Using Gas Fridge on the move.
I recently read a blog where a motorhome user always had his fridge working on gas when he was on the move. The blog was quite old and the comment was amongst other things unrelated, but got me thinking about the pros and cons of this to use in my van when towing, instead of the poor 12v system equivalent. On long journeys I can see the value to keep food cold.
- Doesn't the pilot light blow out?
- Is it legal?
- Safety seems an issue to me, especially if in an accident.
- You'd have to turn it off in tunnels etc.
Thoughts?
Comments
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Sounds dangerous to me. I was told you have to have your gas bottle turned off to minimise gas leaks in case of an accident .
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There are a few fail safe gas systems which will allow this and for heating the habitation space too!
I would tend to cool the fridge down on gas for a few hours before driving then swap to 12v. Gas being the quickest way. 12v is not really that good for cooling down from ambient temps but adequate for keeping an already cold fridge cool. It can generally only be used when engine is switched on.
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There is at least one system which allows the gas to be in use whilst motoring. It involves a device which reacts to the accident and closes gas valves quickly. I suppose its no worse than using highly combustible petrol or similar, and of course there are gas powered motor vehicles now.
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It's an absolute no-no, unless you have a gas system designed for that purpose.
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Quite a few motorhomes are fitted with fail safe regulators as mentioned above. Although I have not investigated further I thought they were for using the habitation heating whilst on the move. The fridge on the 12V system seems to work perfectly well whilst on the move so I am not sure of the advantage of running on gas anyway? Obviously even when using has on the move for heating you still have to follow any instructions regarding the use of gas appliances in tunnels or on board ferries.
David
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We have a gas fail safe system on our m/h, never had the need to use the fridge on gas though while driving as the fridge works well on 12v even in high temps, as long as the fridge is cold first. We don't use the heating on gas while driving either as the cab heater heats the van sufficient until parked up. Even in really cold weather the van is warm enough and once parked up it takes but minutes to heat to toasting using gas.
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I would have thought that it is a dangerous practice. The fridge has an exhaust pipe where the hot gases are released and, I would think, provide a route down to a naked flame. Very dangerous in a petrol station and in an accident. All the advice is to turn the fridge to 12v when traveling. MHs with a gas system safe for use when travelling are meant for the heating system only and automatically shut down for about 20mins when the engine is switched off to allow for filling up at a petrol station.
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I would certainly not consider using the gas for our m/home fridge while on the move, sounds a dangerous activity to me. I cool down the fridge on gas the day before we travel, so when we set off the fridge is nice and cold, then I switch the fridge to 12v whilst traveling (Which only works on my m/home when the engine is running). When we arrive on site, EHU, fridge on 240v, and everything's hunky dory.
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I just leave the fridge on automatic, never had a problem running on 12V, I'm curious as to why the desire to use gas.
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I just found the blog item interesting as I'd not considered using gas on the move 'ever' and wondered what others thoughts were. A couple of answers do show that gas on the move for some motorhomes have automatic safety valves, so I guess that clarifies the safety issue. But wouldn't consider it otherwise.
I've no desire to fit a new system, but I find that on long journeys on 12v (5-8 hours travelling) without a gas or 240v top up, the items are noticeably warmer. The fridge is always on 240v at least 3 days before the first journey and always on 240v on sites between moves. I've checked the wiring and it certainly gets full volts when connected to the car with engine running. The fridge is a standard (non-automatic) fitted to a Bailey Unicorn 11 2014 model. Its not a deal breaker for me, as if we stop for a hour or two, switching to gas is not an issue, to cool the fridge down again.
However, whilst trying to find information why the 12v operation doesn't 'appear' to maintain the temperature and after having the fridge checked by an engineer as 100% working I was drawn to articles that some newer vehicles are fitted with 'dynamic' alternators. (forgive the term - I've since given up on the idea of solving the issue and can't recall the actual name). According to vehicle electronic engineers the newer dynamic alternators stop delivering a charge once the car battery and the caravan battery are fully charged. Effectively reducing the voltage - which would explain why the 12v operation appears not to work on 'long' journeys.
A simple test is to fit a voltmeter in say your 12v accessory socket to monitor whilst towing to show (prove) the voltage drop. But its not bothering me this much to do this, as if this is the case, I've no desire to find a way round it. I'm sure the cost outweighs the alternatives, and I don't want to muck about with extra wiring etc in my car. Since the introduction of CANBUS systems it has all become a mystery to me. Progress eh?
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