charged by the alternator while driving and a solar system while camping. I know the comments that are coming and I'm sure we have many more lessons to learn than this. All lights will be LED and powered by AA batteries that will be recharged while running. The only thing I can think of that will use power is the water pump and fridge. Will a 240 watt portable panel keep us going? If we need to go for a drive everyday to recharge that's fine. P.S. I don't mean to seem stubborn or argumentative but both of those terms describe me to a tee, LOL! Can any one else relate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Also I will have an inverter, obviously. Probably 1500W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Don't need to 20# will last all year and a 130HP generator is a bit of over kill. But yes if it's a cost saving measure because the old one is toes up go for it just do expect miracles. I just can not see removing a propane unit just because it makes no sense. Well, the unit I have doesn't work at all on electric or propane. So, I will have to take it out and buy something to replace it, got any money I can borrow? If not, I have to go cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 The RV lighting can be converted to LED for cheap. 1156 LED bulbs can be had on Amazon in 10 packs for $20. Swap out the current bulb and you are good to go. In my 87 the only bulb that I've not updated is the range hood lamp. Just haven't gotten around to it because it is a different bulb style. I take it you already have the batteries and panel as they are not figured in your budget number. Along with LED lighting the water pump is not a big consumer of power. Your main load on the batteries is going to be the fridge. I still do not get any sense of what you are looking to accomplish except cold for cheap. Others will offer far better expertise on both solar and running refrigeration off of batteries but thus far it seems anything but cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 P.S. I don't mean to seem stubborn or argumentative but both of those terms describe me to a tee, LOL! Can any one else relate? I think if you ask the moderators of the forum here, you'll be told you are in pretty good company. I am getting the feeling that what you are looking to do is run off the grid. (Full or part time?) There are posts here that cover the technical aspects and power requirements pretty well and in pretty good detail. Lots of discussion regarding what it takes to run a fridge off of batteries and solar power. Some really good information and advice there too. If this sounds like you, some good advice would be to do some in depth reading on the topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 The panels were a gift so they are not in the budget, the 2nd battery is from a boat we had, we figured we could get a heavier inverter and economy fridge for half the cost of a fully functional 3 way, opinions? Don, thanks for the tip! I don't have much exp. in forums but I will branch out and explore some more, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Yeah we want to be off grid as much as possible. Campgrounds can get a bit expensive if you do that every night. We'll boondock as much as we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 The start load is what kills you with the inverter. The AC fridge draws a ton more power for a split second when the compressor kicks in. I've seen some discussions that included adding start capacitors to soften the load. Should be some information available on the web in general too. Maybe others will chime in. Not my area of knowledge. For mounting the fridge (which was a question) If the fridge width is similar to what is coming out, pick up some aluminum angle. You should be able to screw the angle into the sides of the fridge. Most mini fridges I've seen have the compressor in the bottom back and controls running inside. So typically nothing but foam insulation around the sides. Check yours to make sure. Drill some holes into the angle strips and use either short self piercing or self tapping screws to fasten them into the side of the fridge. I suggest mounting the aluminum at a very slight angle so as to direct any water to the rear of the unit. Don't know if water will be an issue, probably not. If the hole for the fridge is too wide, just shim to width with a piece of wood using some screws along the 3/4" width of the board. Then just slide the fridge in and secure with screws into the wood. You can cover the aluminum with some sort of trim. I had to do something similar when I replaced my fridge. I rebuilt the cabinet as it needed some bracing work on the bottom and I needed to make the space fit the fridge properly. I used pre-finished trim you can get at Home Depot and such around the openings for the toaster oven and microwave. Just cut and fastened with some small #4 screws. Super simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Nice looking setup Don! We'll probably need to do something like that if we go with the mini fridge. Opinions about using a chest freezer with an external thermostat? We did this for while in our old house and could see a significant difference in our electric bill, all other things being equal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Sorry, not an expert on refrigeration so can't play one on the internet (well I could but would be called out as a fraud pretty quickly) I'm hoping others with some experience will chime in but I'm afraid from what I've read, there is limited success in making it work reliably and cheaply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVNOOBS Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 I think I'm going the budget route and getting a high output alternator 90+ amps and idle the engine everyday instead of getting a genset or solar. Although, solar and or genset is still on the back burner. Good 90+ amp alternator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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