how best to cool fridge?

[jbspe]

i've bought a new '08 fleetwood sea pine with a fridge but i'm having trouble finding someone who can tell me how to make sure it's cold when i arrive and while i'm camping.  do i plug it in for a day or two (camper top down) and then run it on dc while traveling to make sure it's cold when i reach the campsite?

['tiredTeacher]

i've bought a new '08 fleetwood sea pine with a fridge but i'm having trouble finding someone who can tell me how to make sure it's cold when i arrive and while i'm camping.  do i plug it in for a day or two (camper top down) and then run it on dc while traveling to make sure it's cold when i reach the campsite?

Here's what I discovered. Folks will chime in about running the fridge on AC power for 2 days prior to departure and then on 12V while going down the road. I found this to be a waste of time UNLESS you pop up, load the fridge, pop down and go. Without anything in the fridge to hold the cold (esp. liquids or pre-frozen meals), you will arrive after a 3-hour drive with a fridge only slightly cooler than the ambient temp. inside the pup.

Now I don't do squat until I arrive, pop up, cut on the fridge on propane, then puit a 8# bag of ice in there. Within 15 minutes the fridge is down to 40 degrees. Out goes the ice, wipe up a few water drops, load pre-chilled food from the cooler where the ice bag was. Voila!

[campnagle]

I did the pre cool thing and at best the shelf might feel cool. What I found best is to light it as soon as you set up and put frozen meat in it with a few cold sodas or beer and just don't open it for a few hours. A fan with good baffles will cut the cool down time by more than half but that's a whole new discussion. Also a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer sensor inside is good to monitor progress without opening fridge. The fridge works best on propane, 12 volt and 110 are about useless. Trust me on this. This guy 'tiredTeacher  is right on the money.

[austinado16]

I fire up the fridge on propane (because it's only a 2 way) the evening before. We have cool enough nightime temps here that by morning it's well into the low 30's inside.  Then fill it with whatever food we're bring and switch to 12v just prior to hitting the road.  So far that's worked fine.

[PattieAM]

I use a cooler while traveling to the campground, and once set up, put the stuff from the cooler into the fridge along with the frozen juice jugs.  I start out on the propane setting which is the most efficient and it takes several hours for the unit to cool - if the back vents are generating heat, the inside is cooling.

After a few hours, I switch to the electric setting (120-v).  I generally have several trays of ice cubes well frozen overnight!

You can get hints/tips at //www.dometicusa.com

Remember that being level side to side and front to rear is important for your refrigerator (and door) to operate.

['tiredTeacher]

I fire up the fridge on propane (because it's only a 2 way) the evening before. We have cool enough nightime temps here that by morning it's well into the low 30's inside.  Then fill it with whatever food we're bring and switch to 12v just prior to hitting the road.  So far that's worked fine.

That's what I said. You have to pre-cool, pop up, load up the fridge, close up, go to 12V and hit the road. Too much trouble, for me. :sombraro:

[bonscott]

I simply plug in the day before and cool it down.  12v on the trip.  Even travelling 5+ hours in 90 degree heat the fridge is frosty cold when we get there.  Switch back to 110 and load it up with whatever from our coolers.  We don't ever "pre load" it with food.

[AZsix]

On our last trip I plugged the trailer in the day before with the fridge on. I also put most of the case of 9 oz water battles in the garage freezer. The day we left I packed the fridge with all the water bottles it could hold, turned the fridge to propane and off we went. I also froze two gallon jugs of water and placed them in the Extreme Cooler we had purchased for this trip. Our fridge was cold when we arrived and I left it running on propane since it seems to stay colder that way.

[harleywolf]

We always plug in the night before we leave. We load the Pup with food, ice chests and suitcases the day we leave. In the frig I put all the meats, cheeses, condiments, veggies, basically all our meals, everything but the drinks, those we load in ice chests which sit outside the Pup at the CG. I saw no need for drinks in the frig since everyone is getting them so frequently. That way the door isn

[MomboTN]

I guess we are the exception to the rule.  I pull into the barn a day or two ahead of the trip and pop up the camper.  We plug it in and crank up the fridge on 110v ac.  The next day we pack the food and clothes and any thing else we don't need in the TV for the trip.  Then I pop it down turn the fridge to 12v dc and head out.  When we get to our camp site we go back to 110v or propane depending on our hookups.

[hawk_fan]

I put in a couple Blue Ice packs and plug into 110 AC 24 hrs. before we leave. It reaches 33*. The day of departure, I load in the cold food items we wish to take, turn the fridge to 12V DC during travel. Then after we reach the campsite, we pop up and I turn the fridge to either 110 AC or to propane.

[CC777]

We have ours popped up in the driveway.  I plug the fridge in a day or two before we are going anywhere.  When we went to Myrtle Beach this past May we precooled,  put frozen items in the freezer,  milk and general items in the fridge part and had no troubles.  Everything was fine including the milk.  We did drive 13 hours straight.

The last two legs of our trip were 5 hours each so we just did the same for both of them.

I love the suggestion of cooling with a bag of ice and will give that a try next trip.

['tiredTeacher]

I love the suggestion of cooling with a bag of ice and will give that a try next trip.

Thank you.