cewillis
Tucson, az, usa
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Joined: 01/24/2005
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2 guage is needed.
Here's mine --charge circuit .
Obviously, a Ford will use a different way to activate the solenoid.
Cal
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli
Seattle
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Joined: 04/04/2008
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I've been happy with my 4 gauge alternator to TC batteries connection. 2000 f250. If I were to power my fridge with 120V from the inverter, to keep things cheap and simple, I would merely take the shore power cord and route it to the inverter. Be sure to switch off the AC breaker and unplug your battery charger. The perpetual charging scheme has already been disproved. My inverter is only a 600 watt pure sine. A poor man's manual transfer switch if you will. My alternator is 160 amp output. The TC 4 gauge is fused with a 30 amp auto fuse which is probably costing me performance in current flow. The fuse has never blown and usually supplies 14.2 volts which drops to 13.4 after a while. I also have about 240 watts solar feeding the batteries in the TC via 6 gauge from the controller.
I'll have to actually try it sometime since I'm completely happy with running the fridge on propane.
* This post was
edited 02/27/19 12:00am by Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli *
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Marcela
Kansas
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I was under the impression that propane works much better and uses very little compared to inefficiencies of DC. Maybe one reason it is not included on all fridges, i.e. 2 way instead of 3.
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NRALIFR
Let’s Go Girls! [End of Quote]
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Joined: 11/27/2005
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The problem with running my fridge on propane is that it won’t stay lit reliably. I’ve spent an unbelievable number of man hours and $$ trying to solve the problem, but I’ve only been able to improve its reliability somewhat. It still gets blown out often enough at hiway speeds that the fridge gradually gets warmer. It works fine on LP the rest of the time.
At some point I threw up my hands and went at the problem from a different direction. For several years I was running the fridge from an inverter, which worked very well in my older trucks. With my current truck, because of the “smart” charging system it has, the alternator was no longer keeping up with the draw from the inverter, so again I had to do something else. For me, the something else was a DC-DC charger.
Improving the charging performance from the truck’s alternator also has other benefits to anyone who spends a portion of nearly every day on the road, and doesn’t want to be limited to campgrounds with hookups every night
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
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BradW
Mayor of Flat Rock
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Joined: 10/29/2001
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NRALIFR wrote:The problem with running my fridge on propane is that it won’t stay lit reliably.
Same here, we could never keep the pilot lit on our 1996 Lance. It worked fine up to about 45 mph, and then it went out every time. Tried every internet fix out there; nothing worked. Call me old fashioned, but I never really like the idea of having an open flame around gas pumps anyway.
Brad
Wake Up America
2019 Lance 1062 and 2018 F-350 CC PSD 4X4 DRW
Tembrens, Rear Roadmaster Sway Bar, Torklift 48" Extention and 30K Superhitch
Our New Lance 1062 Truck Camper Unloading at Dealer Photos
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Kayteg1
California > Nevada
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When I bought my Lance, it had shields stick between back refrigerator cover fins. They look like factory made, but ugly.
I removed them and driving 9000 miles with speeds up to 75 mph never had pilot flame going out. My fridge is first unit on driver side behind the cab.
I did check and do some tests with my fridge.
When 120V element is like 250W , the 12V element is 180W, so they don't perform the same.
Test show very slight advantage of propane v/s 120V, so that is negligible.
I was getting 40/2F in the fridge with 100F outside and refrigerator side exposed to sun. Pretty impressive.
Just remember that propane burner leaves soot, what needs to be cleaned.
* This post was
edited 02/27/19 10:56am by Kayteg1 *
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srschang
Western NY
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Joined: 08/23/2005
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BradW wrote:NRALIFR wrote:The problem with running my fridge on propane is that it won’t stay lit reliably.
Same here, we could never keep the pilot lit on our 1996 Lance. It worked fine up to about 45 mph, and then it went out every time. Tried every internet fix out there; nothing worked. Call me old fashioned, but I never really like the idea of having an open flame around gas pumps anyway.
Brad
I had the same problem, only 55 MPH was the magic number. I added shielding around the flame in the fridge compartment, a shield around the vent outlet on the roof, and shielding on the intake hatch on the side of the camper. Every time I got over 55 MPH, the flame went out. Got really tired of 50 or 60 degree fridge when we reached our destination. As soon as we set up for the night, I'd switch the fridge to propane and by morning it was cold again. I'd take the blue ice things out of the freezer, put them in the fridge to help keep it cool during the day, but it was a never ending battle.
I finally had enough, and bought a 12v compressor fridge. I also added a second battery, 400w of solar, and charge controller. It a fantastic upgrade! Travelling was fun again! My wife said it was the best improvement we've ever made to the camper.
2022 Ram 3500 Dually Crewcab Longbed Cummins, 2019 Northstar 12 STC
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BradW
Mayor of Flat Rock
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Joined: 10/29/2001
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I think the roof vent was too big and funneled too much air down the backside of the fridge. The roof vent on our 1996 Lance was huge; a full grown possum could have crawled into it.
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BradW
Mayor of Flat Rock
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Well, me proud of myself for getting this far on properly wiring this new truck. I spent the last 22 years arriving at every destination with a dead camper battery due to my laziness and visceral hatred for pulling wire. Maybe with the 8 ga wire I will arrive with 2 half-dead batteries. Me will consider that a success and a great improvement over what I had with the last 3 trucks.
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SidecarFlip
SE Michigan
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I use stranded neoprene sheathed welding cable from the local LWS. It's sold by the foot and Tweco crimp on lugs too.
2015 Backpack SS1500
1997 Ford 7.3 OBS 4x4 CC LB
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