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Operating refrigerator while driving
I'll be traveling to the west coast soon. Can I operate my refrigerator while driving?
In the past I've used a cooler.

Thanks!
2002 30' IB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #1 –
We don't travel with refrig on.  We keep the door closed and don access it unless necessary.  Many do travel, but my thought is by the time you notice things are on fire it is way to late.  Our food is not hot or warm after traveling frig off.  Just my thoughts.
2006 31' IB Anniversary Edition; Tow 97' Wrangler
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #2 –
Hi Ya alll

I have had 4 MHs  currently  a 31 footer.   We have always turned on frig 1 day before we leave make sure it is working

then load up  and keep it on  until we return home.   Never a problem and  everyone  we know  who has an RV do the same

to each his own

Bob
2007 31 IB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #3 –
We travel with the fridge on. 

Q - why would the fridge have a warning to turn off before fueling if you're not supposed to use it while driving? 

Rich


2003 MB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #4 –
In the past, I was always against traveling with the fridge on due to the increased risk of fire.  Recently, I’ve reconsidered and decided to try it on a longer trip last year.  I felt fairly comfortable doing it as long as the fridge was turned off during fueling so a sticker was added to the dash as a reminder.

Greg & Victoria
2017 Mid-Bath  “Nocona” towing a manual 2015 Forester
Previously a 1985 TK
SKP #61264
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #5 –
"...due to the increased risk of fire."

What risk and to what level of risk is that? Am I missing something? Where are the reports of all these fires?

I've owned two RVs with fridges, one travel trailer (10 yrs.) and one Lazy Daze (18 yrs.), have traveled with both having fridge on. Truth be known, those fridges, (3), have been on continuously with the exception of cleaning and filling the LP tank at a bulk dealership. Yes, you read that correctly, I do not turn the fridge off while fueling!!! The fridge is on the opposite side of the rig from the gasoline filler, well away from any fumes that could ignite a fire. So that's the rest of the story!
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #6 –
I own a 31' with an onboard generator. When driving my LD would the frog be operation on on board propane or the battery?  My trip will be 4 days travel from the midwest to California.
2002 30' IB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #7 –
We travel with the frig always on.

Quote
due to the increased risk of fire.
I think the risk of fire with an absorption frig is when it remains out of level for quite awhile. That would be in a parked position. We always install an ARP device to protect from fire. They are very simple: If the burner heats to a certain temperature, the ARP shuts it down.  ARP
jor

09 27' MB
10  Suby Forester
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #8 –
"When driving my LD would the frog be operation on on board propane or the battery?"

Some very old Lazy Dazes had three-way fridges that could run on 12 VDC (only while driving!), propane, or 120 VAC. But the vast  majority have two-way propane/120 V fridges. So anytime you don't have 120 VAC--either from campground power or from your generator--your fridge will be running on propane. That means there can be an open flame in the outer fridge compartment, which is why it's a good idea to shut off the fridge when fueling. The chance of an explosion is probably low, as witness Lazy Bones's experience, but why take any chance?

Important: don't just shut off the propane at the tank. If you do that and the fridge tries to turn on its burner, the ignitor will make sparks that could set off gasoline fumes. Instead, turn off the fridge itself.
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #9 –
"...the risk of fire with an absorption frig is when it remains out of level for quite awhile."

Specifically to this thread I believe the concerns deal with the chance of a spark from the fridge trying to light during the period while you are pumping gasoline into your rig, the supposition being that the 'spark' could ignite the gasoline fumes in the air. All considered, that is very unlikely.

A much more likely scenario would be to pull into the gas pumps immediately after a large spill by a previous customer, at which time your catalytic converter could ignite the fumes from a spill.   :o
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #10 –
 In 27 years of LD ownership, the refrigerator has always been operated on propane, while on the road...as Lazy Daze designed it.
Turning the refrigerator off while pumping gas or propane is highly recommended.
Running with the refrigerator off is a good way to get food poisoning.

Running the refrigerator on 120-VAC, using an inverter is fine but chances are you will eventually forget to switch it back to propane, draining the battery quickly.
Additional circuitry can be added to automatically switch back to propane but it will need a delay timer or other device added to prevent the refrigerator from trying to start on propane while fueling.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #11 –
Quote from: Larry W  - 

Turning the refrigerator off while pumping gas or propane is highly recommended.

It’s my understanding that eliminating all potential sources of ignition while refueling is a California state law.  Am I wrong in my understanding?
Greg & Victoria
2017 Mid-Bath  “Nocona” towing a manual 2015 Forester
Previously a 1985 TK
SKP #61264
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #12 –
Always drove with fridge on. Always turned off fridge during fueling.
Pete
1994 RB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #13 –
The day before we leave home we turn on the refrigerator.  Turn it off only on the day we return home and back into the driveway. 
The odds of a gasoline/air mixture of being 13 or 14 to 1 at a filling station are very very low.   I'm thinking the odds of me getting hit by another car or truck are probably a tad higher while doing gasoline refilling self service.   <smile> maybe that's why we don't allow self service here in Oregon.

glen
personal fine art photo stuff
TF Mack | Flickr
It's all good .......
2014 Twin King
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #14 –
Quote from: Bob Wilson  - 
Hi Ya alll

I have had 4 MHs  currently  a 31 footer.   We have always turned on frig 1 day before we leave make sure it is working

then load up  and keep it on  until we return home.   Never a problem and  everyone  we know  who has an RV do the same

to each his own

Bob

Sometimes you lose.
Harry 2006RB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #15 –
Turn it on using electric two days before I put stuff in it and then let it switch to propane when I unplug. We turn it off when fueling and once we get home and unload it.
Steve and Jill, Steve posting
1999 26.5 Mid-Bath
 
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #16 –
Quote from: rich  - 
We travel with the fridge on. 

