How long does a fridge take to cool down and how long can I run on leisure battery?

[Barbara]

We have a similar problem with our caravan fridge as we do not have the extra fitting on the tow bar electrics (cost £300 more) for the van to run power to the caravan it while travelling. Caravan does not have a battery. It is in storage so cannot pre cool it. I just take a lot of stuff that I have pre frozen, that seems to keep things cold and slowly defrost. You do have to plan what to eat when you arrive as it still may be frozen. Bread and cakes give good volume, and defrost well. I also have the advantage of the milk and wine can be taken in an electric cool box in the van. Ice packs are very useful but will need to do something with them when not in use.

 

[derek_j_buchanan]

Does it matter that much

 

[derek_j_buchanan]

We have a similar problem with our caravan fridge as we do not have the extra fitting on the tow bar electrics (cost £300 more) for the van to run power to the caravan it while travelling. Caravan does not have a battery. It is in storage so cannot pre cool it. I just take a lot of stuff that I have pre frozen, that seems to keep things cold and slowly defrost. You do have to plan what to eat when you arrive as it still may be frozen. Bread and cakes give good volume, and defrost well. I also have the advantage of the milk and wine can be taken in an electric cool box in the van. Ice packs are very useful but will need to do something with them when not in use.

You need to understand how alternators work!

 

[John Rowson]

Hi all

Sorry for a the questions - newbie here! I’ve found the forum so useful so thanks.
Want to chill the fridge before setting off. How long does it take to chill down and how long can I run it off the leisure battery?

I’m assuming once travelling I can leave it on and it will run off the main battery?

Thanks in advance

I find that the best way is to fire up the fridge at home several hours before setting off on electric hook up. Maybe put a freezer pack in as well. Put everything you want in the fridge. You will soon know when it's down to the correct temperature. You can leave it on when travelling. I've 'bitten the bullet' on several occasions without electric hook up and I've gone over 2 days without any problems. It's a bit like range anxiety for BEV owners but it was fine. I did use the max charge feature (raises the idle speed) when I was concerned that the batteries were low. However, I always understood that its quite good to 'exercise' batteries. Don't worry if they go below 40% or so. They will recover. The system prioritises the vehicle battery (so it will always start andnot leave you stranded) before the leisure batteries. I have definitely become less worried about my batteries. The worse thing you can do is leave the vehicle for several months (over winter, maybe).

 

[andyinluton]

You need to understand how alternators work!

Knowing how an alternator works makes absolutely no difference to whether the caravan fridge works whilst travelling. VW in their wisdom chose to save 10p worth of cable to leave one pin of the towbar socket unconnected.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Occasionally, at home, I open our fridge door for maybe a couple of minutes at a time? Is our food going off then?

Apparently, in the olden days people used to buy frozen food at supermarkets and then drive home with it in the boot of their car!!! Maybe 25 minutes or more!?! Ice cream, prawns!! Just think!!

Jesus wept.