First trips Forums

peterandirene

Hi all
Have now had two "couple of day trips" in the Starspirit in Shropshire and Herefordshire.

We are very happy with the van, a few minor problems so I will be visiting Marquis in the next week or so to have them sorted.

The decision to buy the van filled us with trepidation but we are ecstatic with the way of life.

All the advice gleaned from you old hands has been really useful in getting us up and running and we thank you all for your input, without this site I am sure nervous breakdowns would have occurred by now!

Just one teany question at this time - when out in the van for the day should we switch the fridge to gas if leaving the van parked up for the day sightseeing or will it run ok on the leisure battery?

Will be visiting the NEC show on Tuesday or Wednesday, a neighbour gave us free tickets she won in the local paper, so expect the bank balance will be dropping significantly.

Keep on chugging.

Peter and Irene

Jeanann

Hi Peter and Irene
We have ahymer itha 3 way Electolux fridge, it will only work on battery when moving. When parked up we don't switch to gas as it stays cold if you do not open the door (don't use the freezer section). I think there are some rules about the use of gas in certain places, like motorway services. I'm sure soeone who knows the exact facts will be along soon to give you further info.

spykal · Moderator

[quote:c0e07362ad="peterandirene"]snipped:

Just one teany question at this time - when out in the van for the day should we switch the fridge to gas if leaving the van parked up for the day sightseeing or will it run ok on the leisure battery?

Will be visiting the NEC show on Tuesday or Wednesday,
Peter and Irene[/quote:c0e07362ad]

Hi Peterandirene

Good to hear that you are enjoying your new van. You are not the first and I am sure you will not be the last to get confused over how the fridge is powered. Your fridge can run "three ways" on a 240volt supply when on a hook up, on gas when you are parked up, or on 12volts when the engine is running. I believe that there are some new fridges which can decide for themselves which power they can use but I am pretty sure that yours is a manual switch over kind so:

the answer to your question is:

yes switch it over to gas if you are leaving the van parked up whilst sightseeing. If you just stop to do a bit of shopping it may not be necessary to switch over, it will depend on the weather at the time. If you do switch over to the gas supply during a short stop tie a knot in something to remind you to turn it back to 12volts before you drive away.

If you want to check that your fridge is wired correctly, and in a Starspirit I am sure it will be, start your engine and switch the fridge to 12 volt, the panel light signifying that the fridge is on should light up. Now switch off the engine, the light should go out. The fridge is now not powered.

CU around and if you are at the NEC on Tuesday some of us hoping to meet up at the Caravan Club stand at Noon. (pity about the choice of stand I know!)

Mike

peterandirene

Well, there you go again. As you can see from my original post I thought the fridge ran off the leisure battery - don't know why I thought that - just did. So my worry was that the leisure battery might flatten! Doh.

Now I see that it would be the main battery that would be flat - a totally different ball game if you've parked up in a Lake District layby for a days walking and get back in the pouring rain.

Thanks for saving me the embarrassment - and inconvenience!

Peter

spykal · Moderator

Hi Peter

You nearly got it now....the main battery, the vehicle battery would not be flattened because once you switch off the engine the battery is disconnected from the fridge......what would happen is the contents of the fridge would get warmer Laughing

There is a relay which only connects the fridge to the 12volt supply from the vehicle battery when the engine is running.

Mike

peterandirene

Thanks Mike

AAAH. So much to learn! So much to get wrong!

Peter[/img]