Q - why would the fridge have a warning to turn off before fueling if you're not supposed to use it while driving? 

Rich




There is a chance the gas fumes from the gas pump could ignite.

Our refer is switched on two days before we leave and stays in Auto position the whole trip.
We cut it off while fueling gasoline or propane as required by state law.

Propane spooks a lot of people. I choose to worry about other things.

Don & Dorothy
Sold our LD in June of 2023

Our boring always non-PC travel blog
Traveling Dorothy
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #18 –
number of gas refilled per year -- 16 to 18 billion per year
number of gas pump fires per year --  7% of 4150 fires at gas stations

Again odds are higher you being hit with lighting while running nude thru a shopping mall. 

Service or Gas Station Fires | NFPA

glen
personal fine art photo stuff
TF Mack | Flickr
It's all good .......
2014 Twin King
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #19 –
Quote from: colddog  - 
Again odds are higher you being hit with lighting while running nude thru a shopping mall. 

Well, the odds of me doing that is ZERO so . . .    :D
Greg & Victoria
2017 Mid-Bath  “Nocona” towing a manual 2015 Forester
Previously a 1985 TK
SKP #61264
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #20 –
Thanks for posting that, Greg. Seeing those gasoline fumes in that FLIR video really makes the point! I would NOT want to take a chance on igniting those clouds of vapor.
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #21 –
Quote from: Don Malpas  - 
There is a chance the gas fumes from the gas pump could ignite.

Our refer is switched on two days before we leave and stays in Auto position the whole trip.
We cut it off while fueling gasoline or propane as required by state law.

Propane spooks a lot of people. I choose to worry about other things.



Right - and I agree that open flames and gas fumes don't mix.  I have friends who have had glass shards blow into their open window after an explosion from propane fumes and an RV fridge at a propane filling location. 

My point was that implicit in the directive (turn fridge off before fueling) is an understanding that people are expected to be driving around with the fridge on, which speaks to the original question (can I operate the fridge while driving). 

Rich
2003 MB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #22 –
<smile> that video is interesting.   That is one of the reasons California(and a few other states) has a closed gasoline refueling system ie air pollution    I'm pretty sure those are the fumes being pushed out by the gas being poured in.    Those fumes are are ready in your gas tank.  I calculate a gas pump fire odds are about 20 billion to 1 give or take a few hundred.  That means yours odds of being burned-up in a car fire  are higher driving to or from the gas station. 

12 Car Fire Statistics (2022 Update) | House Grail

glen
logic is not science
personal fine art photo stuff
TF Mack | Flickr
It's all good .......
2014 Twin King
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #23 –
Hi Glen;  Most gas stations in California, and many other states require a vapor recovery system as part of the fueling hose.  As fresh gasoline is introduced into the tank it displaces the gas vapors already there. The return hose shuttles those vapors back into the underground tank to take the place of the gasoline removed. There must be filters and condensers inline before it is reintroduced. 
    The decrease in vehicle fires starting in 1988 coincides with the introduction of throttle body fuel injection, then port fuel injection and a resulting removal of carburetors.  Anybody who has worked on a carburetor knows that the fuel handling is less precise than fuel injection. I'd call it precarious myself. Poor maintenance and the many moving parts involved with carburetors and their attendant attempts at smog control, cold/altitude enrichment and better gas mileage just were hard to keep going.
   I've had issues lately with leaking high pressure fuel lines in some of my older cars. O-rings at hose connections mostly. I blame some of the additives in gasoline as being contributors to that situation.    RonB
RonB (Bostick) living in San Diego
Original owner of "Bluebelle" a '99 TKB
Re: Operating refrigerator while driving
Reply #24 –
Quote from: NADAZE!  - 
I'll be traveling to the west coast soon. Can I operate my refrigerator while driving?
In the past I've used a cooler.

OK, call me a "Nervous Nellie.  However, I don't like to have the propane on (refrigerator) while driving.  Yes, the chances are small that there would be an issue but why tempt fate? 
If you keep the refrigerator/freezer closed and don't drive more than 4/5 hours per day it's a non issue.  In all honesty, I usually just eat out for a couple of days while traveling and then turn the fridge on when I reach my destination. 
I'm sure it's fine to travel with the propane on - I just choose not to...
Cheryl (a.k.a. Desert Diva)
1998 Lazy Daze (26.5 mid-bath)
2002 Honda CR-V