Traveling with refrig ON - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

camperD · 09-17-2011, 07:27 PM

i am a relatively new HiLo owner (2307C) and several times have forgotten and left the refrig in AUTO while traveling. I am assuming the refrig went to GAS mode and kept operating since we did not manually switch it to DC mode. Everything was kept cold and all the operating lights on the refrig were in their normal status. Seems like enough air was getting around the seals to supply the gas heater in the refrig cooling system.

So, why do we need to switch the refrig to DC mode (and risk draining the battery) while traveling? Why not just leave it on AUTO-GAS?

Darryl

PopRichie77 · 09-17-2011, 08:13 PM

It's a safety factor, Traveling with an open gas valve isn't very safe. Many places while traveling ask if your propane tanks are turned off. If your tow vehicle is properly wired there is no risk of having a drained battery. This point has been argued a lot in this forum. I put mine on DC and never have drained batteries.

camperD · 09-18-2011, 05:46 PM

I see, so it is a general safety concern, nothing special to the Hi-Lo because the top comes down. Thanks for the info.
Darryl

PopRichie77 · 09-18-2011, 06:37 PM

It is also special to the HI-LO because the propane burner is not properly vented when the top is down, the gases go inside the trailer. When the top is up the gases go out the vent on the side. Full size trailers have a flue pipe that goes up to the roof and vents the burner.

sayhonkmon · 09-18-2011, 10:14 PM

All that you have to do is run a larger gauge wire from your tow vehicle's battery through a resettable fuse to the charging pin that charges your hilo battery. This compensates for the larger amperage draw of the refridgerator when you have it running on 12 volts while traveling between campgrounds. I did this and have no problems.
When I first bought this Hilo, I had the same problem; the battery would be so dead, the top would not go up. I got angry and phoned Hilo; I talked with the owner of Hilo and he told me what to do.
I would suggest that you go to an auto electrical shop and have them do this for you. I also increased the gauge of the wire on the Hilo side of the 12 volt charging circuit, so that the wire gauges would be the same from the tow vehicle's battery to the Hilo battery.
Good luck; I know the frustration, but this does work and your food will be cold and your battery will be charged when you get to your destination.

camperD · 09-20-2011, 07:22 PM

With the information provided by the experienced HiLo owners on this site, I checked the voltage that the TV delivered (no trailer battery). Measured at the trailer, it dropped from 14.2 (no load) down to 11.8 when the refrig was turned on with DC power. High enough to run the refrig, but it would drain the trailer battery if it were connected. I checked the trailer wiring at the refrig and it was 10 gauge. So your advice to beef up the wiring on the TV side is right on. Thanks again.
Darryl

campthewestcoast · 09-21-2011, 01:46 AM

CamperD,

you may want to check out this forum thread.

http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f15/...traveling-264/

davidsmith00 · 04-16-2012, 06:21 AM

hi friend...................

I am relatively new to rv'ing and always travel with my RV refirg operating off the propane. A friend just informed me that he read this is not recommmended. Is this true? I believe he must have misinterpreted whatever he read.
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PopRichie77 · 04-16-2012, 06:50 AM

Have you read the posts in this forum about this? If it's a Hi-Lo it should be on DC while traveling. If it's a full height trailer it can operate on propane, as they are properly vented, a Hi-Lo is not properly vented when down per the manufactures manual.

RichR · 04-16-2012, 07:16 AM

Summarizing some of the past posts on the subject, here are few pointers on the use of the refrigerator while traveling.

Operating the fridge in the propane mode while traveling is a potential safety hazard, especially when stopping to fuel up due to gas fumes that could be ignited from your or another fueling operation. Having gas turned on in the event of an accident is not a good idea either. Some tunnels prohibit propane operated devices as well. If you have a sufficiently rated charge line from your tow vehicle you can run the fridge in DC mode with no problems. I have done it many times with good results. Even if it does do some drain on the battery, when you plug in when you arrive at a campground the battery will charge back up. If you are going only a short distance to boondock turn the fridge off while traveling and back on in gas mode when you get there. You can have the fridge on while moving down the road because there is sufficient air circulation. It is recommended to not leave the fridge on more than an hour while the trailer is sitting and in the down position. Either turn it off completely or raise the top. If everything is cold inside you can leave it turned off for several hours with no problems.

RCREYES · 04-16-2012, 01:02 PM

If you look at the video of the owners manual, he states not to run it on propane while traveling.

sam · 06-22-2012, 07:53 AM

Take the time to read the back posts concerning traveling with the ref. on. This is must know information.

retiredcamper47 · 06-22-2012, 11:57 AM

We drove straight thru coming home from the rally in TN. With stops along the way, the trip was almost 12 hours. Our fridge was turned off the whole time. Everything was still cold when we got home.

