Refrigerator start up time on battery

[mcrusso]

How long does it take to cool up a Dometic refrigerator with a battery? We have a 2016 Int. Signature 27 FB. Thank you.

[jdalrymple]

Depending on outdoor ambient and one has stock the fridge with cold or warm items, it can take 12-24 hours to cool.


Regards,

JD

[crazylev]

12-24 hours seems really long to me, but maybe it depends also on the size of the fridge. Ours in the bambi will freeze an ice tray in about 5-6 hours.

[Rich W]

Propane or shore power, it takes ours about 12 hours (empty) to get down to the mid 30s in the fridge section in the summer; much faster in December loading up for Florida . For summer trips I plug it in in the late afternoon and by morning it's ready to go and we fill it up, switch to propane and take off.

[AStreamNerds]

Does the fridge work on battery? Doesn't it just use 12 volt for the propane igniter? Or maybe the one in our 15 is just 120v or propane only. Either way if we plug in or turn on propane it takes about 12 hours or so to reach 40 degrees in the summer. We normally just start the late afternoon before the morning we plan to leave.

We had a power outage our last camping trip and the fridge did not switch over to propane without us having to turn power off to fridge and then turning back on.

[polarlyse]

I think it needs the 12v to run the igniter and the control board so there is a small 12v drain while operating in the propane mode.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by AStreamNerds

Does the fridge work on battery? ...

I believe that our 22FB Sport is the only current model that has a three-way Dometic fridge.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by jdalrymple

Depending on outdoor ambient and one has stock the fridge with cold or warm items, it can take 12-24 hours to cool.
. . .

Bingo! The AS fridges are not really designed (IMO) to chill warm items. Better to chill them at home first, or in an ice chest on the road, before they go into the AS fridge. Also, putting some frozen blue ice, or bags of ice, into both the freezer and the fridge hastens things along. If you put blue ice or ice into the fridge along with already-cold items, it will reach the desired temp in less than an hour +/-. Once at temp, remove the blue ice and extra ice.

If you have a 3-way fridge that does indeed cool using 12-volt current, I am not sure how long that would take, but the advice above should help.

Originally Posted by mcrusso

How long does it take to cool up a Dometic refrigerator with a battery? We have a 2016 Int. Signature 27 FB. Thank you.

[mcrusso]

Thank you all for your input. I should have worded it better and asked "once we pick up our AS and turn on the refridge ignited by battery, how long does it take for the propane to cool up the refridge/freezer. We will not be hooked up to electric (shore power) for another 8 hours."

Seems like most responded with 12-24 hours depending on time of year. Anyone familiar with using YETI coolers? Are they worth buying to keep things frozen?

thank you again!!

[AStreamNerds]

The Yeti coolers are very nice and definitely keep things cold much longer but they are very expensive and heavy

[OTRA15]

As mentioned in Post #8, just buy two bags of ice and put one in the freezer and one in the fridge. You will be cold in about 15-30 minutes.

Yeti coolers are good, but IMO the Pelican line is better, and also made in the USA.

http://www.pelican.com/ca/en/product...-duty-coolers/

Here are some search results for other threads mentioning Yeti/Pelican:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f382...od-146746.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f48/...ge-135130.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...re-152213.html

Good luck and have fun!

Peter

Originally Posted by mcrusso

Thank you all for your input. I should have worded it better and asked "once we pick up our AS and turn on the refridge ignited by battery, how long does it take for the propane to cool up the refridge/freezer. We will not be hooked up to electric (shore power) for another 8 hours."

Seems like most responded with 12-24 hours depending on time of year. Anyone familiar with using YETI coolers? Are they worth buying to keep things frozen?

thank you again!!

[alantbird]

i lite the fridge a day or two bfr a trip. the gas cost might be a buck? I have a norcold 12/110 v cooler that's been freezing things for me for 15 years. when on a long stay we fill it with beer and it keeps it just above freezing

[VaTravelers]

I have a 2017 28' Serenity International and I believe it has the same 7.0 cu ft refer that you do. On our first outing, I have a 50 amp service to plug my trailer into so was able to cool down the refer about 12 hours before our trip. We loaded it up in the morning before the trip with food from the house including ice trays. It was at 35 degrees when we departed. I switched to propane (although it did on it's own when I pulled shore power). I live in Va Beach and in order to get to my destination I had to transit through one of the many tunnels. This required securing the propane. I did not restart it for about 30 mins after I went through the tunnel. The refer was at 39 degrees when I restarted the propane. It remained at or below that temp until I plugged into shore power about 3 hours later. It was 89 degrees outside so I would say the refer did a pretty fair job of reaching and retaining temps.

I would recommend bringing an ice chest to hold food at a safe temp if you are concerned about the refer remaining at a safe temp during transit. I have plenty of room in my TV so I plan on doing that on future trips. It is also a good way to pre-cool beverages and other items that you might bring along. The only issue is you have to find an ice supply (unless you buy an ice maker).

[LBOskiBear]

I usually go just for weekends so there is always food being brought to the AS and then brought home afterwards. As a result, I always bring a cooler with me.

As for the fridge, within a couple of hours, the freezer starts getting cold. I can feel how cold the bottom surface of the freezer is very quickly. The refrigerator part probably takes many more hours. I will sometimes put items on a shelf in the freezer/fridge with ice packs on top to keep them cold as well. Not sure if having cold things in there helps the process along.

[slowmover]

I have used 24-hours for forty years.

A big three way Norcold on the current rig.

Bag of ice in freezer, and then add only cold items.

Refer batt operated fan helps.

Unit will run "better" on propane than on AC or DC.

Airflow up the back of the unit is critical, and a sealed enclosure other than designed ventilation. Addition of external fans to that enclosure a common upgrade.


1990 35' Silver Streak
2004 555 Cummins

[rjmaype]

Yeti cooler is top dog but high cost.

I like polarbeacoolers.com

[guskmg]

If you add two computer 12v fans to the refer vent screen it will help with initial cool down. Having said that, always turn the refer on gas the night before and let it cool down during the night when the ambient air temp is at it slowest.
guskmg

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by rjmaype

Yeti cooler is top dog but high cost.

I like polarbeacoolers.com

Are these only soft-sided?

http://www.polarbearcoolers.com/

They look well-made.

Thanks for the heads up, and welcome to the forum!

Peter

PS -- One of the threads I linked before involved using two coolers in the tow vehicle, one of which held frozen items cooled with dry ice.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...re-152213.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f382...od-146746.html

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by richw46

propane or shore power, it takes ours about 12 hours (empty) to get down to the mid 30s in the fridge section in the summer; much faster in december loading up for florida :d. For summer trips i plug it in in the late afternoon and by morning it's ready to go and we fill it up, switch to propane and take off.

ditto!: