Fridge on propane x 4 days?

[bearcat77]

I assume the answer is yes, but don’t want to find out I’m wrong the hard way. Planning a camping trip with a stop at a weekend baseball tournament on the way. Will two full 30lb tanks get us from Friday morning to Monday afternoon with temps in the 90’s? Fridge will be fully stocked and pre-cooled at home on electric. No electric, so the camper itself will get quite hot I’m sure, but we don’t plan on opening the fridge at all. We’ll be staying at a hotel with the team.

Thanks!

[KeithInUpstateNY]

You should be fine. A 20 pound tank lasts me a week or more boondocking, and that's with the furnace running some at night up here near the Canadian border. This time of year one tank will last at least a couple of weeks with daytime temps in the low 80s and no furnace at night.

[Frank G]

Your fine on the propane for the fridge. Do you need 12V DC for the fridge too? How much battery do you have? Normally the provided battery won't last 24 hours, depending.

[sourdough]

I'm with Frank; LP shouldn't be an issue, batteries very well could. If I recall the fridge will pull about 15 - 20AH per day not including the built in heaters (I think). I believe that could vary but most newer models will come in somewhere like that to power the control board etc.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

Originally Posted by Frank G

Your fine on the propane for the fridge. Do you need 12V DC for the fridge too? How much battery do you have? Normally the provided battery won't last 24 hours, depending.

Good point on the battery, it will drain long before you run out of propane and the refrigerator will not run without it. Single battery MIGHT make it without shore power or some generator time, but even if it does it will probably be so drained it will be ruined. Just the heater in the refrigerator door to prevent condensation draws 6 amp hours a day and unfortunately you can't turn it off.

[chuckster57]

We did a test, a standard 6 cubic foot RV refer if 12V is present, will run 30 days on a 30Lb (7 gal) cylinder of propane.

[larryflew]

Ditto on the LP and adding we have done 48 hours on dual batteries and still had enough power for slides. Due to a power outage not something done on purpose.

[bearcat77]

So the battery will be the issue. Looks like we grocery shop after the tournament. Thanks everybody.

[ChuckS]

Fans on the fridge is what will take its toll on battery life. 2 days max with two stock Grp 24 batteries if it’s hot out and batteries will be done to less than 50%

[Bamabox]

OK, I don’t want to hijack this thread, but seems that the propane part has been put to bed and this has become a battery capacity issue. SO.........about to upgrade battery situation from what I was given on 2017 Cougar XLite 21rbs. Great discussion in another thread has convinced me to do 2 6V GC2 batteries, and in all likelihood flooded maintenance Interstates from Costco. This tread has been great, because I had no idea about the draw from the fridge on batteries. This leads me to BEST WAY TO CHARGE those 6V batteries while boondocking. I have a small generator 2000 watt that I have in the back of truck when at the dragstrip to charge battery in the Mustang and run fan for cool down between rounds. 17 lb Braille AGM 12V race battery. Use a “smart” charger from Harbor Freight that has a AGM setting, but with the GC2’s just set on standard I would guess. 15 amp max rate I think.

So once I switch to the GC2’s, do I just run the generator and plug into the regular shore power cord? Or would it be an option to hook up my charger directly to the batteries, and if so how would I do that safely without damaging any electrical components? And with that generator, how long would it take to fully charge the GC2’s if they were down to 50%?

Thanks.

[chuckster57]

I would simply plug the shore cord into the gen and let the trailer converter take over.

[Bamabox]

Thanks Chuckster. Any idea of charge rate with that generator? And is the rate of charge limited by the converter?

[chuckster57]

I would think the charge rate would be determined by the converter. I’m not familiar with the amp rating in your model since we aren’t a keystone dealer.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

The GC2s are rated at:
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 20Hr: 210
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 5Hr: 175

So at 50% you will need to replace 90-105 amp hours.

With a 45 or 55 amp converter it will take 2-3 hours to fully recharge your batteries, which is consistent with my experience recharging my two 115 amp hour 12 volt batteries wired in parallel when I am boondocking with my generator. Of course it partly depends on how much draw you have on the batteries while you are charging.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by compeakw

The GC2s are rated at:
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 20Hr: 210
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 5Hr: 175

So at 50% you will need to replace 90-105 amp hours.

With a 45 or 55 amp converter it will take 2-3 hours to fully recharge your batteries, which is consistent with my experience recharging my two 115 amp hour 12 volt batteries wired in parallel when I am boondocking with my generator. Of course it partly depends on how much draw you have on the batteries while you are charging.

There you go. I don't worry about that technical stuff, our mantra:
If it doesn't have full hookups we don't go there

[Bamabox]

Originally Posted by compeakw

The GC2s are rated at:
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 20Hr: 210
Amp Hours(Ah) @ 5Hr: 175

So at 50% you will need to replace 90-105 amp hours.

With a 45 or 55 amp converter it will take 2-3 hours to fully recharge your batteries, which is consistent with my experience recharging my two 115 amp hour 12 volt batteries wired in parallel when I am boondocking with my generator. Of course it partly depends on how much draw you have on the batteries while you are charging.

What kind of 12V’s do you have? 115 amp hour is very good for 12v’s that I’ve looked at.

[Logan X]

Originally Posted by Bamabox

So once I switch to the GC2’s, do I just run the generator and plug into the regular shore power cord? Or would it be an option to hook up my charger directly to the batteries, and if so how would I do that safely without damaging any electrical components? And with that generator, how long would it take to fully charge the GC2’s if they were down to 50%?

Thanks.

I have two GC2 batteries and I use a Honda 2000 watt generator. I just plug the shore power into the generator and let the on board charger do it’s thing. I brought my batteries down to around 60%, which took over three days, and it took about 4 or 5 hours to charge them back up to 100%. On a side note, I installed a Victron battery monitor so I know exactly what is happening with the batteries.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

There you go. I don't worry about that technical stuff, our mantra:
If it doesn't have full hookups we don't go there

When we retired & took off fulltime, DW said she had 3 requirements, water, sewer & 50 amp hookups, whatever else was fine.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

Originally Posted by Bamabox

What kind of 12V’s do you have? 115 amp hour is very good for 12v’s that I’ve looked at.

They are EverStart Maxx 29DC batteries from Walmart, currently $99.97. I was off by an amp hour, 114 amp hours. Two year free replacement warranty with receipt. Without the receipt it is two years from the date of manufacture on the battery, which is better than the 18 month warranty than the AGM batteries I have got my solar system at my cabin. I bought them in 2016 and I'm still using them, but I'll probably replace them this summer or at the beginning of next season. I haven't tested them, but I don't seem to be getting the full 114 amp hours this year.

[Bamabox]

Picked up the Interstate GC2’s at Costco yesterday. Pretty pumped to get them installed. If I want to give them a good charge first, I jumper pos to neg and then use my 12V smart charger on the other pos and neg posts, CORRECT? Also is it just my or do the angle iron battery rails on my 2017 Cougar XLite 21rbs seem a little whimpy for 130 lbs of batteries? Thanks.