This year I am proposing to travel overnight on the Portsmouth San Malo ferry. I normally fill up with food in France but this year need to take supplies for the first few days. Is it best to use the 12v running from the car battery or from the van battery whilst onboard. I would not wish for him indoors to be faced with a dud car battery on arrival, that would not be a good start to the holiday.
Fridge use onboard ship
- Thread starter Louise_374302581
- Start date
I dont think that you can use the car battery to power the fridge unless the ignition is turned on & I doubt whether your van battery is even conected to your fridge.
Sugest that you freeze water in bottles & then put them in the fridge at the last moment.
We sailed from Plymouth to Santander last year 20 hours, food in the fridge was still cool when we got back to the van to disembark.
We also took food in a 12 volt cool box & powered it in the cabin. There are 220 volt (French) sockets in each cabin.
Sugest that you freeze water in bottles & then put them in the fridge at the last moment.
We sailed from Plymouth to Santander last year 20 hours, food in the fridge was still cool when we got back to the van to disembark.
We also took food in a 12 volt cool box & powered it in the cabin. There are 220 volt (French) sockets in each cabin.
Continental outfits are wired to allow the fridge to run off the car battery with the ignition off, (the caravan battery is, however, charged only when the ignition is on), but for a long crossing like Portsmouth-St. Malo this would be more than unwise.
My Burstner fridge was conected directly to the van battery, which had to be charged from the cars altenator. So unless I drove for more than 1/2 hour the van battery went flat (this is normal). Our dealer rewired the fridge to run direct from the car Via relay
Don't forget, however, that it not only depends on how the caravan is wired up but also the socket on the towbar. If the battery in the caravan was fitted by the importer or dealer (which is likely as few Continental caravans have a battery as standard), it could also depend on how the caravan battery is wired up. The standard wiring on Continental outfits (and that means both car and caravan) is fridge independent of ignition and caravan battery with ignition.
Thank you for your suggestions I think I will do as you suggest
Thought that this was the solution .. regards
Louise
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