Refrigerator on Auto when storm knocks out power question

[cgbosak]

We have a 2018 Cougar not sure what model of fridge but that shouldnt matter for my question. We keep our camper in one place all year. Its plugged into power and our fridge is set to auto but we dont have the gas on. Last week a storm temp knocked out power for a short while and our fridge shut off. When the electricity came back on, shouldnt the fridge have kicked back on too? Our older Laredo did this without us having to keep the gas on. Luckily I had no meat or other items in the fridge that would have made a mess. I know we will keep the gas on from now on but why didnt it turn back on?

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

If the fridge is set to auto and the LP is turned off, when the power went out, it tried to light. Usually tries 3 times and then goes into “CHECK” mode. You have to turn the fridge off and back on to clear it. I would leave the LP on for this reason.

[cgbosak]

So if its set up on auto with the gas on, when the electricity comes back on, will my fridge automatically switch back to electricity?

[JRTJH]

If it is working properly, yes, as soon as the electricity is restored, it is supposed to switch back to electricity.

Essentially, if your refrigerator is in "AUTO", the "logic circuits" are set up to constantly monitor for 110 VAC power. Any time it is available, the control panel will switch to AC. The only time it will operate on GAS is if there is no AC available. It will "switch back and forth" as needed, depending on available power.

Many people leave their refrigerator in AUTO while travelling. When they plug in at a campground, the refrigerator switches to AC and when they unplug to get back on the road, the refrigerator switches to GAS. It's a "seamless operation" and completely automatic.

[travelin texans]

If you don't want the gas on set the control to "ac" then if the power goes out then on it should start back up on electric, then as John said it won't time out trying to start with no gas. Set to auto with gas on would be my plan though, the fridge uses very propane.

[MerlinB]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

If you don't want the gas on set the control to "ac" then if the power goes out then on it should start back up on electric, then as John said it won't time out trying to start with no gas. Set to auto with gas on would be my plan though, the fridge uses very propane.

Some RV refrigerators don't have that option. My Dometic is one of them. It is either "Auto mode" or "Gas only."

[flybouy]

My Dometic also has two buttons, one for on- off and one gas-auto. I leave gas on and in auto mode as John stated the operation the fridge defaults to electric when in auto. If you have the fridge on then logically you are staring something in it and should be worth the very little bit of gas vs replacing the contents.