Russ De Maris is writing an article on how driving uphill can affect RV refrigerators. He needs your help in developing the story, so would you please answer the following survey? And if you care to comment, please do so below this article.
We appreciate your assistance in this research. And please be patient, as sometimes the poll can be slow to load. Remember, the poll is totally anonymous so we can’t see how you respond.
If the poll won’t open for you, and if your RV refrigerator operates on propane, please leave a comment below as to whether you leave your fridge on when driving or towing it.
Thank you!
Never had a problem been RV for 16 years
DITTO, 28 years.
Ditto. No problems in 35 years!!
Hell, I even use my onboard toilet and actually flush the paper into the holding tank!!!!!!
Smiling
We always run it, unless we are going through a tunnel, in which it is forbidden.
Feel safe using propane for the fridge while running down the road because we use Gas Stop on the propane bottles
No way, no how. The bus doesn’t move until the propane tank is turned off. It’s just not worth the risk. I know many will say how they have traveled everywhere with the refrigerator on and never had an issue, but I’m too old to drive with my fingers crossed. I’m holding out for a new 12 volt compressor replacement for the sorry absorption unit we use now.
I know dealers aren’t always the most reliable source but when our dealer was doing our walkthrough he said to never have the propane on while moving, that was enough for me.
I have a 26 foot Navion motorhome which is supposed to go to 12V when driving down the road. It does not, and never has, so I use propane with fingers crossed.
My fridge has literally not been turned off in 6 years. Plugged in at home and propane while traveling. I have traveled with propane on with every RV I have had since 2004.
Leave the fridge running on propane.
Never been an issue in close to 40 years of RV travel with parents and my own RVs.
No, but we used to. Propane fridge gave up the ghost so we went with dc electric and haven’t looked back.
Every safety class and boot camp I have attended said basically, “do not operate propane in your rig while traveling”. I do not.
Driving uphill will not harm your fridge. If you park on the side of a hill for 2 weeks it may cause a problem.
Our propane is off during travel. We also wear our seatbelts! Yes the chances are slim re having an accident but feel we may not get a second chance if we are involved in an accident.
Fridge is on while on the road. It runs on propane. No problems, 3+ years.
We have been RVing for close to 30 years and have always left the propane on while traveling.
Not sure how to answer the question. We turn off the propane when driving but run our fridge off the inverter. (Our RV wasn’t wired this way, but we modified it to connect the fridge outlet to the inverter.) So yes, the fridge is running, but the propane is off.
Our fridge runs on shore power or propane so the only way to keep it cold is to run it on propane while driving.
Have always traveled with the propane fridge running and never had an issue in over 30 years. And with OPD valves, feel even safer.
The first question should have been “Do you run your refrigerator on propane ALL the time when moving”.
11 years of fulltime travel & the only time the fridge is turned off is for defrosting. And the fridge is still cooling perfectly with 5-10 deg below zero in the freezer & 35-40 deg in the fridge on the number 4 out of 5 settings.
We always run our fridge on propane while towing, but we also have the ARP protection device installed to prevent damage to the fridge cooling system.
I’ve read that running a propane fridge “unlevel” can damage the fridge, and I’ve read that running a propane fridge “unlevel” merely reduces the cooling ability (to “nil” if tilted enough), but that ability returns after leveling. I can’t say I know which is 100% correct, but I can definitely state that I’ve never had a propane fridge damaged by “unlevel” operation, and we do a lot of boondocking, which often requires pretty darned “unlevel” travel for short periods of time, and we leave the fridge on. Though we mostly use our 2019 Passport travel trailer now, we still have a 1977 Mobile Traveler Class C motorhome that’s been down a lot of what some would call “jeep trails”, and the fridge in it is original, and still works great.
For safety reasons we turn the propane off at the tank before heading down the road.
I used to but now I have a HiLo trailer and it’s a no go on running the propane while traveling
We always run with our fridge on, turning it off/on before/after fueling (well away from the pumps). We have a max/min thermometer set-up, so we know that the fridge & (separate door) freezer in our 17′ Riverside Retro TT will not hold the cold at safe & frozen levels on most travel days.On a warm-hot day, it can reach unsafe levels in an hour.
