camper fridge on 12v

[mark and nancy oehler]

camper: 2003 fleetwood santa fe.
fridge doesn't seem to stay cold while on 12v when driving. The battery charger system seems to be ok. fridge works great on 110v. yes, i change the switch settings.
I wonder if I missed connecting a wire in the harness receptcle which is a 8 wire harness. No back up lights and did not wire the blue brake circuit.
I do run a extension cord to the camper and plug the 110 3 way overnight and then replug when traveling. Just doesn't stay cold on 12v system.

[AustinBoston]

1) How hot was it while you were towing?  The 12V setting is significantly less effective than 120V or propane, so if it was really hot, it may not have been able to keep up.

2) Is the fuse blown?  The fridge should have a fuse on or near the converter.  If it was blown, the 12V option would not run.

3) How cold was the stuff you put in the fridge?  Even if the fridge was pre-cooled, if you filled it with warm beer and switched it to 12V, it would be warm when you arived.

Austin

[mark and nancy oehler]

1) How hot was it while you were towing?  The 12V setting is significantly less effective than 120V or propane, so if it was really hot, it may not have been able to keep up.

2) Is the fuse blown?  The fridge should have a fuse on or near the converter.  If it was blown, the 12V option would not run.

3) How cold was the stuff you put in the fridge?  Even if the fridge was pre-cooled, if you filled it with warm beer and switched it to 12V, it would be warm when you arived.

Austin

The temp was not more than upper 70's. We just weren't prepared for the fridge not to stay cold. We had put a fair amount of already cold items in and they were marginally chilled at destination of about 12 hours. Next time I will include a gallon ice cream bucket  of ice and no warm beer.
While camping and on 110 we had to raise temp to #4 and 5 because stuff was freezing ( we had it on 7, coldest while driving). The fridge was cold the next  morning at drive time when changed back to 12.
The next time I have the camper up I will check for the fuse near the converter as I don't recall seeing it in the accessable compartment on the outside. The chimney was hot on 110 and not so much on 12v. We are just learning the foilbles on the Santa Fe. It does tow good though.

[wavery]

The temp was not more than upper 70's. We just weren't prepared for the fridge not to stay cold. We had put a fair amount of already cold items in and they were marginally chilled at destination of about 12 hours. Next time I will include a gallon ice cream bucket  of ice and no warm beer.
While camping and on 110 we had to raise temp to #4 and 5 because stuff was freezing ( we had it on 7, coldest while driving). The fridge was cold the next  morning at drive time when changed back to 12.
The next time I have the camper up I will check for the fuse near the converter as I don't recall seeing it in the accessable compartment on the outside. The chimney was hot on 110 and not so much on 12v. We are just learning the foilbles on the Santa Fe. It does tow good though.

I think that most people run the fridge on propane while driving. I know that we and many others do (not all).

I've never had ours blow out or encountered any other problems with it. Of course, it must be turned off while going through some tunnels.

[mike4947]

That size fridge has a BTU rating of apx 700 BTU's on propane, 650 BTU's on 120 volt, and 300 BTU's on 12 volt.
Also if the fridge's 12 volt heater doesn't get it's full 8-12 amps it needs it's rating is corresponingly reduced.
So you can see why 12 volt si for maintaining cool and not cooling.
 
As a side note, remember the fridge has NO thermostat. What it has is "an amount of cooling" dial. You are basically setting the amount of cooling BTU's the frdige will produce. If you set it so it's 38 degrees when it's 85 outside and the temperature drops to 40 at night expect to wake up to icy milk, frozen eggs, and REALLY crisp lettuce. Also the reverse is true, set it for 38 degrees when it 40 outside and the outside temp goes to 85 figure on a lot of spoiled food if you don't catch it soon enough.
A really smart mod for small non thermostatic fridges is an indoor/outdoor thermometer and using one probe inside the fridge so you can monitor the inside temp without opening the door, loosing all that hard won cold air. Either the wired or wireless probes work. The door seal conforms around the wired ones.
Mine even has a freeze alarm to alert me it's time to adjsut the fridge so it won't ice up.

[mark and nancy oehler]

That size fridge has a BTU rating of apx 700 BTU's on propane, 650 BTU's on 120 volt, and 300 BTU's on 12 volt.
Also if the fridge's 12 volt heater doesn't get it's full 8-12 amps it needs it's rating is corresponingly reduced.
So you can see why 12 volt si for maintaining cool and not cooling.
 
As a side note, remember the fridge has NO thermostat. What it has is "an amount of cooling" dial. You are basically setting the amount of cooling BTU's the frdige will produce. If you set it so it's 38 degrees when it's 85 outside and the temperature drops to 40 at night expect to wake up to icy milk, frozen eggs, and REALLY crisp lettuce. Also the reverse is true, set it for 38 degrees when it 40 outside and the outside temp goes to 85 figure on a lot of spoiled food if you don't catch it soon enough.
A really smart mod for small non thermostatic fridges is an indoor/outdoor thermometer and using one probe inside the fridge so you can monitor the inside temp without opening the door, loosing all that hard won cold air. Either the wired or wireless probes work. The door seal conforms around the wired ones.
Mine even has a freeze alarm to alert me it's time to adjsut the fridge so it won't ice up.

Thanks Mike4947 and wavery and Austin. I will try the propane solution next time along with the bucket of ice. Also, I like the  indoor/out thermometer idea. Luckily we were also using a ice chest so didn't lose anything, just had warm beer and soft butter.

[uchwear]

Instead of putting warm beer in your fridge here is what I do:
 
I freeze it for a couple of days and after I plug the camper in for 24 hours I put the frozen beer on the top shelf of the fridge.  It won't cause the can to burst because of the alcohol.  I only put them in the freezer for a day or to so they may burst after that but so far I haven't had one break.  It usually doesn't take long to thaw plus you have really cold beer.

[zillaq]

They have 'em at walmart real cheap.

A really smart mod for small non thermostatic fridges is an indoor/outdoor thermometer and using one probe inside the fridge so you can monitor the inside temp without opening the door, loosing all that hard won cold air. Either the wired or wireless probes work. The door seal conforms around the wired ones.
Mine even has a freeze alarm to alert me it's time to adjsut the fridge so it won't ice up.