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  1. #1
    Setting Up Camp
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    Newbie question I'm sure...can the frig be run on A/C w/o electric rocker on?

    We've had travel trailers for 4 yrs. now so don't know why I'm suddenly confused...Our new GD 315RTLS is awesome by the way! We have it parked at home and plugged it into shore power. I didn't want the water heater always on so I turned off electric and left propane on. Frig on AU, and for some reason, I thought it would still run off electric or battery but its been running daily on propane. (Because I turned off electric right?) So in order to run frig on AC, does the water heater always have to be on too? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

  2. #2
    Seasoned Camper
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    No. Turn off the propane and set the fridge to AC and it will only run on shore power. Just make sure your disconnect is not in the off position.
    2019 F250 Lariat
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  3. #3
    Seasoned Camper tortise's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lahooie View Post
    We've had travel trailers for 4 yrs. now so don't know why I'm suddenly confused...Our new GD 315RTLS is awesome by the way! We have it parked at home and plugged it into shore power. I didn't want the water heater always on so I turned off electric and left propane on. Frig on AU, and for some reason, I thought it would still run off electric or battery but its been running daily on propane. (Because I turned off electric right?) So in order to run frig on AC, does the water heater always have to be on too? Sorry if this is a dumb question.
    No the water heater has nothing to do with the frig. Make sure the water heater is turned off at the panel and leave the frig on electric while plugged into the house.


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  4. #4
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lahooie View Post
    We've had travel trailers for 4 yrs. now so don't know why I'm suddenly confused...Our new GD 315RTLS is awesome by the way! We have it parked at home and plugged it into shore power. I didn't want the water heater always on so I turned off electric and left propane on. Frig on AU, and for some reason, I thought it would still run off electric or battery but its been running daily on propane. (Because I turned off electric right?) So in order to run frig on AC, does the water heater always have to be on too? Sorry if this is a dumb question.
    Some things will run only when you're on shore power, including air conditioning, microwave, and fireplace (if you have one).

    The fridge can run on shore power only, or on a combination of battery and propane. The fridge can probably be set to run on AC shore power if it's there and automatically switch to running on propane if the shore power disappears, but it's possible on your model that you have to manually choose between one or the other. When running on propane the fridge also needs some battery power to run its fans.

    Our fridge is supposed to automatically switch from AC to propane if the power fails, and switch back to AC when the shore power is restored. However we recently had an apparently-lengthy power failure while away from the trailer, the fridge went to gas and drained the tank, and when power was restored it did not start up again on electric. That was a nice mess!

    The water heater is completely unrelated as @tortise has told you. If you have shore power then running it on electric is the way to go because it's (usually) cheaper than burning your propane. If you're having problems with running out of hot water, and you have shore power, then you can turn on the gas/propane switch as well as the electric switch and both will work together to more-quickly reheat the water in your tank. Normally, you wouldn't leave the water heater running on gas unless you have no shore power (the electric heater in it needs 110V AC) and you need hot water. When it's running on gas it too, like the fridge, uses a bit of battery to ignite the water heater's gas burner.

    Hope this helps understand it better. Welcome!
    Last edited by boyscout; 09-27-2019 at 04:15 PM.
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