We have not noticed any difference in operation between long, mostly level traveling days, and heading for the mountains of Colorado. When we stop during the day, we very seldom end up at a less than good level.
To be more specific, It’s my understanding that the propane function was an advantage in an RV. It was necessary because 1950’s battery technology could not support a 110vac fridge.
I’ve been towing tt’s and 5er’s since 1972, only been asked once (@a gas station) to turn off the frig before moving forward to pump gasoline. I even travel with the hot water heater on….once crossing the Midwest in March with the furnace running! Never a problem. Have I been lucky or breaking the law? Figured everyone would want cold drinks, hot water and a warm welcome when 14 degrees outside.
Always on propane while driving. On our fourth RV and always have done it. Never an issue
Yes, it’s powered 12 volt electric batteries. No propane.
I have often wondered if these questions should be split into two questions based upon your type of vehicle. I would have no problem running propane in an RV. I don’t feel the same way about a travel trailer. Since the tanks are exposed, and located between the TV and TT it seems there is too high a probability of damage in an accident. I want the valves closed. We have frozen water bottles/frozen freeze packs in the freezer and we move some to the refrigerator when we travel.
The residential refrigerator is powered by electricity supplied by the inverter/charger or the generator when not plugged into shore power. The floors are heated by electric mats. The furnace is powered by diesel via our Aqua Hot. The bedroom air conditioner is also a heat pump. Lastly, the generator pulls diesel from the RV fuel tank. So, our RV has no propane at all.
How do you cook your meals?
36 years of traveling with the gas turned on and operating. i was told way back when that the constant motion was good to keep the refrigerant from pooling and crystallizing. Way better than parking off level and ruining it. Those stupid absorption refers cool slow enough, why make it work hard to get it cool again?
We always traveled with our propane off and as a result wound up replacing our absorption refrigerator with a 12 volt compressor refrigerator. Yes it draws more amps but it cools much better and runs while we are traveling.
I doubt there’s an uphill that takes so long that it would damage the refrigerator. (But hard facts could convince me otherwise.) Especially since most roads are bumpy enough to slosh the ammonia around.
I’d like an article with hard facts on whether or not an OPD valve negates the need to turn propane off.
My mom was a terrible cook, I got used to eating potatoes with a dark brown side and green beans that were more black than green. One day she fried some eggs on the gas stove. The frying pan got overheated, burned a hole in it. The leaking butter caught fire and the stove started to burn. Luckily my dad grabbed a nearby pan with soup and threw it over the stove and that distinguished the fire. We got to visit a restaurant that day.
Now imagine the frying pan as your fridge boiler and tubing and the melted butter as the Ammonia and Hydrogen mix inside of that. The heat source is your burning propane. As soon as you burn a hole in the boiler or tubing there is a good chance your fridge will catch fire because of the very flammable hydrogen. It is very easy to overheat your fridge, it just takes 30 seconds. The problem of overheating arises when the fridge is off level.
I hope you have your soup ready! I’m not cooling my fridge while on the road!
We run the refrigerator of propane while traveling.
If we get stuck in heavy traffic on steep mountain roads, we will turn the refrigerator off.
I ran our 2002 Bounder gas with the propane on for 16 yrs until we bought the new one in 2018 and never had a problem. Turned the fridge off to fuel up and then back on.
I had an inverter installed to run the fridge in A/C mode when underway. The propane tank main valve was always shut off when traveling.
We drive a 2020 Leisure B+ motorhome with the latest version of Dometic 3-way absorption refrigerator. We do not drive with propane on. we run the frig off house batteries while moving and at gas stations and off propane if stopping for longer visits or at final destination. We pre-chill the frig before we leave on a trip with frozen water bottles in both compartments and leave one or two of the frozen bottles in the frig while traveling to maintain temperature. When we stop, we do our best to be on level ground. No problems so far.
