3-way fridge drain my battery in one day.

elbowwilham

I guess I live and learn. I cooled the fridge on AC before we took off. Plenty of summer sun, but very hot inside and outside the Tab. Guess it was too much for one battle born lithium. Woke up to no power after just one day. 

Guess I’ll need to use propane when boondocking. 

Has anyone changed to a more efficient DC fridge for boondocking in their 320s?

I lived off grid and had a DC fridge that ran forever off a 12v battery and a 100 watt panel. That was a top loader though. 

pthomas745

Three way fridge uses about 11-13 amps to run the fridge. The preferred mode on the 3 way fridge is the propane option.

Sharon_is_SAM

@elbowwilham - prior to the 2021 Model, the S model frig has been a 3-way.  It was considered to be the most desirable for boondocking because of the LPG option - very efficient.  Try it on LPG and you will have the best of both worlds - propane for cooling and lithium battery for everything else.

ScottG

Agreed. The three-way fridge's 12V DC setting is intended to only be used when in transit with your tow vehicle supplying the power. Even then many owners have found there is still a drain on the T@B battery as many vehicles can't seem to keep up with the demand.

To answer your specific question, I believe there are some owners who have converted to a more efficient two-way or DC-only fridge. Those have a completely different mechanical system than the three-ways and require much less power to run on DC. Search around here and you should find some relevant discussions.

AirBoss

@ScottG Think I inquired about this before. Its true that while towing, the batteries charge via the TV and the Victron, correct? Is there some formula/system that determines how much each of those sources will provide a charge? 

Seems those with solar can count on sufficient charging, assuming sufficient sun and TV alternator output? 

Denny16

The 2-way compressor type fridge works great in 12VDC, and the thermostat works on DC, where as the 3-way the fridge is on all the time on DC, no thermostat control on DC.  Conversion from 3-way to 2-way should be easy, just find a unit close to the same size and have more cubic feet with the 2-way.
cheers

ScottG

AirBoss said:

@ScottG Think I inquired about this before. Its true that while towing, the batteries charge via the TV and the Victron, correct? Is there some formula/system that determines how much each of those sources will provide a charge? 

Seems those with solar can count on sufficient charging, assuming sufficient sun and TV alternator output?

I believe that is correct, as both the T/V 12V charge line and the solar controller will be feeding into the battery when towing. However, how much each contributes--and whether it will be sufficient to counter the drain of the three-way fridge running on DC--is a little out of my pay grade. I suspect there are several variables in play.

I have neither built-in solar nor a T/V alternator that can be "tricked" into a higher output. If I run the fridge on DC while in transit, I'll arrive with a bit less than a fully charged T@B battery.

AirBoss

@ScottG
Thank you, sir. Just a curiousity thing for me I suppose. I do generally run the 3-way on 12V DC when enroute and between the T/V and the Victron I've not noticed any significant drop in battery levels but perhaps I"ll keep a bit closer eye on that on longer runs. 

In my TV I have to take the headlight switch out ot "auto" and go to "manual" (full on)  in order to communicate with the back up camera in the T@B so I suppose my alternator is already "tricked."   

elbowwilham

How much gas does the fridge consume? How many days will it run on a full tank of propane?

BrianZ

Just the fridge on a 5-gal tank..

(I believe a full tank only holds 80% of the volume as liquid with 20% as gas.)
Also, not sure if the 640 BTU per Hour input is an average, or just when actively cooling, so the 23 days could be a minimum..

And of course, if you're using the Alde for heat and the gas stove, those are going to further reduce the time.  As I recall, we used almost a quarter of a tank for all 3 appliances over a 4.5 day period in fall weather with chilly nights in 30s to 40s, so lower demand for cooling, and heat only used at night.

Denny16

Nice, but you do not want to empty your propane tanks, so figure 15-18 days of run time before refilling.
cheere

elbowwilham

Nice, thanks. I have experience with DC fridges but not with Propane. Since I am just taking my Tab out for 2-3 nights at a time right now, I will just use the propane settings. 

After my battery died, I did switch to propane and I had it on the coldest setting. It froze some of the stuff right next to the cooling fins. And this was on a very hot day. So it does seem a lot more efficient. 

I have used the Tab in the winter, but the fridge seems to stay cold without any help. Even when I have the heater on in the cabin.