Traveling with a refrigerator

If your TV sends a good 12v charge to the Pod, roll on 12v.

If it doesn't, then roll on propane.

Cue "you are going to die if you tow with propane on" activists in 3.. 2.. 1..

Fact is there are 8 million RVs on the road. Almost NONE of them have a 12v option. 3 way fridges are fairly new, and only the smallest ones.

Now, you can believe all those RVs are going down the road with warm beer and spoiling bacon.. OR, you can accept the fact that the roadside is not littered with the burned out hulks of RVs that burned down just so little bobby could have ice cream by the lake..

RVIA reports the number one cause of RV fires are malfunctions of the 12v system. Not Propane. In fact, the number one reason reported for TT fires while on the road is failed bearings.

In a dozen years of TTing, we have never traveled with the fridge off. 12v on the pod, gas on the 'stream and Lance. My father has had gas/120v only fridges in the 4 class C campers he has worn out. Never traveled without them on.

Side note.. the 5 gallon propane tank will run your fridge non-stop for about 6 weeks..

I Travel with frig on battery, my vehicle outputs either 13.8 0r 14.1 d.c. volts (i forget which) when i put a meter on it. I've gone 3 - 4 hours on battery, and arrived with a cold frig, and a full battery. I only use battery because its illegal to go to some areas with propane on. Like a gas station to get gas. I almost pulled into a gas station with my propane on once, and quickly changed course to go down the street to shut off propane (frig) before going back. You also cant go thru tunnels with frig on propane. I figure I try to do everything I can to make my trips as enjoyable, and stress free as possible. This makes it one less thing for me to worry about. 

We travel with the fridge on 12V. If we are stopping more than 3 or 4 hours without a hookup, I will switch it to propane. Our TV cuts off 12V charge to the TT after about 20 or 30 seconds, so we don't have to worry about that.

I'm one of those who is uncomfortable pulling into a gas station with an open flame, and I don't want to worry about it.

Originally posted by mcarter Travel with frig on 12V with an occasional use of propane to ensure it still works. Furpod's comments are spot on. And I must admit I always have a real good cooler with me, old habits are hard to break.

When we bought our R-Pod, we took off a week later for a cross-country trip. We stopped to visit some friends in Charlotte, NC. I have dual 6V batteries, so I thought I would just leave it on 12V. We were awakened in the wee hours with the refrigerator beeping at us. The TV (Ford Escape at the time) may have been charging the battery adequately, but even dual 6V batteries can't keep the refrigerator running for extended periods. I tried to switch to propane only to see flames shooting back toward the valve and burning the wires. A hasty switch to 110V and a backtrack to our dealer to find out that wasps had nested in the flue. Parts were ordered and we continued our trip. Since we were only stopping overnight with no utilities, I ended up having to run propane (dealer had removed wasp nest). After we got back from that trip, parts were replaced and we have run on propane since unless we have shore power in which case we run on AC.

I added bug screens to the openings. No more wasps. An added benefit is that screens act as flame arrestors. I don't have an issue pulling into gas stations to refuel. The R-Pod is far enough away from the pumps that I'm not worried about fumes (that with the screens, of course). For tunnels, if there is a sign, I will pull off and shut down gas until we are clear of the tunnel. We have not encountered any on our travels so far that say no propane permitted, but we may someday.

I am describing what I do. If others want to run on 12V while driving, go ahead. It did not seem to work out well for me. I am not sure if our current Frontier would have adequate power to both charge the batteries and run the refrigerator so I stick with propane.