Can anyone tell me what setting to switch my fridge to when towing so it'll be cold on arrival at the site? Is it battery or electric? Thanks 
How to cool fridge when towing
- Thread starter angel3
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angel3 said:Can anyone tell me what setting to switch my fridge to when towing so it'll be cold on arrival at the site? Is it battery or electric? Thanks
Our 'fridge takes it's pick of whatever is available, 12 volt being the least favourite choice.
Bear in mind that the 12 volt option only normally works when your engine is running and can be problematic with Euro 6 engines.
Dodger524 said:angel3 said:Can anyone tell me what setting to switch my fridge to when towing so it'll be cold on arrival at the site? Is it battery or electric? Thanks
Our 'fridge takes it's pick of whatever is available, 12 volt being the least favourite choice.
Bear in mind that the 12 volt option only normally works when your engine is running and can be problematic with Euro 6 engines.
Hello Angel,
Just a few basic pointers -- Caravan fridges are not very powerful, so on their own the will take quite a time to chill down, which ever power source you use, so its unwise to hope the fridge will cool down to normal operating temperatures whilst towing. Its usually more satisfactory to pre-cool the fridge before journeying, most people will use mains power or gas at least over night before travelling.
If neither are possible before travelling, then pre chill all your food at home along with a few freezer blocks, and load all and as Martin suggests use 12V whilst travelling.
However as another suggestion, try not to take too much food with you, only enough for the first couple of meals, and buy locally to save on payload in the caravan., But still use a cool block and 12V to get the fridge cool ready to receive your locally purchased items.
We keep our caravan in storage so cannot precool it as it is not allowed. We usually keep everything in a cool bag using ice blocks until we reach our site.
The method of switching will depend a bit on what fridge you have but most have a switch marked with the options but there are some that will select the best method themselves.
Do not leave it on gas though when traveling as that is very dangerous.
The method of switching will depend a bit on what fridge you have but most have a switch marked with the options but there are some that will select the best method themselves.
Do not leave it on gas though when traveling as that is very dangerous.
Dodger524 said:
Please enlighten me as to what problems the Euro 6 engine causes with the fridge on 12V?
ProfJohnL said:
They often don't work for long because the Euro 6 charging system depends on regenerative braking and therefore does not fully charge the car battery. The result is that the leisure battery can discharged by the fridge to the point where the fridge stops working.
Dodger524 said:
Thank you for your insight,
I can see how a tow vehicle that uses stop start engine management, when the engine is stopped there will be no alternator power to charge the caravan battery or run the fridge. However the Habitation relay should drop out and prevent the caravan battery discharging back to the car. The leisure battery should at no time be connected to the fridge such that it powers it.
If that is happening, it shouldn't. The cars systems should identify when there is sufficient voltage from the cars alternator or other charging sources and isolate the caravan.
It's not that the fridge won't work its more the case the power is intermittent when the car is in stop start traffic. But when on the open road it should work just as well as with any other type of engine managemant system.
My current and previous car have stop start, but both had dashboard controls to inhibit it. I always turn it off anyway as its a pain and requires me to sit in Drive with footbrake on, not good practice in my view. The Forester was the same, yet some years ago I hired a Volvo V50 and it wouldn't stop until the car was in neutral and the handbrake on. It started as the clutch was activated.
When choosing the Merc engine recently, they're all Euro VI, we opted not to have the optional start stop etc.
If you have stop/start (BlueMotion or whatever) the programming of the ECU to tell it that you tow (which usually activates a stability system) should also inhibit the stop/start when the presence of the trailer is detected. There should therefore be no problem with the fridge.
Can someone also enlighten me (if not the group as a whole) how regenerative braking works on a car? A bus or truck yes as they often have specialist additional kit fitted, but I have never seen or heard of it on a car.
Can someone also enlighten me (if not the group as a whole) how regenerative braking works on a car? A bus or truck yes as they often have specialist additional kit fitted, but I have never seen or heard of it on a car.
Our van is in storage, so have no option to cool it down, so we brought an iIgloo Maxcold 70 Coolbox , even with a small amount of chilled goods and a couple of cool blocks in it will keep cold 24hrs more than long enough to get the fridge up to temperature. And as we are an hour from the storage site, its handy for getting left overs home too. Only downsize is we brought to big a one half the size would have been more appropriate.
Martin24 said:
When my daughter put her car in for warranty service a few weeks ago, she was lent a model with stop start. Her six mile journey home took her through ten or so major roundabouts in busy traffic. She found the stop start very annoying each time. But what must it do to the starter and battery? At £800 for a replacement it doesn't bear thinking about.
We have it on our kuga to , dont like it , i tend to switch it off straight away if im driving !!
Woodentop said:
The system used on busses and lorries is not strictly regenerative, the system I have some knowledge of is the Telma system which is a electromagnetic retarder. This uses the fact that a metal disk rotating in a strong magnetic field will induce strong eddy currents in the disk, which will react with the magnetic field and start to resist the motion. Its not regenerative because it does not recharge or power another system. It uses power to produce the magnetic field, and by controlling the current to the magnetic coil the amount of retardation can be controlled.
Regenerative braking is used in electric or hybrid vehicles, where, when in motion if the power to the motor is cut, the momentum of the vehicle will start to drive the motor. Most motors if driven can be used as a generator, and its this which is used to recharge the batteries as the car slows down.
Jaydug said:
I agree the battery point. Our car and my daughters were the same age and with similar mileages. Hers with the stop/ start needed a new battery after about four years and ours was sold after four and a half with the original battery. If that is typical then I am not convinced by the saving although i do have to say she did a lot more driving in the rush hour than us.
Having got that myself now I do find the engine can be caught out at roundabouts where you need to set off just as you are about stopped. At that point the engine seems to turn off and needs a short break before it will get going again.
Raywood said:
Such is progress! That's exactly one reason why I always inhibit my stop-start as on approaching junctions or roundabouts I much prefer to have the engine running and the car in gear ready for a smooth pull forwards.
.[/quote] I do find the engine can be caught out at roundabouts where you need to set off just as you are about stopped. At that point the engine seems to turn off and needs a short break before it will get going again.[/quote]
Same result with the Kuga, when you were going round the corner slowley changing gear it would stall I was beginning to think I was getting a bad driver the wife would shout at me all the time for stalling and I never stall a car but its because off that stop start system so now its 'OFF' when i drive
Same result with the Kuga, when you were going round the corner slowley changing gear it would stall I was beginning to think I was getting a bad driver the wife would shout at me all the time for stalling and I never stall a car but its because off that stop start system so now its 'OFF' when i drive
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