# Running With Fridge On Question



## Howie (Jun 19, 2005)

_I know that others have written about running with the fridge on gas but not at gas stations. I was wondering.............. if the fridge runs off both gas and electric can't we just run with it on electric since I think the fridge would be running off the battery and the battery is being charged off the TV won't that work? Or does the fridge run on electric only from the 30 amp electric?

thanks, Howie shy _


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## Highlander96 (Mar 1, 2005)

Howie,

If your 21RS is like mine.......It is only gas/electric operation, not 12 volt.

Hope this helps!

Happy Outbacking!

Tim


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Electric only plugged in. Only control panel is 12V


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

There are 3 power sources for your trailer, Propane, 12 vdc and 120 VAC. The only ones that are carried with you are Propane in the two bottles in the front and 12 vdc in the batteries you also carry in the front. The only time 120 VAC is available is from the shore power connection.

The only caveat to that is if you have an inverter installed to invert the 12 vdc to 120 VAC. You would need an inverter of approximately 500 watts to run the fridge, this gives you some reserve. The drain would be such that you could not use the inverter very long unless you were tied to a charging source such as the truck. So this could work for you as you tow down the road.


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## Howie (Jun 19, 2005)

_Thanks all. That does make sense and since for now I won't be going more than 2 hours away I guess I can run it on gas unless fueling......... thanks.







_


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## Armand_C (Feb 24, 2005)

When we were on vacation this last spring, we found out the it will not run off the tv when hooked up. We drove from out home to Las Vegas which is 12 hour drive and found out that my beer was warm and the milk was sour







I had thought that since my entry level TT had a 3 way that my outback did too, guess I was wrong.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Armand,

After moving up from a Coleman pop-up, I had the same question. Why does a little trailer like that have a three-way fridge, and the big fancy Outback only a two way?

As it turns out, the operative word there is 'little'. The smaller refridgerators on the pop-ups can easily run off 12 volt. However the larger capacity units in the full size trailers are simply more than the 12V system can keep up with.

My understanding is that this is not just an Outback issue. The two-ways are common to most (if not all) full size trailers.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

There are a few larger 3 way fridges but not very practical or common.


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## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

On a recent long trip, I tested how well my fridge would keep stuff cool for long periods of time when turned off. Weather conditions were moderate in the low 80's. The night before, we froze cool paks and before taking off in the morning we moved the cool paks into the fridge section. Also, the fridge was stuffed full of pre-cooled things like beer.







Having the fridge (and freezer) full of pre-cooled items is kind of important -- beer or pop are excellent choices for "balast" since they can be put in or taken out as needed. Anyway, we could run for about 10 hours with no problems.

With my previous rv (many years ago) we would travel with the fridge running on gas. I don't do that anymore, although some folks do. You would never want to approach a gas station with the fridge running on gas and I would find it very inconvenient to stop early just to turn the fridge off. In some states it is illegal to approach a gas station with the fridge running on gas. There are also some prohibitions when going thru tunnels. While traveling, my gas is turned off at the bottles -- I just find that to be my safest option.


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

Good point vdub. I remember how well the home fridge stayed cold back in the Great Blackout a few years back. Since I can't imagine going more than 10 hours with 4 younguns I think I'll experiment with that option as well.


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Just came back from the coast last week. Unhooked from power and headed out. Nine hours later arrived home and unloaded. The stuff in the fridge was still cool, not especialy cold. DW is pretty picky so ended up throwing out the mayo and stuff like that, though.

I thought it was still good, but hey, what do I know?

Mark


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

Pre cooled fridge on recent 5 hour trip. temps in 90s.
With lots of cold soda and beer in fridge, it stayed cold.
Frozen burger in freezer was still frozen solid.


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Katrina said:



> Pre cooled fridge on recent 5 hour trip. temps in 90s.
> With lots of cold soda and beer in fridge, it stayed cold.
> Frozen burger in freezer was still frozen solid.
> [snapback]44401[/snapback]​


same for us... 9 hour drive home -- ice cream and hamburgers still frozen ...


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## Howie (Jun 19, 2005)

_
With what I'm seeing here I think I'll take the safe route and pre cool everything and maybe put a frozen 2 litre in the freezer and maybe something in the fridge. Besides I'll have some libation(beer of course) in a cooler for "starters" once we get the site set up. I'm not going to play with running with the gas on. I'm just a rookie and not going to press my luck.

Does anyone know how long it usually takes a fridge or freezer to get up or down to temp once you turn it on at the site?_

*10 days finally till our first outing*.......... I'm dieing to get out.......


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

It can take as long as 24 hours for a warm fridge to cool down.
They key is too fill it with cold stuff.
I usually plug in an turn on fridge on wednesday.
Go to grocery an stock fridge on Thursday.
turn off fridge and head out on friday.
Get to site friday night, everything is still cold, turn on fridge and all is well with the world.

Once the fridge is cold and filled with cold items, it will stay that way for hours.
Turning it on in that cold condition, and it will pick right up and cool away.

edited cause I can't speel


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## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

We haven't really timed how long it takes our fridge to cool down, but 4 or 5 hours seems to do the job.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

The fridge takes 12 to 24 hours to cool but we leave ours plugged in 24-7 and stocked with camping and modification items. Can you say please pass a cold one over here. The beer is there when the mods are calling.

When you do hit the road and you turn off the fridge put a few frozen bottles of water in there to help hold the temp down.

I will just roll down the road on gas.


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