Use of fridge while traveling?

CanadianTabber

Hi all!
Just wonder what most folks do while travelling with the DC only fridge..do you turn it off while travelling or set it to a low setting?
Not sure if the battery/solar could keep up while travelling or if it would tax the TV battery/ alternator?...i dont have a litium battery so dont want to run it down.
Thank you!
Brent

qhumberd

We have the small DC Norcold in our 2019 and we precool and load it at home then kept it going while driving as our TV 7 pin provides enough power to prevent a lot of discharge. Frig pulls about 4-5 amps when it cycles. I would think solar would be even more of a benefit; we don’t have roof panels.

AnOldUR

Not sure what 12V fridge you have, but the 54 quart DC only one that we installed only draw about 2.5 amps when running and it runs only half the time or less, so maybe 30 amps per day. We turn it on the day we are planning to leave and never turn it off until we return home. Upgraded battery and solar make all the difference.

Michigan_Mike

We run the fridge in our 2019 T@B 400 while traveling and do have the panel on the roof.  

Binghi

The two-way DC fridge in our Tab 400 runs just fine on the road. Doesn’t suck too much electricity. We leave it on; no problems.

Denny16

Same here, you 2021/2022 2-way fridge is more efficient than the Norcold used in 2018/2019/2020 builds, and our 2018 TaB400 Norcold 2-way is not issue, even when camping off-grid (no electrical hookups). The solar recharges the power used in the battery at night during the day.  A TV plus solar is going to be more than enough to compensate for leaving it run.  We have ours set to keep food at 40F.  Get a good fridge thermometer to monitor the fridge temp.
 Cheers 

CanadianTabber

Thanks to everyone who commented!

Brent

mntrails

Just returned from a 10 day trip to VA.  On hot days, I'd set the fridge to a setting of 4, on normal and cool days, it gets set to 3.  The inside temp stayed between 34 - 40 degrees.  I experienced ambient temperatures from between 92 down to 34 - quite the swing for this time of year.  But as others have indicated, between the tow vehicle charging and the boondock solar panels, it worked well and didn't appear to put any strain on the tow vehicle charging system while driving. 

CanadianTabber

What kind of battery are you using @mntrails in your Tab?

mntrails

@CanadianTabber, I started with the standard Group 24 dual purpose battery from the dealer with ~ 70AH of capacity and used that 1 season.  I traveled with the refrigerator set as described in my post above without any problems.  That battery was good for about a day and a half boondocking with cloud cover so I ended up upgrading to 2 lead acid golf cart batteries - IIRC capacity is now ~215AH.  My boondocking experience is much more relaxing now.  

CanadianTabber

Thanks 😃