Dry ice to quickly cool down 2-way refrigerator?

Marceline

My CS-S is stored in a yard where I have no access to electrical power. As a result, I can't pre-cool my refrigerator before leaving on a trip.
Once I tried turning on the empty refrigerator after I hooked up but the refrigerator seemed to drain so much power from the T@B battery in transit that my car's alternator couldn't keep up. I am thinking of using dry ice to cool off the refrigerator while in transit and then switching on the refrigerator once I arrive at a campsite with either (1) shore power or (2) enough sunlight that my solar panel can keep up with the battery drain.
Is there any reason that putting a piece of dry ice in the 2-way refrigerator would be a bad idea? 

ericnliz

@Marceline, Dry ice will work, just be very careful handling it, as it will burn bare skin. Might want to try frozen gallon jugs if the trips aren't too long to pre-cool your fridge.

ChrisandAlexis

@Marceline, we only use the 2 way fridge when we have shore power. I think our battery would drain too far if we had the fridge on and the battery was not getting re-charged as would happen at night. We recently had a problem with our battery voltage dropping as the T@B was sitting at the storage yard. I asked for help here on the forum and it turned out that the problem was because I had not turned the fridge all the way off from the previous camping trip. I could see the voltage was slowly dropping in the few minutes I was monitoring it with a voltmeter. I am sure that our battery would be at less than 50% the next morning if I turned on the fridge without shore power.

Sharon_is_SAM

Marceline, our ARB directs to avoid dry ice.  My husband says if dry ice is contained in a sealed unit, it sublimates into CO2 and can pressurize the container (your frig) and blow the door open.  Frozen water bottles as suggested by Eric is probably a better way to go.  And, when it melts, you can drink it.  Some people with TaBs also keep an ARB in their TV.  You could pre-cool an ARB at home and use it to transfer frozen or chilled food on a long trip.

Marceline

ChrisandAlexis said:

@Marceline, we only use the 2 way fridge when we have shore power. I think our battery would drain too far if we had the fridge on and the battery was not getting re-charged as would happen at night. We recently had a problem with our battery voltage dropping as the T@B was sitting at the storage yard. I asked for help here on the forum and it turned out that the problem was because I had not turned the fridge all the way off from the previous camping trip. I could see the voltage was slowly dropping in the few minutes I was monitoring it with a voltmeter. I am sure that our battery would be at less than 50% the next morning if I turned on the fridge without shore power.

As long as I have sunshine for my solar panels I have pretty good luck with battery management with the 2-way fridge once I've gotten it cold. It's the initial cool down without shore power that's the problem. 

You can avoid all mystery draws while in storage by pulling the fuse on the line from the battery to the trailer. 

dragonsdofly

@Marceline, another trick to cool the fridge is to freeze everything you can and pack it in there. Your drinking water bottles, sausages, hot dogs, butter, margarine, hamburgers, juice, et al. With the fridge being warm, most will thaw before you need it and conversely, the fridge temp will drop. If the fridge is well packed with frozen items, it will get and stay cool through an entire day of travel. When at your destination, plug in and stay chilled. Good luck!

Marceline

SAM said:

Marceline, our ARB directs to avoid dry ice.  My husband says if dry ice is contained in a sealed unit, it sublimates into CO2 and can pressurize the container (your frig) and blow the door open.  Frozen water bottles as suggested by Eric is probably a better way to go.  And, when it melts, you can drink it.  Some people with TaBs also keep an ARB in their TV.  You could pre-cool an ARB at home and use it to transfer frozen or chilled food on a long trip.

This (off gassing) is the problem I am worried about.  I tend to think that one piece of dry ice would probably be OK but I don't know for sure. I'm already freezing a lot of water bottles to keep food cold and I don't know that I would have enough room in my freezer at home for big jugs of water, too. I also wonder whether just regular ice would be sufficient to cool down the refrigerator in 3-4 hours. 

Marceline

boo said:

I was always under the impression that dry ice lasted much longer than regular ice. Last summer I put some dry ice in my cooler with my drinks. The dry ice did not last any longer than my frozen 1/2 gallon water jugs.
When we leave on a camping trip, we put a 1/2 gallon frozen water jug in our fridge. We turn the fridge on battery with the thermostat about half way. On a 150-170 mile trip, the fridge is cool/cold when we arrive. Then we switch to shore power.
Simple, frozen water jugs work for us.

My issue is when there is no shore power at the other end. When you arrive what is the state of your T@B battery? I found that my car alternator couldn't keep up when I turned the fridge to the halfway mark. I don't know if 1/2 gallon jug of frozen water would be sufficient.