# Question From A Newbie



## Kamm (Apr 27, 2007)

Walked by our trailer today and there was a screeching coming from it. Entered the unit and found the LP detector sounding the alarm. Disconnected the battery and of course it stopped. There was no smell of propane in the unit.
Here's my delema. Had left the fridge running on propane; wanted to use up the remainder of gas in one cylinder. Checked the fridge and it was warm (ice cream bar had melted!). Checked cylinder; empty. The other cyinder was still full. Here is the question. Souldn't the propane switched from the empty tank to the full? And, why would the LP detector go off? 
The fridge seems to be working fine now on the other tank. Does any of this make any sense?

Kamm


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

Are you on shore power? It is my understanding that if the battery is too low, the fridge won't work. It needs battery to regulate the temp. Could be wrong!

Detector will go off if battery is low, Low battery warning.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

If the alarm is going off, most likely the battery was low. When your battery is low and you are not hooked up to shore power, the frig will not light and run.


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## Kamm (Apr 27, 2007)

Thanks for the information. I was running on battery and it was probably getting a little low.
All seems to be o.k. now. My concern was the LP detector... I would prefer that I never hear that


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

If your refrig was already on propane, it would not need any additional power from the battery. Yes, the regulator is self-switching, but if your 2nd propane tank is turned off, then the switch won't help any!

Either a low battery or a genuine propane leak.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Kamm,

The propane detector will also go off when the battery is low. It's just it's way of telling you it does not have enough juice to do it's job. Normally, though, they just chirp every few seconds. You may have a different brand, or maybe when the battery gets really low, it turns on steady.

In any case, I'm guessing once you get power to it, it will quiet down.









Happy Trails,
Doug



GoVols said:


> If your refrig was already on propane, it would not need any additional power from the battery.


Actually, I believe you do need battery power to keep the refrigerator running, even on propane. The power is needed for the circuit board the regulates the frig. The frig will not run on 12V alone... but it will not run without it either. At least on gas.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Some little 3 way fridges will run without electricity. My pop up one would, of course I also had to light a pilot light to start it







. These seem to require 12V be supplied.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

PDX_Doug said:


> Actually, I believe you do need battery power to keep the refrigerator running, even on propane. The power is needed for the circuit board the regulates the frig. The frig will not run on 12V alone... but it will not run without it either. At least on gas.
> 
> Happy Trails,
> Doug


I think that you are right on Doug. When you switch over to propane and you listen closely, you will hear it clicking. This is the pilot trying to light on the fridge. Without 12v, the pilot will not light.


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

Nathan said:


> Some little 3 way fridges will run without electricity.  My pop up one would, of course I also had to light a pilot light to start it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's exactly what I was thinking about -- the little 3-way in my former popup. Once lit, the absorption stack would keep the refrigerator cold until the propane shut off; it needed no 12V power. Even the lighter was a manual piezo. I guess that must not be the case in the OBs.


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## W4DRR (May 17, 2005)

GoVols said:


> Some little 3 way fridges will run without electricity. My pop up one would, of course I also had to light a pilot light to start it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's exactly what I was thinking about -- the little 3-way in my former popup. Once lit, the absorption stack would keep the refrigerator cold until the propane shut off; it needed no 12V power. Even the lighter was a manual piezo. I guess that must not be the case in the OBs.
[/quote]

Boy, that brings back memories! Standing outside our little Coleman Sea Pine, clicking away on that piezo sparker thingie. Click-click-click-click Darn! Still not lit! Click-click-click-click.....

Bob


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

W4DRR said:


> Some little 3 way fridges will run without electricity. My pop up one would, of course I also had to light a pilot light to start it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's exactly what I was thinking about -- the little 3-way in my former popup. Once lit, the absorption stack would keep the refrigerator cold until the propane shut off; it needed no 12V power. Even the lighter was a manual piezo. I guess that must not be the case in the OBs.
[/quote]

Boy, that brings back memories! Standing outside our little Coleman Sea Pine, clicking away on that piezo sparker thingie. Click-click-click-click Darn! Still not lit! Click-click-click-click.....

Bob
[/quote]

WOW! You had a good one, Bob! Mine needed at least 30 more clicks than yours!









. . . and that reminds me about installing a little 12V fan on the back of mine to improve the cooling. First morning after using the fan, everything in the frig was frozen, even the eggs!


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