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  1. #11
    Fireside Member
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    We have always left the gas on to the fridge, but always turned the furnace and water heater off. We started our RV'ing experience while living in AZ desert. If you didn't keep the fridge on, your food would be poison by the time you stopped and made camp.

    But yes, this topic does have a history of getting quite passionate.

  2. #12
    Big Traveler JCZhome's Avatar
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    I was at a safety seminar this past week. A veteran full timer was talking and said "not only do I not travel with my propane refrigerator on, I would never travel with my propane tanks turned on". The newbie raised his hand to ask "why do you turn the tanks off?" He replied that he'd been full timing for nearly two decades and that he came upon an RV burning and knew of two other similar cases where the RV burned to the ground simply because they had a blow out that took out a propane line that started a fire and the RV burned up. Said they've never had a problem leaving in the morning and driving throughout the day with refer door kept closed and food is still cold in the afternoon when they get off the road but that if you need to, freeze a couple of those plastic cooler blocks and keep in your freezer or refer.

    It sure gave me something to consider that I just hand't thought of or considered.......soon I'll not be that newbie. LOL
    SOLD my 2017 Momentum 376TH being pulled by a 2014 Ford F-350 Lariat, FX-4, Crew Cab, Longbed, Dually. Not pulling the 5er, catch me on my 2013 CVO Harley Ultra Classic.

    Map = states that we've stayed at least one night in our RV.

    http://visitedstatesmap.com/image/AR...TNTXUTWYsm.jpg

  3. #13
    Seasoned Camper raybbj's Avatar
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    I'm someone who won't drive with the fridge on. Maybe if I'm 1 hour from my destination on a quiet country road with no traffic doing 45 MPH, i might fire it up at my last rest stop to give it a kick start prior to getting to camp.

    - Safety
    - Don't want to have to worry about turning it off while going on ferries, tunnels, gas stations, etc.

    Our trips won't be more than 4 hours, so if you keep some frozen water bottles in the fridge and freezer with a small fan to circulate air..... and you use a portable 12V cooler in the cab of your truck for lunches and drinks, your food will be fine until you get to your next site. The trick is to never open your fridge door while off. Of course, this will very depending on if you are driving in 100 degree weather vs. 50 degree weather.

    If you are grocery shopping en-route, try to put refridgables in your 12V DC cooler. If you do have to open your fridge. DO IT QUICK!!!

    But.....to each their own. All across the internet, you will probably find a 50/50 split on this topic. In the end, nobody is right and nobody is wrong. It's personal choice and what you feel comfortable with.

    Some folks will even install large alternators and inverters to run their fridge on AC while driving.

  4. #14
    New Member
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    I'm new to owning a imagine 2400bh. But, we are lifetime boaters and house boaters....you will never regret erring on the side of safety.... if you are worried about transporting food or cold beer (which....also deserves loving care...) then do the safe thing and shut off all of the gas while traveling and do what has worked since camping with my Dad in the 60's....store what needs to be kept cold in a Coleman cooler, a sturdy styro box or an igloo....then when you get where you are going you can fire up your fridge and stock it with your pre-chilled food & beverage.
    Using the good ole coolers is easy, SAFE and cheap. Toss the cold boxes into the back of the tow vehicle while camping.
    Dave, Amanda & Mr. Fudge
    2018 Imagine 2400 BH
    2017 Ford F-150 Crew Cab 2WD 5.0

  5. #15
    Seasoned Camper
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    1. Keep it off if you can and when you get to your destination, cool down the fridge on LP mode... works 3x's faster than electric. Elec seems to take an entire day to get it cold! LP an hour or so on our 4 door Norcold unit.
    2. I normally cut on the fridge on electric a day before a trip, get it to temperature and then cut it off for the drive... we normally only go 1-3 hours away. Ice stays solid, fridge stays cool, food stays fine even when its hot out - 90s.

  6. #16
    King Pin
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    This topic routinely pops up. A couple of years ago, I posted results on an experiment that I ran. On a hot Arizona day, the food in the refrigerator became unsafe after just three hours. Personally, I run with the refrigerator running on gas. It boils down to probability. What is more likely? Getting food-borne illness or a propane generated fire. Both can have very serious consequences. It it's hot outside and I need to drive for more than 3-4 hours, I'll run the refrigerator to keep my food safe.

