So we are not talking about charging the battery at all, we are talking about running the fridge. The 1990 Aliner I had had a 2 way fridge. The fridge on 12 volt was a 10 amp continuous drain on the battery that would kill it in a couple of hours. Also, if you went down a dusty road without the fridge running on propane, you needed an air compressor and a lot of time to clean out the burner before it would work again. Lesson learned, always have the fridge on propane when towing off of the pavement.
Not long after I purchased my new-to-me pup, the 120Vac switch broke. I wasn't able to get a replacement right away so I ran the fridge on 12Vdc while plugged into shore power. That's the only time I've run mine on 12V, but was glad I had that option.
2004 Toyota Tundra SR5 (V8, 4WD, TP, TRD)
2005 Fleetwod Allegance with axle flip
Honeywell 2000i Generator
Me, DW, DS, DD, Dog & Camping Kitty
No, we are talking about charging the battery and the best way to do that. Thanks! Plugging in at home w/out the 120v switch turned on seems to be the best way.
reonardo wrote: Thank you for the responses!
Joe, yes, I'm referring to the switches inside the vent cover. Just to clarify, when charging the battery at home I don't need to turn the 120 switch on? How about, when traveling down the road with my fridge on? I do need to switch the 12v button on, correct? Thanks again!
Just to clarify, when charging the battery at home I don't need to turn the 120 switch on?
No, you DO NOT need to turn on any switches. Your battery will automatically charge.
How about, when traveling down the road with my fridge on? I do need to switch the 12v button on, correct?
YES. When traveling down the road, you NEED to turn ON the 12 V in order for your fridge to be on. Your battery though will automatically charge whether your 12 V switch is on or off.
I thought maybe you were looking at the switches inside the fridge vent cover. Those switches are for the fridge only. (They have nothing to do with charging the battery.)
So, the two ways to charge your battery is to either plug it in to electricity or to hook up your Aliner to your car for traveling.
Now, about the subtopic here about when to use the different options on the fridge, this is what I do:
1. 120 is for when I'm parked at a campground, home or other "shore power" source. (This is the quickest way to cool down a fridge too.)
2. 12 V is for when driving on the road for a long period of time. Remember to turn OFF the 12 V when you are stopped for a period of more than 10 minutes. Otherwise, your battery will drain quickly. This method is good for keeping an already cooled down fridge. Not good for trying to cool down a warm fridge on a hot day. Oh, don't forget to turn on the 12V again when you start on the road again. My DW (dear wife) has that job. She turns off and turns on the 12V when we are on trips.
3. Propane is for when you have no "shore power source" (that you would have at home or a campground). I use it when parked at a Walmart or Cracker Barrel for a quick over night stop. This is the second quickest method of cooling down a fridge. Great for boon docking or dry docking in the woods too.
I'm not an expert certainly but what I say above works for me.
reonardo wrote: Hi all-
Just picked up an Aliner used and have some questions about charging the battery while at home. If I plug in to an outlet to allow the battery to charge, do I have to press the 120v button to 'on' while doing this, or do i just leave it off and the battery will charge? Thank you!
Ok, I think some confusion is afoot.
The 12v/120v/LP switch is ONLY for the refrigerator. It has nothing to do with charging the battery.
If you are at home and want to charge the battery, you will see little to no effect on that by whatever switch you have your refrigerator set on.
My preference is to pre-cool the refrigerator on 120v when at home, the day before the trip. There is no real reason to leave it powered on at all when at home. Turn it off, extend the useful life of the refrigerator.
When travelling down the road, you can A) turn the fridge turned OFF if you're a few hours away from your destination, B) turn the fridge to 12v and run it from the A's battery and/or the TV's "charge" line or C) run it on LP.
Personally, I pre-chill it at home using 120v, switch to LP for the drive, and if it is quite hot at the destination, I will stay on LP, as it cools most efficiently. If the temps are moderate, I will run it on 120v ac.
But, again, whatever you do with the switch (12v DC/120v AC) has no direct bearing on charging your battery at home while plugged into household power.
bondebond wrote: Just be careful, the road is hard (they're using asphalt and concrete these days).
Some of the roads I hit are soft dirt. It kicks up so much dirt I have to have the fridge on burning propane to keep the burner from filling up with dirt. Don't even want to talk about what happens on those roads when it is raining.
I eventually had to cover all of the painted frame members and the outside of the tongue on that Aliner with diamond plate. It sat low enough to the ground that all of the rocks thrown up from the truck tires constantly took nearly all of the paint off. Had to cover the propane tanks too.
I hear you. Mine came with diamond plate on the lower front portion, but that's all.
I just recently opened a can of Herculiner for another project, then looked over at the pop-up...
It now covers the brackets that hold my battery box, the wheel wells (plastic, and not that I think it would protect them much in the case of a blow-out, but helps with some sealing issues), and a couple of other high-risk areas. I just wire-brushed off the battery box supports to get the rust off, covered with this stuff.
I am thinking about doing all of the exposed frame members next time I need to repaint for rust reasons. Bed-liner is GREAT, for specific applications but I'm not sure I would put it on the visible portions of the frame, as it has ground up rubber components, which make for a lumpy and abrasive surface. Otherwise, I feel surfaces coated with it will last many years longer than traditional paint. I use the brush-on kind, so I can really soak holes in the frame, corner welds, etc.
Anyway, sorry to wander so far off topic, but it's my new best-project-friend.
Back from a long trip and I had some problems w/ the electrical that many of you mention in previous posts. So...charged up the battery at home, precooled the fridge, and set off on a 6 hour trip. I switched it over to 12v while on the road and all was good when I arrived--lights worked and fridge was cool so the battery was charging. Next day, drove 7 hours and when we arrived the fridge was warm and no lights so the battery was not charging and completely drained. This was the case throughout the trip. I had to buy an ice chest and use my headlamp which was fine but something is not right. The battery is new. The other thing that came up was the cooling of the fridge when switched to propane at our destination. It would cool but not that much. I think I need to take apart flue and clean it out. Any insight? Thanks!
Offline
