12v System question

we have just got our AS Symphony, when driving can i leave the 12v switched on to power the fridge?

thanks :)

Hi

Canoman1 wrote:we have just got our AS Symphony, when driving can i leave the 12v switched on to power the fridge?

Yes   you can have the fridge on 12V while driving but you don't need the normal habitation 12V supply on. That should go off automatically when the engine is running.

The fridge should wired to a separate 12V supply that will only be present when the engine is on.

Brod

12V - used when the engine is running (i.e. you are driving).
240V - used when on electric hookup.
gas - used when neither of the above is available.

(The fridge draws too much power for it to be powered from the leisure battery, so this is not an option - "12V" actually powers the fridge from the engine alternator.)

I love the education this forum is giving me! Thanks for the replies :)

Canoman1 wrote:we have just got our AS Symphony, when driving can i leave the 12v switched on to power the fridge?

thanks :)

Don't expect too much from the fridge when on 12v, it pretty much maintains the temperature that you start travelling at, rather than giving full the refrigeration of 240v or gas. We tended to cool ours down on EHU at home before setting off and tried to minimise door opening until we were hooked back up.

Hi,
We tend to cool the fridge down at home and keep an ice pack in the freezer compartment but I was surprised when a defrosted ice pack was refrozen when we travelled home,
Chris

The manual for our fridge states that it is best to place food inside that is already frozen. It hints that it wont freeze food but it does and fairly quickly as well ..

Charliefarlie wrote:The manual for our fridge states that it is best to place food inside that is already frozen. It hints that it wont freeze food but it does and fairly quickly as well ..

Are you saying that on 12v your freezer will actually freeze non frozen food and fairly quickly too ?

Hi,
Mine does,
Chris

Well it just goes to show that you're never too old to learn something new. All of my fridges have been woefully inadequate on 12v and from previous posts on the subject, I believed that was the norm.

Charliefarlie & Chrisvesy,

If you don't mind me asking, which fridges are fitted to your vans ?

The fridge in my van is an Electrolux RM4213S model according to the AS manual. I only have mine on 12v when on the road during trips (when food is in the fridge), though a mate of mine with the same van used to leave his on all the time which seemed a bit daft to me when there's nothing in it!

No idea how good the freezer is as i've not really tried it but it does get very cold. When stationary i'm running on gas or EHU but it's kept milk cold when outdoor temps have been in the high 30's.

Mine works better on 12V than either gas or 230V, easily freezing things on a long journey.

I fill the freezer compartment with pound shop ice packs, which are kept in the freezer in the house the rest of the time. That keeps it cold for ages, so that I hardly ever need gas because we tend to move on every two or three days. Also, the beer keeps it cold

richardstubbs wrote:Mine works better on 12V than either gas or 230V, easily freezing things on a long journey.

You will find it's very much dependent on what the outdoor temp is like. Mine just about coped with keeping milk cold when i was in Serbia and Albania but went on EHU where possible. If your fridge is performing less well on mains then really it needs checking out.

Bulletguy wrote:The fridge in my van is an Electrolux RM4213S.... 

Thanks for the update Bulletguy, a quick Google puts that model around a third of the capacity of the 190 litre fridge fitted to my last van and I'm thinking the larger capacity may be part of the problem.

Mine will freeze up whilst travelling on 12v. and it has been the same with all my previous vans. We went away 4 weeks ago and put a pre-cooked chicken in the fridge and when we got to Stratford on Avon, took it out to have it with salad and it was frozen solid. I had put the control knob on max to pull it down and forgot to turn it down.....

The spec on my fridge says it draws just the same wattage on EHU or 12 volts, and like previous posts, indeed it does freeze food just as quickly on either.
Al.

Wargenwolf wrote:

Bulletguy wrote:The fridge in my van is an Electrolux RM4213S.... 

Thanks for the update Bulletguy, a quick Google puts that model around a third of the capacity of the 190 litre fridge fitted to my last van and I'm thinking the larger capacity may be part of the problem.

Could be though i'd say this about mine. It does ok on 12v during running but is better when on gas and better still on EHU. 

Another reason fridges struggle is from overload....and by that i mean overload of food. Even a full blown domestic 240v powered fridge will struggle if rammed full of food and the gauge will need turning up. It's well worth getting a fridge thermometer like this;[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Cheap enough to buy and easy to see what your fridge is doing.

As there is only myself, about the only time my fridge gets full is with drinking yoghurts and beers!

Wargenwolf wrote:

Charliefarlie wrote:The manual for our fridge states that it is best to place food inside that is already frozen. It hints that it wont freeze food but it does and fairly quickly as well ..

Are you saying that on 12v your freezer will actually freeze non frozen food and fairly quickly too ?

Sorry I am unable to log in from an Ipad so was unable to reply !

Yes our fridge freezer compartment will freeze food whilst on the move and on 12V. It has done this in hot weather as well. 

Our Fridge is a Thetford. Its a late 2013 van so that means its not an old or well used fridge. 

The caravan fridge is on all the time, on EHU when at home, MH also, had problems in the past with fridge not working when only on when using when away, was told by engineer fridges are best left on, so we do that also our neighbours leave their fridge on. doesn`t cost hardly anything and would sooner do that than risk having problems with the fridge usually just when you want to use it, many a time  years ago we took fridge out and turned it upside down, shook it and put back, worked for a time then had to replace, no problems since they are left on .


Ice cubes have frozen on 12volt.

richardstubbs wrote:Mine works better on 12V than either gas or 230V, easily freezing things on a long journey.

I fill the freezer compartment with pound shop ice packs, which are kept in the freezer in the house the rest of the time. That keeps it cold for ages, so that I hardly ever need gas because we tend to move on every two or three days. Also, the beer keeps it cold

As i understand the workings of the fridge when engine running ,the fridge works on 12 volt from the alternator (Continuous operation) without thermo control.
When stopped gas should be the best, then 230 mains that is only slightly better than 12 volt but has adjustable control.
However many variables in the working as to size,volume of food ,temperature at start,Door opening etc.

Regards


Micky

mikethebike wrote:As i understand the workings of the fridge when engine running, the fridge works on 12 volt from the alternator (Continuous operation) without thermo control.

Assuming it's switched on it does. Not sure what you mean by 'continuous operation' though? 

As i mentioned in another post, a friend of mine never switched his off. For what reason exactly i've no idea as i can't see much sense in running an empty fridge! When mine isn't being used i use the lock to keep the door secure but slightly open so it 'airs'.

My thanks Canoman1 for not complaining about me taking over your thread and apologies for doing so, although it remained pretty much on topic 


Thanks for all the other responses and with hindsight, I think my first fridge was a bit of a duffer on 12v, reinforced by some poor online advice leading me to believe it was normal and thus it was never investigated.
Believing that to be the case and much to my embarrassment, I never properly used the last fridge, which probably would have worked correctly as you have all stated 


I'm now looking forward even more to my AS ownership and those ice cold beers at the end of a long drive 

Just to add my confirmation, our RM4217 freezes stuff really easily, we've had milk, fresh orange juice and ice cube trays freeze while we're on long journeys on 12V.

In fact, I turned our gas setting right down while we were in France, as everything had frozen and I wanted to allow it to thaw a bit.

Hi Bulletguy,
" Continuous operation " is taken straight from the fridge info book.
I assume it will be working all the time. As it has no actual temperature control it will keep cooling and you may end up with frozen food. Depends how long your journey is I would think.

Regards

Micky