dennislanier
Georgia
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I am a fifth-wheel owner, so please excuse the silly question. On a fiver, while traveling down the road, the fridge is running on propane until hooked up to an electrical source (115 v.) My brother says that the fridge in a Class-C runs on electric all the time (even while traveling). Is that correct? Just wondering.
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wayne_tw
South Dakota/Georgia
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The short answer is your brother is wrong.
It is not the type of vehicle the refrigerator is installed in, it is the design of the refrigerator. On almost all RV's today, the refrigerator runs on either 120 volt electricity or propane. And most of the refrigerators pick their power source....if connected to 120 volt electricity, then it uses that. When disconnected from the electric, it automatically switches over to propane. When reconnected to electric, it automatically switches back to the electric.
Years ago, some refrigerators also worked on 12 volt electric. The tought was while traveling, the refrigerator would use the 12 volt electric, thus saving propane. This system did not work well, since the 12 volt electric draw was huge and a lot of vehicles could not keep up with that demand, so the Rv battery would be drained.
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melmar
Burleson, Tx
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Not true, the fridge works the same way in a Class C. I think all classes use the same type refridgerators and they all work the same.
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gillguy
Valdosta, GA
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It'll run on electric if he's running the generator.
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA USA
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He could have a three way fridge that runs on 12 volts DC.
Not that great as it does use quite a bit of 12 volts off chassis power systems.
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Fishinghat
Western Washington, USA
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I think you're all correct. Twelve volt power is needed to power the control system and the inside light. AC power is used for cooling when it is available, and propane is the default source when AC power is not available. Long ago, some frig's did use 12 volt to power the cooling system, but due to aforementioned problems, that feature has been abandoned. JMHO
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campingwithlobo
Placerville, CA
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It will run on electric if the genney is running if not...propane. Unless the rig is an older model that has a three-way and it runs off the battery while tooling down the road. Three ways are not used much any more do to the massive draw on the batteries.
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dennislanier
Georgia
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Thanks for all the responses. His is a brand new Jayco Greyhawk, so whatever is standard in that unit is what he has. I am sure he is not running the generator while traveling, so I guess I better tell him he is running on propane while traveling, and to monitor his propane tanks more often, although I am assuming it doesn't use a lot of propane to keep things cool. Thanks again.
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campercajun
Central Texas Hill Country
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Dennis, he also has the option of turning the refrigerator off while traveling if he doesn't want or can't have the propane tank valve open (this is evidently the way he has been traveling up to now if he hasn't had the propane valve open. Most RV fridges will flash a yellow warning light if the refrigerator is turned on when 110v power is removed and it tries to switch to propane and for some reason the burner doesn't light.) Some cities, states, tunnels, etc. don't allow open propane valves when the vehicle is in motion. If the refrigerator has already been loaded and turned on for a day or so, the refrigerator will stay cold for quite a while as long as the door isn't opened.
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crawford
Dandridge Tenn.
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I think some ones wrong my unit has a auto button on it so it will switch from propane to electric or back but I also have another button which says propane only. So I guess the answer is depends on unit.
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