We run the propane fridge when traveling. We turn it off before fueling and before going thru tunnels that require it. We almost always remember to turn it back on… 🙂
The article Russ DeMaris is writing sounds a little vague but I know that Dometic and Norcold both state that driving (up/downhill) while the fridge is on doesn’t affect its cooling ability nor will it cause any damage.
+1
Our Little Guy Max has a three way refrigerator but we’ve never operated it on propane. AC in camp and DC while driving. Very interested in your info on uphill driving with fridge running.
I almost always tow with the propane fridge running. Have used RVs for over 40 years with no problem. I have the ARP Fridge Defend installed to protect against overheating the boiler when in an unlevel situation and to prevent fridge damage.
i understand the concern of driving with the propane on and have no problem with those who choose to turn it off. My opinion: When comparing a propane system (includes excess flow restrictors, is regulated to less than 1/2 psi and tank size of about 14 gallons) to the vehicle engine (no fuel flow excess flow restrictors, produces pressure up to 28000 psi in the case of common rail diesel and a 40 gallon capacity) I don’t consider the risk any greater driving with the propane on than running the engine.
Wayne, That is so well said, and I agree 100%. Thank you.
Diesel fuel doesn’t go boom. Propane is pretty good at it.
When on the road, I switch the fridge to DC. That is enough to hold whatever temperature it is at.
I have an older RV with a 3 way fridge, run on 12 volts while traveling.
My frig is a 3 way but I always run on the inverter when driving down the road.
I always run my refrigerator on propane while traveling. It never occurred to me to not to.
I put in a solar system to run fridge during the day and LP at night.
When we travel at night yes we run LP, but for the most part daily drives. upon staying at a site we use the solar to run most of our items, the LP is really only used for heat and traveling at night.
We only use while on the road.
We leave our refrigerator on all the time when we’re driving. I would be worried that we would lose a lot of food by turning it off. I’ll be interested to read why the refrigerator should be turned off and how to avoid spoiled food.
Please reach out to Mac the Fire Guy and other professionals to comment on the safety aspect of traveling with propane on. Also, ask insurance agent if a claim adjuster would deny a claim if propane was left on and a fire occurred while traveling. We all know you ‘can’ travel with propane on…..but at what risk?
I tried to use a ‘Pure-Sine-wave” converter to power the 110V side of the fridge but the Dometic fridge still would not run correctly so I gave up and run the propane.
Run the propane all the time, fridge doesn’t have 3 way system ( 12v, 110v, propane) or an onboard generator. Invertor won’t run it either. power draw is beyond battery capacity
We normally let it run on propane, but turn it off and run on the generator when going through the tunnels in Hampton Roads or other places where the propane must be off.
I voted no I have a residential, but actually it’s a Norcold converted with a 12 volt compressor from JC Refrigeration in Shipsawanna, Indiana. Hard ice cream and no more worries about propane fires. I had one in 2008 in another RV.
Normally I switch to 12v when driving and use propane at night when 110v isn’t available. I don’t know of an advantage of using propane while driving as opposed to 12v. I just figure why use propane that needs to be refilled when the alternator is happy to crank out the required current without a refill. As for safety… there’s an electrical system that can short out and cause a fire, a fuel system, gas or diesel that can leak and cause a fire, not to mention sharing the road with drivers who’s abilities are questionable. Life’s a gamble eh? I live in So. Cal. (earthquake country) but I don’t turn my gas off at night at home, so why turn it off in the RV?
No way, too dangerous and it’s bad for the fridge not being level.
I have a 1998 Artic Fox 24′, the frig is a norcold that can be run on ac, propane or on auto. When driving I switch to auto and leave the propane on, in a camp w/ electric I select ac, when boondocking i select propane.
As a firefighter, we are trained to not attempt to extinguish an RV fire if the propane is turned on but rather to block the road, evacuate any nearby buildings and stay well back until after they explode.
Thank you, Dave. That’s good (and important) to know. Take care. 🙂 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Everyone worried about ammonia refrigerators blocking up. its an easy fix take the refrigerator out and turn it end over end (top to bottom ) a few times and the blockage will be gone. tricks RV service people won’t tell you!