    Here's a link to the original experiment:
    https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...ght=experiment

    It's also interesting that when our 337RLS burned up last year, the propane system was never compromised. If you're dead set against running with your refrigerator on propane, consider installing an inverter and running it on electric. A hospital visit for food poisoning is not my idea of a good time.

    Jim

  7. #17
    Site Sponsor livinthelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Stephens View Post
    I'm new to owning a imagine 2400bh. But, we are lifetime boaters and house boaters....you will never regret erring on the side of safety.... if you are worried about transporting food or cold beer (which....also deserves loving care...) then do the safe thing and shut off all of the gas while traveling and do what has worked since camping with my Dad in the 60's....store what needs to be kept cold in a Coleman cooler, a sturdy styro box or an igloo....then when you get where you are going you can fire up your fridge and stock it with your pre-chilled food & beverage.
    Using the good ole coolers is easy, SAFE and cheap. Toss the cold boxes into the back of the tow vehicle while camping.
    The problem with that is - it takes at least 8-10 hours for the fridge to cool down to acceptable temperatures. If you turn off your fridge every time you change campgrounds, you're going to waste a lot of time not having a properly cooled fridge to keep food safe. Keeping things in the "good old camp cooler" makes a lot of things water logged (due to ice melting), in my many years of camping experience. Plus you'd need dry ice to keep the frozen stuff frozen.

    Putting frozen food in a regular cooler with just ice (basically thawing and re-freezing, if possible, many times) just isn't ideal.

    2017 Reflection 26RL "Mili"
    2016 Ford F250 Extended Cab Gas Engine "Buck" (the truck)

  8. #18
    Site Sponsor livinthelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rclbud View Post
    1. Keep it off if you can and when you get to your destination, cool down the fridge on LP mode... works 3x's faster than electric. Elec seems to take an entire day to get it cold! LP an hour or so on our 4 door Norcold unit.
    2. I normally cut on the fridge on electric a day before a trip, get it to temperature and then cut it off for the drive... we normally only go 1-3 hours away. Ice stays solid, fridge stays cool, food stays fine even when its hot out - 90s.
    We find it takes at least 6-8 hours on to cool the fridge (usually 4-5 hours on propane while traveling, and then on electric and, maybe, by the time we go to bed that night, it's cold enough to put our food in there.

    2017 Reflection 26RL "Mili"
    2016 Ford F250 Extended Cab Gas Engine "Buck" (the truck)

  9. #19
    New Member
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    Livinthelife....all good stuff....

    Quote Originally Posted by livinthelife View Post
    The problem with that is - it takes at least 8-10 hours for the fridge to cool down to acceptable temperatures. If you turn off your fridge every time you change campgrounds, you're going to waste a lot of time not having a properly cooled fridge to keep food safe. Keeping things in the "good old camp cooler" makes a lot of things water logged (due to ice melting), in my many years of camping experience. Plus you'd need dry ice to keep the frozen stuff frozen.

    Putting frozen food in a regular cooler with just ice (basically thawing and re-freezing, if possible, many times) just isn't ideal.
    El correct-o... Livinthelife is right and I should have clarified.... We are "weekenders" so we typically leave from home to head to one spot to camp spot and we dont break camp till time to head home. So the ole cooler works great for us in preparation to pack up and head out if I don't have the opportunity to pre cool our fridge.
    Dave, Amanda & Mr. Fudge
    2018 Imagine 2400 BH
    2017 Ford F-150 Crew Cab 2WD 5.0

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by TucsonJim View Post
    This topic routinely pops up. A couple of years ago, I posted results on an experiment that I ran. On a hot Arizona day, the food in the refrigerator became unsafe after just three hours. Personally, I run with the refrigerator running on gas. It boils down to probability. What is more likely? Getting food-borne illness or a propane generated fire. Both can have very serious consequences. It it's hot outside and I need to drive for more than 3-4 hours, I'll run the refrigerator to keep my food safe.

    Here's a link to the original experiment:
    https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...ght=experiment

    It's also interesting that when our 337RLS burned up last year, the propane system was never compromised. If you're dead set against running with your refrigerator on propane, consider installing an inverter and running it on electric. A hospital visit for food poisoning is not my idea of a good time.

    Jim
    It also "boils down" to insurance liability, probably depending on where you live, Here in British Columbia the insurance law is a little weird. You can travel with the propane tanks valves open (except on ferries), but appliance pilot burners must be off. So, if your trailer is accidentally destroyed by fire and it is determined that your pilots were lit, your insurance claim could and probably would, be denied.

    ...VTX-Al

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