Gas Backup for Refrigerator

[Dreamnair]

We have our AS parked in MN and recently arrived for our second visit this spring. Found the refrigerator off, all food ruined, and a big cleanup in order.

Our best guess as to what happened is that a storm tripped the breaker. The refrigerator tried to switch to gas, but we had it shut off.

We're curious as to what our fellow Airstreamers do to avoid this problem. Do you leave the gas on while you're gone? Is there any loss of gas with the valves open?

Since we often leave the trailer for 1-2 months at a time we're not sure the gas backup would make much difference. If the power loss is early in our absence the gas would be used up, then the refrigerator would quit and spoil anyway.

Any insights into this problem?

[HiJoeSilver]

1-2 months, empty the fridge and take ALL food and perishables home. Otherwise you're begging for spoiled food and rodents.

[cwf]

A couple ideas...if you have power, can you get telephone line run? There is off-shelf hardware which can "call" you... Or. You can call for status.. Better yet, is there anyone nearby the site who you trust to check it?

[Dreamnair]

Or possibly a combination of the two: A warning on my cell phone together with a cooperative neighbor.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by HiJoeSilver

1-2 months, empty the fridge and take ALL food and perishables home. Otherwise you're begging for spoiled food and rodents.

Hi, this would be my answer too.

[hirstpb]

As I understand the propane backup for the frig during an electrical outage, the frig would continue working on propane until the batteries ran out. I think the frig still needs 12v power to operate the thermostat. So, unless you can recharge your batteries, the propane backup would be good for a few days at most. Had that happen once. Almost lost the frig on propane at a campsite with no electrical hookup. We didn't carry a generator, and on third day battery was very low. Fortunately, a full hookup site became available, but I was ready to empty frig into a cooler.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by HiJoeSilver

1-2 months, empty the fridge and take ALL food and perishables home. Otherwise you're begging for spoiled food and rodents.

Yep.


Maggie

[AWCHIEF]

Simple way to prevent this happening again. Empty and power down the frig when in storage.

[xrvr]

If you leave food in the fridge and the power goes off for any amount of time, the food of course will spoil. But what if the power comes back on and the fridge us cold when you get there? Spoiled food recooled and the frozen food thawed and refrozen. Take the advice given above and remove the food before you leave.

[Dreamnair]

Seems like the consensus is that we're crazy relying on the power to stay on while we're gone. We've done this for a couple of years now; maybe we've just been lucky.

Thanks for the comments.

[cwf]

Yes.... Power down and "block" open. Leaving my goodies inside also encourages bears, etc. to "raid the fridge"... And they never fully close the fridge when they have eaten their fill.....