Hi all, my wife and I bought our 7x18 vrv last summer and love it. We've noticed that the refrigerator works fine if plugged into 110 but doesn't seem to work while going down the road. It would be nice to be able top place our stuff in the frig at home and have out cold when we arrive at site. I'm assuming that I'm doing something wrong but have been unable to figure it out. Any suggestions? Thanks, len.
Most RV fridges are either 2-way (propane & 110vac) or 3-way (propane, 110vac & 12v). While you're on the road you should switch to propane or 12v (if it's a 3-way fridge). Propane seems to be the most effective, but you're supposed to turn it off at gas stations or on ferries (many people ignore this warning). 12V is the safest, but could potentially drain your battery if the load line from your TV is inadequate or if you accidentally leave it in that mode during a long stop.
Many RV fridges also have the ability to be set to Auto mode thus allowing it to switch between electric or gas. I don't have any sources in front of me but I'd try troubleshooting the simple things first. Is the gas turned on, is there gas in the tank, is there any blockage in the lines, and what setting is the fridge set to.
I also look at the propane option as a maintenance option. In other words I would plug the RV into an extension cord while you are loading up to cool down the fridge and its contents if they are not already cold. Then the propane only has to keep things cold rather than cooling everything down. Less fuel used and less cost to you if you can use electric.
-Sean
If the refrigerator is set to auto, when you unplug shore power from the camper, you should be able to go to the refrigerator and hear the clicking of the ignitor for the propane, then the propane igniting.
Wow, youse guys are fast. Thanks for the responses. This certainly may be more of a case of not knowing what we're doing but the frig has all three options. We've only used out vrv there times so far but our intent was to have the frig running while going down the road so that stuff was cool when we arrived at site. We tried the auto set up and also the 12 volt setting. We couldn't get either to work. Once our snow piles leave so that we can get to the vrv I'll try to do a better job of sleuthing out the system. Thanks again for the replies. Len
My refrigerator will do the same thing while moving in the gas mode. It will go to the check mode. I just turn it off than back on. It will automatically reset back to the gas mode. Sometimes on an all day trip, I might have to do this several times.
Me I plug it at home 1 or 2 days before leaving so it have time to cool and fill it with my food and I usually use 12v on the road.