Bob

Dee Tillotson · 06-23-2012, 03:50 AM

Bob -- You don't run your refrigerator off your truck battery while towing? When returning from the rally, we stopped enroute to Summerville, SC to fill up with diesel and to have a picnic lunch at an interstate rest stop. But each stop was less than an hour, and the refrigerator and its fan did fine during those stops with no problem with draining the truck battery. Since you guys fed us so well at the rally, my freezer and refrigerator were still packed with food in the Hi-Lo. Of course, the wine we brought went VERY fast.

Dee
2509 Hi-Lo Classic
2010 F-250 Powerstroke Diesel

Papa · 06-23-2012, 07:26 AM

Once when we first bought our Hi Lo we were traveling home running the refrigerator on DC. We stopped for lunch at a resturant and left it running. When we got home it would not go up.........battery run down.
So I now have two batteries that are connected together. We do run the refrig on DC when traveling but we are also award of it's being on DC. So when running on DC we trun the temperature down to "3". If I stop to purchase fuel (short 10 minutes) I don't do anything but let it run. If we stop to shop or eat lunch (over about 10 minutes) I raise the camper and cut the refrigerator off. Then when we resume our trip I cut if back on and lower the camper. I have read that if one thinks about it closing it and cutting it off is like carrying a cooler, things will stay cool in the refrig if you don't open the door. Well in my house one of us would be tempted to open the refrig and see if things are still cold......oops there goes all our cold air. So we run on DC.
Know others will have other things that work for them but that has worked for us. Just another way to accomplish the same thing......
God Bless
Papa

retiredcamper47 · 06-23-2012, 01:53 PM

Hi Dee,

Was glad to finally meet you and Beach at the rally. No, I never run with my fridge on. I turn it off and leave the fan running a few minutes to exhaust any hot air behind the fridge. I then turn off the fan, lower the top, and onward to our next destination. Haven't lost any food yet by not running the fridge while towing. Sorry to hear about your credit card incident.

Bob

low2go · 06-25-2012, 04:08 PM

Glad to read more on this we are planing our first real trip with our Hi Lo. Only have gas or electric and have to travel 8 to 10 hours per day for 2 days. Back to ice chest or large frozen bottles of water in frig.

retiredcamper47 · 06-25-2012, 05:34 PM

Hi low2go,

Don't forget about dry ice. It will definately keep the fridge cold while traveling. Best part is it doesn't drip and get things wet.

Bob

RichR · 06-25-2012, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by low2go

Glad to read more on this we are planing our first real trip with our Hi Lo. Only have gas or electric and have to travel 8 to 10 hours per day for 2 days. Back to ice chest or large frozen bottles of water in frig.

I guess I am confused, but I thought 2000 Towlite trailers all had 3 way refrigerators. I have been around them for a long time and haven't seen any in later years without them. Maybe you don't have the original equipment refer.
2000 Brochure: http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f52/...brochure-1661/

hilltool · 03-10-2016, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

Summarizing some of the past posts on the subject, here are few pointers on the use of the refrigerator while traveling.

Operating the fridge in the propane mode while traveling is a potential safety hazard, especially when stopping to fuel up due to gas fumes that could be ignited from your or another fueling operation. Having gas turned on in the event of an accident is not a good idea either. Some tunnels prohibit propane operated devices as well. If you have a sufficiently rated charge line from your tow vehicle you can run the fridge in DC mode with no problems. I have done it many times with good results. Even if it does do some drain on the battery, when you plug in when you arrive at a campground the battery will charge back up. If you are going only a short distance to boondock turn the fridge off while traveling and back on in gas mode when you get there. You can have the fridge on while moving down the road because there is sufficient air circulation. It is recommended to not leave the fridge on more than an hour while the trailer is sitting and in the down position. Either turn it off completely or raise the top. If everything is cold inside you can leave it turned off for several hours with no problems.

To re-visit this- are we suggesting it may be permissable to drive with fridge on propane because of air circulation but just remember to raise the top when stopped? Getting ready for a cross country trip of 4-5 days and did not finish trouble shooting my non-DC functioning by the time i put stuff away last fall- and I wont have time now. And, as usual, I probably WONT run on propane while moving------but it may be tempting.

I know the safety arguments and am quite capable of working around it.....but anyone who wants to pipe in on this one more time I am all ears.

Rick