12v or 240v FRIDGE?

r4dent said:
I think it is time to ask Trump to resolve the issue before someone escalates it further.

Make Wild Camping Great Again.
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The orange man baby says that domestic fridges in campers are truly the greatest thing , every one is using them and everyone says they are great, everyone knows it and that's what they are all saying..... everyone.
 
Chasn said:
Most inverters take about 1A on standby so it doesn't make much sense to have it running all the time. That equates to 24Ah on its own. If you buy a 12v fridge some of them (Alpicool for example) also come with a separate 240v psu in case you wish to power it from 240v directly. Mine is wired so that the fridge is powered directly from an EHU connection when available but uses the 12v system at other times. Using a pair of relays my fridge will automatically choose between EHU, alternator or habitation battery. I can supply a wiring diagram for that if required.
Having run my Alpicool on a 13 day trip with no need for ehu I noticed that, although the quoted current demand is 8A, in practice it is drawing only about 4A most of the time when it is demanding power. The amount of time it is using power is less than half of my previous absorption fridge which took 15A. Reliability is also better. Failure of absorption fridges during gas operation is quite common due to corrosion blocking the jet.
Alpicool also provide an app so that you can monitor/control the fridge from your phone via Bluetooth.
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See ! There are people who know what there taking about 👍
 
merl said:
The orange man baby says that domestic fridges in campers are truly the greatest thing , every one is using them and everyone says they are great, everyone knows it and that's what they are all saying..... everyone.
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True true we all know how truthful the king of the free world is 😂😂
 
My compressor fridge is a 12V 110ltr. When David was doing his testing on household fridges he was publishing figures. You can find the threads on this forum if anyone wants to check back.

The difference between what David was getting with a domestic fridge and an inverter were so close to what my native 12V fridge used it wasn't worth mentioning. Yes, if you didn't use an efficient inverter then the domestic fridge would use more.

Forget the theory and use the search function.
 
r4dent said:
A lot of people, myself included, fit one refillable bottle and also have an exchange bottle.
This reduces the chances of not being able to locate suitable gas.
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Mine had an exchange bottles in the locker as well as the underslung tank. After a few years of never using it, I removed the bottle and gained storage space in the locker.
r4dent said:
Main reason for having two refillable is the increased capacity.
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Why not just get a bigger bottle or a tank?
 
Geek said:
Mine had an exchange bottles in the locker as well as the underslung tank. After a few years of never using it, I removed the bottle and gained storage space in the locker.

Why not just get a bigger bottle or a tank?
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a)11kg is the largest Gaslow bottle
b 11kg only just fits in locker, nothing larger fits
c) 2 x 11kg wouldn't fit
d) Very little ground clearance, I doubt an underslung tank would fit.
e) Underslung tank > £300.
f) I usually tow a trailer for SWBMO's electric trike so lots of storage space.
 
r4dent said:
a)11kg is the largest Gaslow bottle
b 11kg only just fits in locker, nothing larger fits
c) 2 x 11kg wouldn't fit
d) Very little ground clearance, I doubt an underslung tank would fit.
e) Underslung tank > £300.
f) I usually tow a trailer for SWBMO's electric trike so lots of storage space.
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I think one good reason NOT to get an underslung tank is also it is much more exposed to the elements compared to something like a Gaslow cylinder in a locker which is well protected in that respect. My 11Kg Gaslow bottle looks no different to the day I fitted it 5 odd years ago. I don't think the same is likely to be said for a underslung tank.
(I also would not be able to have an underslung tank either as the fresh and grey water tanks take up most of the room under the van anyway).
 
My 2007 Autotrail 630SE 3 eay fridge works very in the 240volt and in gas mode. The 12volt only works when the engine is running and it will maintain whatever the temperature is in the fridge when using 12volt so if wont lower the temperatures in the fridge only maintain whatever temperature is when switching to 12volt which is ok for me.
 
littlemaisy said:
My 2007 Autotrail 630SE 3 eay fridge works very in the 240volt and in gas mode. The 12volt only works when the engine is running and it will maintain whatever the temperature is in the fridge when using 12volt so if wont lower the temperatures in the fridge only maintain whatever temperature is when switching to 12volt which is ok for me.
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....... and if you went out today and bought a £150,000 Hymer it would have a three way fridge in it :unsure:

Regards,
Del
 
wildebus said:
I think one good reason NOT to get an underslung tank is also it is much more exposed to the elements compared to something like a Gaslow cylinder in a locker which is well protected in that respect. My 11Kg Gaslow bottle looks no different to the day I fitted it 5 odd years ago. I don't think the same is likely to be said for a underslung tank.
(I also would not be able to have an underslung tank either as the fresh and grey water tanks take up most of the room under the van anyway).
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I was at Charlies once when a van came in that was only 3 or 4 years old. The tank (fitted when van built) had rusted that badly it had a leak. This is a bit extreme though and was because it hadn't been checked and protected. A lot of tanks get changed because of age rather than leaks.

Was also there when an ambulance came in with a gas leak. Nobody would touch the van in case of explosion but Charlie sorted it lol Its good to see that hot air ballon burner going at full chat on a frosty day :)
 
wildebus said:
If you bought a $2,000,000 Newell RV it would have a AC domestic Fridge powered off an Inverter :)
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Don't forget the washer and dryer :giggle:
Oh and the dishwasher, the 4 AC units, the 3 TVs etc With a 16,000lbs axle weight it should be okay, plus you can drive it on a Florida car licence 😂

Regards,
Del
 
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Paul38 said:
of vans, there's a strong argument that it's safer un earthed.
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Safer not to the neutral to.the vehicle chassis, yes.
Safer to have the appliance earth connected to the chassis.
The household standard of using the earth bonded to a supplied TNCS neutral wire doesn't apply with an inverter.
 
wildebus said:
I think one good reason NOT to get an underslung tank is also it is much more exposed to the elements compared to something like a Gaslow cylinder in a locker which is well protected in that respect. My 11Kg Gaslow bottle looks no different to the day I fitted it 5 odd years ago. I don't think the same is likely to be said for a underslung tank.
(I also would not be able to have an underslung tank either as the fresh and grey water tanks take up most of the room under the van anyway).
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My underslung tank looked terrible after about 15 years of use. It was still in its original red paint. Not coated with an anti-chip layer.
It looked like an unexploded bomb.
As it turned out, replacing it was a waste of money. It was solid as a rock.
 
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