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Those new to RVing are often quite dismayed to discover that throwing on the switch to the RV refrigerator doesn't immediately bring on the big chill. Nope, RV refrigerators, by their internal design, take as long as several hours to "get their cool." Pity the poor RVers who by virtue of local law, can't park their rig at their house, and may only be able to bring it by for a couple of hours while loading. Just how do you deal with that situation?
Wherever possible, turn on that big old rolling ice box the night before your departure. But since that may not be possible, there are a couple of alternatives. First, when you know you have an RV trip in the offing, toss a couple of clean gallon milk jugs into the home freezer, filled about ¾ full with tap water. Do this in advance, so when RV packing time rolls around, you'll have them frozen solid.
Turn on the RV refrigerator as so as you can. What happens in this process is that the internal mechanism of the cooling unit has to boil liquid, which then flows its merry (and long) way through the plumbing system. The first thing to get cold is the freezer – and long after that – the refrigerator portion of the unit chimes in. So put your frozen milk jugs in the refrigerator box, along with whatever PRE-CHILLED foods you have to go. Trying to cool down a large mass of warm food (cans of soda and beer are particular candidates here, too) in an RV refrigerator, even when the unit is already cold, is a tough act. Doing it in a recently-turned-on reefer is useless.
Now, as you hit the road, you'll need to make your own, reasoned decision. Do you take the risk of: A. Possibly getting into a traffic accident with the propane lines open, rupturing, and possibly igniting your rig or, B. Getting food poisoning by virtue of not keeping your food cool enough because the refrigerator is off, because you're worried about rig incineration (see "A"). Or, bless your heart, if you do have a "three-way" refrigerator, flip the thing onto 12-volt operation and head off into the sunset. Just don't forget to take it out of 12-volt operation when you flip the key off, because it will most decidedly FLATTEN your batteries once the alternator isn't pumping power back into your batteries.
If you chose the 'frozen ice blocks' method, by the time you reach your destination, you'll have nice, chilled water to guzzle on while you contemplate your dinner.
Check out Russ and Tiña's weekly podcast at YourRVPodcast.com.
I read about these "three way" fridges all the time, but I've never seen one, and don't know anyone who HAS one. Our 97 Nash didn't have one, and now our 2012 Arctic Fox doesn't have one. Our friend's Blackstone doesn't have one, and our neighbor's Komfort doesn't have one. Who DOES have one?
ReplyDeleteMy Coleman Pop-up had one, they are out there, yes you right not that many but the smaller units do have a 3 way power on them, look at those. Once you get over a small unit I think they can not make the 12 volt heater big enough to work?
DeleteI'm a little paranoid about food safety, so we run the genny to keep the fridge cold while driving (too scared to leave propane lines open). It only uses about a gallon of gas an hour, and since most of our trips are within 3 hours of home, it's worth it. I've tried leaving it off and closed, but didn't like that it got above 40 degrees and took a while to cool down once we got there.
ReplyDeleteMilk jugs can develop leaks. Plastic coffee cans filled 8/10 with water do not. We place two large plastic cans in the freezer and one in the refrigerator section. When we reach our destination we re-freeze all containers. Then they are ready to go for the return trip.
ReplyDeleteSo you shouldn't put milk in their jugs in the fridge cause they might leak? What's so special about plastic coffee cans? Come to think of it, what are plastic coffee cans.
DeleteIsn't the probability of rupturing a propane line about the same as rupturing a gasoline line? How many of us turn off the gasoline supply before we drive away? My point is that safety concern can become paranoia, and if you really worry about propane leaks, maybe you should leave that whole 20 gallon tank at home.
ReplyDelete