operating refrigerator on gas--HELP

 NEED HELP ASAP please. We have bought our first camping trailer ever from a private seller. We do not know what we are doing.  Our son told us over the phone we should run the refrigerator on gas while we are traveling.  It is plugged into eletrical in our garage now,  It is a dometic rm8501 model.  To switch to gas it said to open the as cylinder valve ( on the gas cylinder, correct?)  It then says "Open the shut-off valve for gas supply to the refrigerator"  Where is that?  We cannot find it anywhere. We are hooked up and ready to leave.  Perhaps well just have to run it off the truck battery.  Frustrated!

I'll try to help since you're leaving soon, but I'll be going from memory since I no longer have a Pod. Perhaps a current owner will jump in and confirm or correct my memory.

You are correct to run the fridge on propane while traveling. Twelve volt operation is not as effective and can run your battery down quickly. This is a topic of great controversy, but the majority of campers run the fridge on gas while traveling. There is no safety risk. The propane bottles have built in flow limiters to prevent fire danger. Larger trailers do not even have a 12 volt option!

You are correct that the "gas cylinder" is the gas bottle. The valve should be turned on. If this is the first time since it was filled or connected you should run the stove a minute to clear the air from the gas line. The gas shutoff valve referred to in the book does not exist in the Pod. Just ignore it. Make sure the fridge is set to gas on the front pane by cycling the mode button until the flame icon lights up. The fridge should light in a few minutes. You may not be able to detect this, but you will get a flashing icon in a few minutes if it fails. If the fridge does not stay lit, cycle it to off with the mode button and try again including the air bleeding with the stove.

Have a good trip.

As previously stated in another post, save your propane and run your fridge on the 12 volt when traveling. It is being charged, and my fridge on the highest setting is 38 degrees when on the road. Once set up in camp, switch to electric if available or propane if dry camping.

I guess, Budward, we have always towed with an F150, so that has made the difference. Prior to 2009, we thought we had to use the propane.

If you have to turn off the propne befre refueling do you stop before entering a gas station or when/ how do you shut it off?